When the pot is raised before the flop, you need to determine how your hand compares to that of the raiser. If the pot is raised before it is your turn to act, you will have to call the original bet and the raise. This is known as cold calling. If the pot were re-raised before it is your turn to act, you would have to cold-call three bets in order to enter the pot.
Unless you have a very powerful hand, you should not cold call any raises. You need a stronger hand to call a raise than you do to initiate one. If you have to cold call three bets you better have an extremely strong hand, such as, a pair of Aces or Kings or Ace-King suited, because you can pretty much figure that the player who reraised has a very strong hand. These are the only hands I will cold call a re-raise with.
I have seen many players cold call two raises with hands such as unsuited K-J, Q-T, A-T, or weaker. This can be very costly.
The problem with hands like these is that even if you make a pair after the flop, you may only have the second best hand. If you hold no pair you will pair one of your cards about 32 percent of the time. That means the odds are about 2 to 1 against you pairing one of your pocket cards. If someone has a hand strong enough to reraise, they more than likely have you beat even if you pair one of your cards.
Since you don't have any money invested in a pot that is raised before it is your turn to act, you can merely fold and wait for another hand. Why take the chance of playing a marginal hand against a raise? If you are thinking about calling the raise you must consider the following:
From what position was the raise made?
If a raise comes from early position, you have to assume the player has a strong hand and he is trying to narrow the field. Most players raising from this position don't fear being re-raised. If the raise came from middle position in an unraised pot, the player could have a semi-strong hand and be trying to narrow the field. If a player is raising from middle position in a pot that has been called by several others, it is another indication of a strong hand. If the raise came from late position in an unraised pot, a player may be trying to steal the blinds.
Who raised?
It is very important that you know who made the raise. If the player doing the raising is a very tight player, who only plays strong hands, you should have a powerful hand to consider calling. If the player is a maniac who is just looking for action, then he might be raising with any hand.
How many players have called?
The number of players who call a raise before you will determine whether you call the raise. If there are only a few players, you don't want to call with a drawing hand. If there are many players in the pot, and it has been raised, then you may be getting the proper pot odds to call. Sometimes the pot will get so big that it becomes what is known as "a protected pot." This means that you can be sure someone will be calling all the way to the end.
What is your position?
Before you call a raise, you need to determine how many players will be acting after you. Will any of them re-raise the pot? If you fear a reraise, then your hand is not strong enough to call a raise.
What do you have?
Try to determine how strong your hand is compared to the raiser. Do you think you are beat gong in? Here again, it helps to know your other players. If you have a drawing hand and there are many players in the pot, you should be drawing to the nut hand if you are calling a raise. You won't make your drawing hand very often, and when you do, you don't want it to be second best.
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In middle and late position, the number of players who have called before you will affect your decision whether or not to play your opening hand. Big pairs can stand up on their own but when you have a small pair, connectors, or an Ace with a small suited card you will need to improve on the flop. These are drawing hands. You won't make them often but if the flop hits you they can turn into powerful hands.
Suppose you are holding
If an Ace flops, you have an Ace with a small suited kicker, but if you flop three spades, you now have the nut flush. If you do make a flush draw, and proceed to make your flush, you will have the nuts. Similarly, a small pair will probably not win on its own without improvement. In most cases, you will need to flop a set in order to win.
With these types of hands, you want to enter the pot with a minimum bet when possible. More times than not, you won't improve your hand, but if you do make your hand when there are a lot of people in the pot, the amount of money you make will compensate you for the times that you don't make the hand. If you have a drawing hand, you want at least four people in the pot when you are in middle position and five if you are in late position.
In a loose passive game, when you know that the blinds will usually play their hands, you can count them in, even if you act before them. Professional player and author Tom McEvoy coined the Two-Limper Rule in his book Tournament Poker. He writes that once two players have voluntarily entered the pot for a minimum bet, the pot has already shaped up to be multiway.
A tell is a mannerism or physical movement that can give you an indication as to a player's intentions. There are a few subtle tells that can help you determine if the players acting after you are going to call or fold. Obviously when a player throws in his hand out of turn you know they are folding. Other times they make a move that is almost as obvious. They hold their cards in a manner that lets you know they are going to throw them into the muck. You will see them
th their cards in one hand and their wrist cocked back waiting to pitch the cards. This is a sure sign they won't be playing. If a player is not paying attention to the game or joking with another player while waiting to make his decision, there is a good chance he is merely waiting to toss in his hands.
The other side of this is when you see a player reaching for his chips before it is his turn to act. You know he will either be calling or raising. Another tell that someone will be calling is when he suddenly pays attention to the game.
Most cardrooms offer free copies of Card Player magazine. There have been many occasions when I have been in a game and players were actually reading at the table. If a player looks at his cards and then goes back to reading you know he is going to fold. If he looks at the cards and sets the magazine aside, you know he is going to play. This is a pretty obvious tell and I can only assume that these players do not realize the importance of the information they are revealing with this action.
When I started playing, I had a tell that would signal other players to my intentions. I was protecting my cards prematurely. When you are playing in a cardroom it is important to protect your cards at all times. Most players do this by putting a chip or coin on top of their pocket cards. I use a chip to protect my cards as well. What I did to give away my intentions was to look at my cards and then immediately cover them with a chip if I planned to play the hand. I would not cover them if I planned on tossing them into the muck. Luckily a good friend of mine saw me doing this and pointed it out to me. These are the types of things you should be looking for to determine a player's intention.
Most low-limit players do not give any consideration to the number of players in a hand, this is a concept that is either overlooked or ignored. Remember your big cards and pairs will win more against fewer players. Your drawing hands will play best against a lot of players. You need to know how many players are in the hand before you call.
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