Just as you are selective about your starting hands, you need to be equally selective about which hands you will call a raise with. Many Players feel that once they call a raise, they must call a re-raise or two even though they are not getting proper odds to do so.

Any player can raise the pot with any hand. It takes a weaker hand to initiate a raise than it does to call one. This does not mean that you should just raise the pot on a whim. There are five reasons to raise the pot when you are playing Texas Hold'em:

1. To get more money in the pot.
2. To narrow the field by eliminating other players.
3. To bluff.
4. To get a free card.
5. To gain information.

The two main reasons to raise before the flop are when you think you have the best hand and want to get more money in the pot, or when you want to narrow the field.

Bigger Pots
If you have the best hand, you want to get as much money into the pot as possible. Before the flop this includes your big pairs like Aces and Kings. Don't hesitate to raise or re-raise these hands. A pair of Aces is the strongest hand you can hold before the flop and a pair of Kings is the second best hand. These big pairs will not always hold up, especially against a lot of players. For this reason you want to get as much money in the pot for the times when they do hold up to win.

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• Bigger Poker Pots (0)
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