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Old 10-27-2007, 08:19 AM
AaronBrown AaronBrown is offline
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: New York
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Default Re: \"Betting only when you will be called by worse\"

In addition to the answers you have so far, I'd like to expand on a point Gonso made. You always want a reason if you put money in the pot, otherwise you're gambling, not playing poker. There are only two things a bet can do for you:

(1) Get a weaker hand to call
(2) Get a stronger hand to fold

Most players devote their energy to figuring the chances that the other hand is stronger or weaker. That's fine, but you'll be wrong a lot, and with good players on most hands, you'll have only a slight hunch one way or the other.

It's much easier to guess whether someone will raise, call or fold to a certain-sized bet with a certain hand. I don't know if you have the nuts, but I know you'll raise with them. Good poker is much more about thinking the possibilities through than predicting other players' hands. You can't control whether the other guy's got you beat, but you can save money when he does and get extra money when he doesn't if you make the right bets at the right time.

Even more basic than the rule you mentioned is: know if you're betting to get a call or betting to get a fold. When you think about that, it's often obvious whether or not to bet; and in no-limit, what the bet size should be.
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