Bloggers / Matthew Pitt / 19 November 2008 / Leave a comment

Anyone who plays poker know they have a choice of calling, folding or raising during a hand but few beginners know there are several reasons why a player should be raising the action. Raising not only gives you a chance to win the pot, as your opponent may fold, but it is also fun to do too, everyone loves splashing chips around! For the purpose of this article, an opening bet will be counted as a raise.

The main reason people raise is to get more money into the pot when they have what they think is the best hand. Preflop, a player who looks down to find a pair of Aces in the hole is very likely to raise once the action gets to him as AA is the best starting hand in Hold'em. Likewise, a player may opt to raise holding 99 on a board that reads A93 as his set is very likely to be the best hand and he wants to extract the most money he can from the hand.

Raising can also be used to force people out of the pot when you have a made hand but there are a lot of draws on the board. For example, your pair of kings may be the best hand on a flop of 8s 7s 2d but with a flush and straight draw available, it is likely that the kings could be outdrawn by the river. Raising here may not shake off the players holding the draws but it will charge them the maximum.

Free cards do not come very often but you can essentially buy on by raising. If you raise the action on the flop or turn, most opponents, if they called the raise, will check to you on the next street giving you the option to see the next card for free. This is particularly useful when you have a big draw.

Poker is a game of incomplete information and making a raise can sometimes give you more information about the strength of your opponents hand. If someone has made an opening raise and a continuation bet on a the flop, a simple raise will soon let you know if the player has a made hand or is just splashing around.

Another popular reason for raising the action is if you are bluffing or semi-bluffing at the pot. If a player raises with an inferior or a drawing hand it is possible that a player with a made hand will fold. In the case of the semi-bluff, if the raising player does get called, he will still have a number of outs to improve to a better hand.

Whilst many players at the micro and small stakes games use the rational "I have two cards, both are diamonds, they are pretty, I like pie. I raise!" a more accomplished player will be using one of the reasons above when announcing they are about to raise.

Related Articles
Closing out satellites - Sorel Mizzi
Balancing your game - Marcus Bateman