Posts Tagged ‘pocket cards’
Calling A Raise In Poker
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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Tags: online poker, pair of aces, pocket cards, strong hand
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