All-in,
small blind, big-blind or bankroll are some of the terms you first learn in
poker. However, as you can imagine, poker has a whole glossary of its own that
only enriches this popular card game.
In today's
article, we will focus on explaining the meaning of three very common poker terms,
which share their relationship with the actions taken after a betting round:
call, bet and raise.
Knowing
these terms will not only increase your theoretical knowledge about poker, but
it will also help you to know how to bet in poker and to manage better
on the green carpet. Do you want to improve your game? Don't miss the
information below.
Call is one
of the basic poker terms. As you may know, during a betting round, after
one player has made its move, the next player can either check, call or raise.
In case the
player decides to match a raise, the term call is used. Let's see an example:
Imagine that your opponent has decided to place a bet of €5. If you call, you
will put on the table exactly the same amount, €5.
What
does it mean to call poker? At the moment the bets are matched, the continuity of the round is
guaranteed. If you are already on the river, when you call your opponents'
bets, you will face them in the showdown, that is, the final moment of the game
when the cards are shown.
When to
call in poker? The
truth is that the most experienced players tend to avoid this move. It is
usually justified based on your position, for example, if you are the small
blind, calling the big blind usually pays off, since you have already had to
put money on the table.
However, if
in the preflop you have not had to invest any of your bankroll because of your
position at the table, and you find yourself with a very unpromising hand, it
is not advisable to match the big blind. If you do so, it is known as cold
call.
At this
point, it is also worth clarifying one of the most popular expressions related
to this term: call station. In poker, when we talk about call station,
we refer to a player who is characterized by playing many hands that tends to
call, that is to say, he does not raise the bet and does not fold either.
Generally,
this is a passive and weak type of player, that is to say, a
fish. A very appreciated rival among those who have already mastered this card
game because he is very predictable and tends to lose the vast majority of his
hands.
Once we
have clarified what it is call in poker, we now address the terms bet
and raise, which, although similar, mean different things.
In a
betting round, bet is the action of waging our chips by placing them into the
center of the table.
The term
bet is generally used to describe a situation where we make the first wager
on the current betting round, either because the player is located directly
to the left of the dealer, so he is the first to speak, or because another
player has checked, that is, has passed, and has left the course of the game in
the hands of the next player.
However,
just as you have to think very well when to call in poker, you also have to measure
your bets very well. The truth is that you can find different bets in poker.
One of the most famous types of bets and one that arouses more interest among
players is what is known as a three-bet.
A three-bet
poker happens when a player raises preflop and another player raises again.
Here, we would be facing a 3-bet. In case of successive re-raises, we
would be talking about 4-bet, 5-bet...
Another of
the most famous bets is the so-called continuation bet. This type of bet
corresponds to the one that takes place on the flop and aims to cow the
opponents.
Imagine
that you bet on the preflop hoping that the flop would be favorable to you.
However, it has failed you. The smartest move would be to continue to
pretend that you have a good hand, so you make a continuation bet, as a
bluff, in order to push back your opponents.
If you are
familiar with online poker, you probably already know this term. If you raise
in poker, basically, you are increasing the size of an existing bet in the
same betting round. A player making the second (not counting the open) or subsequent
raise of a betting round is said to re-raise.
When to raise
in poker? As you
can imagine, a good time to raise is when you have a good hand. However, this
is not always the case. Many players raise poker as a bluff, i.e., to give the
impression to their opponents that they have a strong hand.
Raising in
poker is always risky, unless you have a combination of cards that really
justifies increasing the bet. It is also interesting to raise if you have
detected a fish at your table or if you are facing a passive tigh profile,
i.e., a player who only bets if he has a good hand and, moreover, does it in
small amounts.
Now that
you know what these basic poker terms mean and when to make one or the other
move, it is much easier to establish the differences between them.
Broadly
speaking, we can conclude that bet is the first wager of a round, call is to match
a raise and raise is to increase the size of an existing bet. Depending on
factors such as your position at the table, the profiles of your opponents and,
of course, the hand that accompanies you during the game, you will have to
opt for one move or another.
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