Calling when you have the winning hand.

i_rie

Being a new player. I have come across a scenario that I need some advice on. I am holding an A6. The flop is 8-6-6. I am certain at this point that i have the winning hand but I dont want to let anyone know and discourage the players from raising, so I call every raised bet all the way to the river. I win the pot.

My reasoning to calling instead of raising is it gives other players a chance to think that they have better cards then me and after seeing me call their raises, encourages them to keep raising.

Please share your opinions on this sort of play and how I can improve.

Thank you to all.

DrTyore

Well, someone should offer some help

Did you play this particular hand well? Maybe.. this is where the cards are kinda the least important thing in your hand for making money... you have a hand that is probably going to win more often than not - the biggest determinants as to how much you pull in is A: The other people's hands and B: Psychology.

Mike Caro once said, in poker Math is nothing and Psychology is everything. The things that are going to make you money in scenarios like this aren't your cards, but your understanding of the psychology of the game. That only comes with experience and awareness (awareness being necessary for the experience to make a fuck of difference - tonnes of players without it play for years and still play like ass).

Some basic things to be aware of? What is your table image? Are you tight? Loose? Aggressive? Passive? This hand screams loose passive to me, but I don't know how you saw the flop with A-6. Knowing how other people see you and your play is crucial for manipulating them and coaxing money from them.

What are they other players like - same qualifiers up there - changes how you play them. What has the game been like? Splashy? Nitty? Has the game just started and you have a chance to set a tone? Is it winding down, and if you stack someone you may break the game? Is this a game you WANT broken (i.e. are you going to be the best at the table or worst?).

When you consider these kinda things, your "reasoning" of giving players a chance to think their cards are better is either spot on brilliant, or laughably ignorant. So, you kinda have to answer your own question - if you can.

Mark

ReefAquarium

i_rie;371354 wrote
Please share your opinions on this sort of play and how I can improve.

Thank you to all.

Mark's points above are good!

You're doing the right thing to improve by asking questions.

For the most part Low level poker is about betting for value.

Most of the time doing anything except betting for value is wrong.

There are rare times when you should slowplay. When do you think you should slow play?

pkrfce9

mark you can't answer the question until you have the relevant details. isn't there a post somewhere that tells someone how to describe a hand properly? so a really useful response can be given?

i_rie

I dont remember the whole river, or have read the post about describing hands. My question was more about if I shouldve raised. Now that i read it over it does seem like im a passive player only playing good hands and folding after having no luck on the flop.

Come to think of it I dont know anything about poker lol. other then the cards.:-[

pkrfce9

come to Brampton next Thursday

Bfillmaff

i_rie;371445 wroteMy question was more about if I shouldve raised. [

When you have a big hand, raising is almost always better than calling. If you decide to just call, make sure you have a specific reason for it. An example of good reason would be if you know your opponent is prone to making a big bluff on the end but think he would fold if you raised yourself. Don't just assume this though, you need solid evidence from previous hands. This illustrates Mark's point above about collecting information throughout the game!

trigs

you guys are very nice for trying to answer OP's question (pkrfce9, you are not nice, but at least you're funny >:D).

pkrfce9

The truth hurts

tapatalk puts this here to annoy YOU