When to raise and when to just call is an important part of the game. Raising is usually done in one of three situations. When the player has the best hand, when the draw has a number of winning possibilities like a flush draw or a full house draw and when the player is running a bluff. Players that keep this in mind are likely to make many winning bets and take down pots with less than the best hand. Players that are holding the possible nuts in a flush should raise when two suited cards are part of the first three to the flop. This may make other players fold or at least check on the next bet. If the flush is made, the pot is probably yours for the taking assuming there is no possible full house lurking for the river card to make. By playing the percentages the aggressive player can make the other players flinch and throw away their hand.

Reraise when you have the nuts and playing against an aggressive player. Reraise when you have a number of outs in the upcoming deal to the flop. Reraise when carrying out a bluff. Players that do not raise when given the hand to do so are walking by a lot of money that should be in the pot. Missing out on oversized pots is a huge mistake. Slow playing a raising hand is deadly in a limit game. It can work to your advantage in a NL game. Check raising is a favorite play by many poker players. Part of poker is deception and bluffing and those that do not have the heart to make the third or fourth bet are destined to never be a good bluffer.
Players that have that kind of heart are hard to beat as they would bet a winning hand exactly the same. This makes for a game that is like a cat and mouse game. Players that like to play NL are likely to like the ability to protect their hands by making significant bets at critical times. It is hard to call a big bet for an inside straight draw or even a one card flush draw. Some players are automatic calling stations except when playing NL. It is not hard to make a big bet, but it is much harder to call big bets. This is why aggression is paid off in NL play.

When playing Holdem or Omaha Hi Low the player that is patient about the hands they play is way ahead of the game. In Holdem a high pair or Ace King is a powerful starting hand and could well take down the pot. By waiting to play this kind of hand, the poker player puts the odds in their favor and hopes that the hand holds up or is improved. In Omaha Hi Low, the best starting hand is Ace deuce, Ace, King with one of the cards other than the Ace matching the Ace suit. This hand gives the player a chance for high or low. Waiting patiently for this starting hand is what good players do for long periods in cash games. Of course you can get lucky with any starting hand, the odds favor the player that waits and plays these starting hands.

Folding hand after hand also sets up a great bluff as the other players will assume if you call that you have a good starting hand. In either case, the player that plays this way is hard to beat as they rarely get out of line with a marginal hand. Conservative players will not get the action that action players get, but they will win more hands by playing conservatively. A raise by this type of player should be given credit for a good hand. They may be bluffing, but the call at this juncture is a risky call for most situations. the waiting game can get tedious for a poker player that craves action. This can be offset by playing suited connectors every now and then just to change the patient player image. Changing the style of play is the mark of a good player and will catch the other players off guard if the hand is a winner. Many big pots are won this way all of the time in poker games. High pairs or trips are not always the winner for any winning player that plays well. Playing the other player is an art form that good poker players master early and use with calculated effectiveness in a cash game. Winning a big pot with three threes is a heart pounding event at any poker table. Not all hands are equal, but a winning hand can be a lowly pair of deuces in the correct situation. Play the player sometimes and see if your reads on them are valid. In the long run this is a profitable way to play poker.

In Holdem, a pair of pocket aces are a strong but beatable hand to play. There are two ways to play this hand, A player can slow play it and hope to build a pot or they can come right out and bet the hand or raise. Slow playing aces is nerve racking as they can be easily outdrawn and then beaten. Players that do this will in the long run get more money out of the quality hand, but the player must be ready to get beaten. If someone goes all in before you, then you have an automatic call as you probably have his big pair beat. If the table is full and you have 4 or 5 callers, you must raise or be very careful with raises as the aces can be beat with that many callers. There are just to many possibilities against your aces with this many callers.

If you are the last to call with aces, the time to raise is upon you at this time in the game. A raise may push some players out of the hand and that is what you want as aces are best against few hands. Middle table position has to be a raise or slow play and hope the aces will hold up. The aces are strong but they can be outdrawn by one or more players. Betting them strong before the flop is the easiest way to play them and usually forces out weak drawing hands. Other players with pairs have the worst of it against aces.

If the flop gives you set, slow play the hand and hope someone else makes a hand. You will kill two pair or a set. The player with that hand is going to call you in most instances. Slow playing aces will get bigger pots, but the aces can be outdrawn if this is done. This is a feeling situation and not a math situation. Building pots when holding a quality hand is the secret to making money playing poker. Not doing this is going to cost the aces player a lot of money over time.

Players with a big pair against aces are trapped into playing a hand they wish they could get away from as they are at the mercy of the flop.

When playing Holdem or Omaha Hi Low the player that is patient about the hands they play is way ahead of the game. In Holdem a high pair or Ace King is a powerful starting hand and could well take down the pot. By waiting to play this kind of hand, the poker player puts the odds in their favor and hopes that the hand holds up or is improved. In Omaha Hi Low, the best starting hand is Ace deuce, Ace, King with one of the cards other than the Ace matching the Ace suit. This hand gives the player a chance for high or low. Waiting patiently for this starting hand is what good players do for long periods in cash games. Of course you can get lucky with any starting hand, the odds favor the player that waits and plays these starting hands.

Folding hand after hand also sets up a great bluff as the other players will assume if you call that you have a good starting hand. In either case, the player that plays this way is hard to beat as they rarely get out of line with a marginal hand.

Conservative players will not get the action that action players get, but they will win more hands by playing conservatively. A raise by this type of player should be given credit for a good hand. They may be bluffing, but the call at this juncture is a risky call for most situations. the waiting game can get tedious for a poker player that craves action. This can be offset by playing suited connectors every now and then just to change the patient player image. Changing the style of play is the mark of a good player and will catch the other players off guard if the hand is a winner. Many big pots are won this way all of the time in poker games. High pairs or trips are not always the winner for any winning player that plays well.

Playing the other player is an art form that good poker players master early and use with calculated effectiveness in a cash game. Winning a big pot with three threes is a heart pounding event at any poker table. Not all hands are equal, but a winning hand can be a lowly pair of deuces in the correct situation. Play the player sometimes and see if your reads on them are valid. In the long run this is a profitable way to play poker.