Poker's Powerful Weapon

Anyone who makes a success at playing poker will have to amass a bag full of weapons in order to hold off the competition.

A poker player's game changes over the years according to the power of his arsenal. But there is one weapon in his bag that, if handled correctly, will be the deciding factor in determining where the money flows.

I am talking about the power of the raise.

Like many of our website members, I have viewed those late night poker tournaments on television. I have watched the world's best poker players and studied their moves carefully to determine what gives them the edge over their competition.

For a long time, I wondered about their raises. A player would enter a pot with a so-so hand and automatically plunk down a raise. That sometimes forced other players with borderline hands to fold. But the raise almost always came when a player entered the pot.

I started thinking about those raises. Then I had a couple of losing sessions at poker and wondered how I could have turned those sessions into winners.

And I concluded it was because I had not used the power of the raise to thin out my competition.

Any hand worth calling is worth raising.

Let me repeat those words for you. If you are coming into a pot with your money, don't just call. Raise!

And here is another tip. Some players make a habit of putting in a small raise in a no-limit game. That nibble is usually snapped up by other players who will call with almost any two cards, hoping for a miracle flop.

When a player makes a small raise, I look at one of my cards. If I see an ace or a king, I re-raise without checking the second card.

The re-raise accomplishes two things. It makes me somebody to be reckoned with and it makes other players who called the first raise with borderline hands to toss their cards into the muck.

This is vital if you want to win at poker, folks. He who commands the betting usually ends up with the pot. Not always, but it happens often enough to make a sizable difference in the size of your bankroll.

When I make that re-raise and the other players call, I am hoping for a garbage flop. Say a pair of threes and a seven. I don't want to see high cards that could end up pairing the callers.

But even if a high card comes, I still have an ace in the hole. I haven't looked at my second card. If I find a king or an ace, I have a powerful hand and can play accordingly.

If you were a professional golfer, you have a certain club for each shot that will give you the maximum leverage over the golf course and your opponents. Think of the raise and especially the double-raise as the club that will get the job done. It could turn out to be the most powerful weapon in your bag.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).