There are many ways to play poker, but perhaps the best way to explain how to win, is to raise, and to raise often. Raising the pot can produce two outcomes that can be extremely advantageous.
The most important aspect of raising is to force other players out of the pot. Against more than two opponents, even a great hand like pocket rockets will have a hard time standing its own ground after the flop. Your goal should be to force the other players to fold, and try to squeeze as much money as you can from the players that are left. The optimal scenario is in either a single caller or folded hands throughout the table.
Assuming that the raiser started with a pretty good hand, a good raise is the only way in which you will be able to build the pot. There's nothing more beautiful than to hold a great hand that needs help like As-Ks when an ace hits on the flop of a raised pot. This gives you top pair with top kicker, and it's a nice spot to be in. If you were to raise this hand up to three or four times the big blind and were greeted with two callers, just like that, you'd stand to win at least 12 or more big bets. As long as it's well timed, this move can even be done with air (absolutely nothing) against the right opponents.
Raising can also intimidate your opponents when it is done at the right time. Raising the pot when there is already a bet thrown down is a sign of strength and it forces all the other players to have an extra special hand in order to stay in the game. As long as it's well timed, this move can even be done with air (absolutely nothing) against the right opponents.
A player that calls too often will have to work hard to produce a winning game or playing style. The problem with calling is that it provides no information for what types of hands you may be up against. Calling players don't know if they are up against the nuts, a weak draw, or nothing at all. A savvy player will value-bet you to death when they have you beat, and when they don't, they'll always look for a discounted rate to chase their straight or flush draw. The only advantage to being the type of player who calls often is that players will avoid bluffing you like an incurable disease.
Calling too often presents another problem. It forces the player to have the best hand every time they play down to a showdown, where the cards must be exposed. This is a very difficult thing to do more than 50 percent of the time and nearly impossible to do more than 60 percent of the time. Since poker is such a guessing game with incomplete information, nobody is that good at being right. It would be amazing if the technology was present to look back on every playing session just as if it were taped and edited for TV like the World Poker Tour, where all of the cards were exposed. If you watch the show, you'll routinely see players win pots without having the best hand. They are winning these pots by raising them up, rarely by calling. Calling has its place but should always be used in moderation in favor of the more dangerous raising option.
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