To Bet, Check, Raise or Fold; that is the question. Players from an online poker background get used to that little ticker forcing them to make a fast decision, so it is impossible for them to fully consider all factors that go into a poker decision consciously. Fortunately for successful players they play so much volume that they know through instinct the right move to make without delving to deeply into the reasons behind it. A little like how a chess player approaches speed chess. We are going to take a step back and consider the reasons behind some of our plays, allowing us to learn poker strategy that we might miss if we continue to act fast and think faster.

If a player suddenly jumped out at you and put a gun to your head and said “Why did you make that play”, apart from being a little startled you should know instantly how to answer. Many players, however, would mumble something about getting the other player to fold or making a continuation bet without much conviction. Here is a great example.

You hold KK. You raise 3 times the big blind and receive one caller from the small blind. The flop is Ah-3h-Jc. The player checks, you make the continuation bet. Why are you doing this? Have you asked why the player is calling a raise from the small blind, the worst spot on the table? Perhaps you should consider checking and firing the turn protecting your kings. Would the player ever flat call with less than a raggy Ace here? Some players make the continuation bet here simply because they have kings. They will agonise and perhaps make a big fold if they are raised but in most cases they think “That would be so unlucky if he has an Ace” and they continue. This is bad playing on all counts, they have not thought enough about the situation.

Bets are deceptive. A player using the approach of “seeing where I am” can make a feeler bet which is going to get folds from the weak hands and calls from the stronger hands. This same bet could be, however, a good player betting for value. The key is in the bet sizes. Providing your thought process is accurate you will make the right decision. As I have mentioned in previous articles, sometimes the wrong thoughts can lead to the right move but ultimately this type of inaccurate thinking will cost you money.

Professionals say that you should always know why you are betting. If your coach or a friend identifies one bet that you made where you are not sure why you made it this is a major problem in your poker game. You may be betting believing you are ahead, you may be betting to set up a bluff. There are so many reasons why a bet or check can be made that you need to know why this course of action is best for this spot. Look for a reason to fold the hand, as this saves you bets when you can see you are behind. If there is no reason to fold, bet!

When you decide that you must value bet then you need to collect in your mind a list of all the hands that could be beating you in this spot, and the hands that you can be beating. Providing there are more hands you can beat than not in the situation then you can decide the correct bet size to take into account getting calls from some of these hands that are beaten. You can over bet the situation to shield your own hand strength or you can focus on getting a call thus offering better pod odds with a smaller bet.

You can even use reverse psychology against a good player giving him good pot odds in a spot where you actually want them to fold. This apparently transparent play can get a good player to fold (providing the call is not mathematically required) as he will think “He wants a call, he obviously has a great hand” and then they fold. This is, however, advanced poker and you should master the basics first. The key thing is to always know why you are making the play you are making and act with purpose at all times.

By Malcolm Clarke

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