Raising on the Internet
On the Internet, you have the option of using the "in turn" buttons to select your
move even before your opponents have acted. I do not recommend the use of
these "in turn" buttons unless you are going to fold. However, some of your
opponents will use them, so it is important to recognize when they have used them
and what it might possibly indicate about the strength of their hand.
It is easy to recognize when someone has selected one of these buttons since their
move will occur almost instantaneously after the player before them.
The chips enter the pot at practically the same time. This is very different than
someone just acting quickly, since in this case they are selecting move after their
opponent has acted. Let's discuss some of the reasons why a player might raise
instantaneously.
The first reason someone might raise instantaneously is the obvious one. They
have a strong hand and decide to raise no matter what happens before them. For
example, if a middle player limps in preflop, the next player quickly raises, and the
cutoff reraise instantaneously, the cutoff probably has a super premium hand since
he was going to raise or reraise no matter what happened before him.
Sometimes players use reverse psychology to bully you into calling their strong
hands. They want you to think, "He would never raise so fast with a good hand, so
he might be bluffing." Opponents generally have a strong hand whenever they raise
instantaneously on the turn or river and to some extent preflop. This is an online tell
common with many opponents. These tell is even stronger on the river, where I find
an instantaneous raise almost always means the nuts or close to it.
However, this tell is not nearly as useful on the flop. Many opponents will raise
instantaneously on the flop as a semi-bluff with two overcards or some other type of
draw; therefore, they could have a strong hand or are just trying for a free card. In
these cases on the flop, it is important to observe your opponent's individual
tendencies. This online tells and others are discussed further in the
"Online Tells" chapter towards the end of the book.
One last comment about raising on the Internet. As we discussed before, players
tend to play more deceptively online than they do in a live game. Many players
believe check-raising is impolite in a home game, whereas players on the
Internet check-raise all of the time. Maybe they check-raise more since they don't have to
face their opponent. This causes a small adjustment in your strategy when
compared to live play. On the Internet, you should be more careful betting in late
position with weak hands than you would in a live game since there is a better
chance one of your opponents might check-raise.
Review
There are five main reasons to raise in Hold'em:
You feel you have the best chance at winning the pot.
- You want your opponents to fold their drawing hands, or make a mistake by calling.
- You are getting good pot odds to try a bluff or semi-bluff.
- You want to try for a free card.
- You want to determine the strength of your hand relative to your opponents.
One goal in poker is to give your opponents opportunities to make mistakes. When
your opponents are correct to call just a single bet, raising is sometimes a good
strategy to decrease your opponents' pot odds and force them to cither
fold or make a mistake by calling.
Bad beat hands are not nearly as disastrous as most poker players think.
When an opponent draws to a hand that he shouldn't, yet still wins, think of all the extra bets
you are earning on the times when he doesn't hit his hand.
There are several reasons why check-raising is sometimes a better strategy than
betting out or checking and calling:
-
To drive out opponents
- To give your opponents a chance to make a mistake by calling
- To induce a bet by an opponent with a weak hand
- To put more money in the pot with the best hand
- To increase your pot odds on your good drawing hands
- To try and win the pot on a semi-bluff
In order for a check-raise to be successful, you need to be fairly confident that one
of your opponents will bet. Giving a free card when you have the best hand can be disastrous.
There are several benefits to check-raising in terms of advanced play:
-
You prevent opponents from always stealing the pot after you have checked.
- You will be able to steal more pots by betting out on the next card when all of
your opponents have checked.
- You might gain a free card to help you win the hand.
Considerations on the Internet:
-
On the Internet, you have the option of using the "in turn" buttons.
Select your move even before your opponents have acted so then your move
occurs almost instantaneously after your opponent.
-
Opponents generally have a strong hand when they raise instantaneously on
the turn or river and to some extent preflop.
-
An instantaneous raise on the flop is not a very good tell as some opponents
raise with strong hands or as a semi-bluff with two over-cards or sonic other type of draw.
-
Players tend to play more deceptively than they do in a live game and check-raise more often; therefore, you should be more careful betting in late
position than you would in a live game.
NEXT...Deceptive Tactics
