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Tips on When to Call, Bet, Raise and Fold

In the early part of the Texas Hold'em poker game, after the blinds make their move and each of the players have been dealt with their pocket cards, the foremost question in the minds of all the players is this: "Should I enter the hand or not?"

In making a decision on whether one should enter the hand or not, the poker player should consider two important things. These are the value of his cards and his position at the poker table. Considering these two things is vital due to Texas Hold'em's unique features, which are not found in other poker variants. To help the poker player in such a game, here are some tips.

- Have a deep well for patience - This implies that the first trait that a poker player should develop is infinite patience. Based on statistics, there are too few starting hands that are playable. This means that most of the time, one receives weak pocket hands that should be folded. And one can receive weak hands all the time for perhaps more than two hours. Therefore, within those hours, one should patiently wait for the good pocket cards. And one should not be tempted to bet in TowerBet out of boredom.

- Be careful of hands that appear stronger than they really are - One must remember that the value of one's hands is different when one is up against few opponents and when one is playing at a poker table which is full of players. For example, getting two suited cards sounds good but statistics numerically tell that flushes are rare. The majority of winners in Texas Hold'em are those who formed a high pair.

- Raises are costly - To raise is a good move when one is holding premium or strong cards. Otherwise, one should forget raising before the flop. Raising before the flop is costly. And one can safely assume that one who did raise pre-flop is holding those coveted premium hands, usually a high pair.

- With premium hands, raise - One's position at the poker table takes a less significant role when one is already holding premium hands. With a pair of Aces, raising is good even at the early position. Raising will intimidate most players to fold out of the game. And this increases the chances of winning. Raising at the late position is also beneficial because the players who already called will not want to fold. And they build the pot.

- Play drawing hands only when there are many players - The number of players increases the value of the drawing hand, but this will still depend on one's position at the table. If at the late position and the opponents have called but have not raised, then one should enter the hand. If players at the early position made bets and players at the mid-position folded, leaving only 3 or 4 players, then one might as well fold. Those who made bets at the early position probably have strong or premium cards.

The above tips are hoped to help the poker player decide whether he should enter the hand or not in a game of Texas Hold'em.