The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Why do we raise in the first place? I talked about playing strong hands and raising pre-flop, but it’s important to know why we do this and how it makes you a better, more successful player.

The main reason for raising is to protect your hand. When you have decent starting hands like pocket Aces or Kings, you don’t want to have everyone at the table call the minimum bet and see a cheap flop where they can catch lucky cards or draws. This is especially true with “calling stations”, usually beginners, who will play any two cards they are dealt. If other players are going to play junk, make them pay for the privilege of doing so. Weed out as many players as you can.

The next reason is to know where you stand. You can usually judge how strong your starting hand is by how many callers or re-raisers there are after your initial raise. For example, if you raise with Ace-Jack, then a second person raises you, then a third person re-raises both of you, with this information you’re probably going to think your Ace-Jack isn’t that strong anymore. More than likely at least one of the two players left in the pot has an Ace with a higher kicker, or is starting with a high pair like Aces, Kings, Queens or Jacks. You’d probably decide to fold (at least I would anyway) and in the process likely saved yourself losing any more chips.

The third reason is to simplify your read of the flop. What do I mean by this? Whenever there are players involved in a pot who called any raises, it usually means they are playing with a pair or two high cards so you can rationalize the types of hands they might be holding. For example, if you raise with Ace-King and you get called, and the flop comes 2-5-King, you can be pretty sure you are ahead with your top pair and top kicker. No one would usually call a raise with King-5, King-deuce, or deuce-5 (if they do, they are horrible players and you should always invite them back to your game), so you don’t have to worry about being beat by two pair. (It’s possible someone called with pocket deuces, fives or Aces in which case you would be beat, but in poker it’s rare you have the nuts at all times anyway so continue to play the hand).

The fourth reason is to isolate opponents. It is much easier to play a hand against one player instead of five. There’s no way you can bluff five opponents that are in a hand; someone has caught something in that situation so you either hit your flop or missed it and you play accordingly. But there’s a good chance if you’re playing against just one opponent, you can try to steal a pot if you didn’t pair up one of your two high cards or get the flush/straight draw you were looking for. Your bluff may not work, but there’s a greater chance of success when trying it against just one player.

The fifth reason is to win the hand right then and there. I tried this just last night: There were two callers with only the blinds left to act and myself, on the dealer button. Seeing that there was already a decent amount of chips to be won, I decided to try a raise with a mediocre hand (Jack-7 suited) and take the pot right there. If I was called, I’d still have a playable hand, and if I was re-raised, I'd throw it away. I raised three times the big blind, and sure enough, everyone folded and I took the chips! It’s gambling, but that’s what poker is all about.

Finally, perhaps the best reason to raise is to build the pot. You want to get paid off for your efforts! Winning chips is what makes you a winner, so when you hold a strong hand, it doesn’t matter much if you’re only winning pint-sized pots. Have the other players donate chips to your cause and crush them with your monster hand!

As I mentioned at the beginning, you don’t want to be too predictable and always raise when you have a good starting hand, mix it up a little and just flat call once in a while. I’ll discuss slow playing in my next column.