Raise or Fold?

There are many situations in hold'em where you should either raise or fold, and simply calling is wrong. Many players call because they are unsure about what to do. They find themselves in an unclear situation with a decent hand, so they compromise by calling. They see folding as an irreversible reaction, and they fear raising is overplaying their hand, so they call. But calling is frequently the worst thing they can do. Playing good poker involves decisiveness, and calling is usually avoiding a decision. The following set of hands discusses some of these "raise or fold" situations. Since these hands were taken from live play, not all of the actions leading up to the problem in question are necessarily correct, but most of them are reasonable.

Hand No. 1 (Any middle-limit game): You are on the button. Everyone folds to you. What should you do?

Answer: This is a classic raise or fold situation regardless of your hand. If you have a hand that rates to be the best against two random hands and you want to play, you should raise. Just calling is dangerous, because you are giving the blinds a cheap/free flop, and you can easily be overtaken once the flop comes. In most cases, you should be happy if both blinds fold and you win the blind money. Some experts have argued that if the blinds will call 100 percent of the time, you should frequently just open-limp from the button with hands like small pocket pairs, small suited connectors, and ace-little offsuit. Their argument for open-limping is that these hands simply don't play well when the flop misses you, so you should avoid committing too much money preflop in these situations. Space does not permit a detailed discussion of the pros and cons of this advice. But I think it is rare to find two blinds who would call 100 percent of the time with any two cards. For example, I don't know of any regular player who would call a raise from the small blind with a hand like 8-2 offsuit.

Hand No. 2 (A tough middle- or high-limit game): You are in early position with no one having opened. What should you do?

Answer: This is another raise or fold situation, depending on your hand. Open-limping from early position is usually a bad idea in tough games. When you limp, you are telling the rest of the table that you have a medium pocket pair or two good-sized cards. With a pair, you are about a 7-to-1 dog to flop a set or better, and most of the time overcards to your pair will flop. With two big unpaired cards, you are about a 2-to-1 dog to catch a flop you will like. The other players will read the situation, and one of them will frequently isolate you with a raise. This will be followed up with a flop bet, and you will have to fold most of the time unless you get lucky and catch a flop you like.

Hand No. 3 ($30-$60 game): You open with a raise from early position with the 10 10u. A middle-position player and the cutoff call. The button and the small blind fold. The big blind three-bets. Everyone calls. There is $380 in the pot and four players. The flop arrives with the 9u 6 3, giving you an overpair. The big blind comes out betting. You are worried that he has A-A, K-K, or Q-Q, but you cannot be sure. What should you do?

Answer: Raise or fold. Don't call. I would usually raise in this situation, but if you are certain that the big blind would not three-bet preflop without aces, kings, or queens, you should fold, since the pot odds are not there to play two outs. On the other hand, if you think the big blind would play this way with A-K offsuit, A-Q suited, or some other hand, you should raise. I have seen many players simply call in this spot as a compromise. If you are going to play, it is critical that you eliminate opponents who may have overcards to your pocket pair. By calling, you are allowing the other two players to see the turn cheaply, making you vulnerable to any jack, queen, king, or ace.

Hand No. 4 ($10-$20 game): You are on the button with the Q Q. An early-position player limps in. You raise, and both blinds plus the limper call. There is $80 in the pot and four players. The flop is A 2 2. Both blinds check. The early limper bets. What should you do?

Answer: Fold or raise. Calling just invites a fourth-street bet to which you must fold anyway unless a queen arrives. In general, folding is right, since your opponent probably has an ace, but he might even have a deuce. Regardless, you are playing two outs when this is the case. A raise might be considered against a tricky player, a lunatic, or a goofy player who is capable of bizarre moves. A raise may drive out the other two players, which is nice when your hand is the best and you can thin the field. But against normal players, it is a fold.

Hand No. 5 (Any middle-limit game): You are on the button. It is folded to the cutoff, who opens with a raise. What should you do?

Answer: This is another raise or fold situation. Don't cold-call. If you think the cutoff may be stealing, and you have a hand that you wish to play, you should three-bet to drive out the blinds and get heads up with position. If you know the cutoff is raising with a good hand because he has no gamble in him and doesn't make steal-raises, you should probably fold unless you have a hand that you would normally three-bet.

Hand No. 6 ($30-$60 game): You are in the cutoff seat with the 10 10. You open with a raise. Only the blinds call. There is $180 in the pot and three players. The flop is 8 4 4, giving you an overpair. It is checked to you and you bet. The small blind raises, and the big blind three-bets. What should you do?

Answer: Either four-bet or fold. Calling a double raise is the worst option. This is still a situation of a steal-type, late-position raiser vs. the blinds. By four-betting, you could get one player out, which protects you from overcards, creates dead money, and increases your winning chances. If someone had a 4, they might have waited until a later street to reveal themselves. If you continue to get heat on the hand, you can fold on a later street. But based on what has happened so far, you cannot simply assume that your hand is no longer good. At this level in these situations, guys will raise and even reraise with a worse hand than yours, like a big 8 or a pair of nines. On the other hand, if you are convinced that you are beat based on what you know about the particular players, you should fold rather than pay two bets to play two outs. But the worst thing you can do is simply call because "you don't know where you're at."

Hand No. 7 ($30-$60 game): You open with a raise from middle position with the A 10. Two players sitting to your left have just returned and posted blinds. They both fold. Only the big blind calls. There is $240 in the pot and two players. The flop is 7 5 2u, leaving you with two overcards and a backdoor nut-flush draw. The big blind bets. You call. There is $300 in the pot. The turn is the 6, giving you the nut-flush draw. Your opponent bets. You consider raising as a semibluff, but after just calling the flop bet, it is harder to represent some kind of made hand when the turn card appears to be a blank. You reason that a raise will not win the pot outright, so you decide to call. There is $420 in the pot. The river is the K. Your opponent bets. What should you do?

Answer: Calling is pointless. Surely your opponent can beat ace high. The king at the river may be a good scare card, since there are many hands with which you might open-raise from middle position that contain a king. A bluff-raise has to work about one time in four to show a profit. Of course, most of the time you will get called, and if your assessment of the situation is that a bluff-raise won't work, you should fold.

Editor's note: Jim Brier has co-authored a new book with Bob Ciaffone entitled Middle Limit Holdem Poker. It is available through Card Player.