Check-and-Call Checklist
You know, online poker players continually hear that a tight aggressive style is best to play at most tables. The act of calling a raise is criticized, with many pundits advising that it’s better to raise instead of call. If the hand is worth calling, it’s worth raising is the prevailing thought.
Aggression does win pots, but sometimes one has to temper their actions according to the board texture and other players. There are instances where first checking a hand, then calling a bet are appropriate and can finish to a win. Here a some of those situations:
* When you are up against overly aggressive, unpredictable poker online players. These types do bluff, and the best way to take chips off them is to call their raises rather than raising in front of them, which could chase them away. Keep them in the pot and let them be in charge of betting when you have a decent hand.
* When you have a drawing hand with enough outs to create good pot odds. Perhaps you are on the flush draw, with nine outs giving you slightly better than 5-1 odds. The pot is already more than five times the bet, so you’ve got the pot odds to call.
* If you sense your opponent is weak against your strong hand, then call the bet instead of raising with the goal of getting your opponent to put another bet into the pot on the river.
* You’ve hit the nuts, so slow play it. Keep every casino player you can in the pot. Don’t scare away anyone.
