Debunking the Myth of "Raise or Fold"

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There's a saying that goes around in Texas Hold'em that if your hand is strong enough to call, then you should raise. If it isn't, you should fold. Basically, it's a black and white method of looking at poker, where calling is regarded as weak because you are no putting someone to a decision.

For the hardcore, this might make sense in some weird logical sort of way. To the likes of me and you, this is how you end up loosing money. In Hold'em, there are many cases where you will be wanting to see the pot for as cheap as possible. Raising is detrimental to your own good because you may be raising the pot-odds against your favor, while folding is bad solely because you can't win pots if you aren't there for a showdown.

Examples of times where you may want to call instead of raise, is when you are on the draw and you have a feeling someone else is holding an overpair against you. The board reads A/T/9 and you are holding JQo, with no flush possibility. You and another player are the only ones left in the pot. He's under the gun and immediately raises the pot. You've got him figured for top pair or at least a high pocket pair. Either way, you have an open-ended straight draw, which means you are a 1:1.2 underdog to win the pot. If there's $12 in the pot, and you are playing $3/6 structured, it's going to be a $6 call, which puts the pot odds at 2:1. If you *raise* however, you are then putting it a $12 raise to a $12 pot, which if he calls, makes that a 18:12 ratio of pot money to your money, or 1.5:1 pot odds.

You can easily see that 2:1 pot odds are better than 1.5:1 pot odds. Now, someone with the "Raise or fold" dogma will tell you that you can scare the guy with top pair out of the pot. In theory, yes, maybe if he's a weak player or extremely tight. Most likely, you'll be able to paralyze him if he actually does hold an ace. In the event that he's bluffing, a re-raise actually *WOULD* be the correct play, because that would leave him with no where to go but the muck. But if you could do that, you probably wouldn't be having to read this article. Being able to put a man to his hand is quite an ability in and of itself. At most tables you play at however, re-raising is only going to get you called on.

So, now you know not to play the "Raise or Fold" mentality. It is advantageous to play agressive, as you need to win more pots than you should be able to win statistically in order to make any money at poker, but don't play like a cannon. Be agressive, not dumb.

Until next time. May you dominate with pocket Aces over pocket Kings :) This has been another Texas Hold'em Poker Guide by the Tex.

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