PreFlop Betting Strategies Calling before the Flop     Calling that first bet is the one of the most important decisions you will make during a hand of poker, as when you do decide to call you will almost always have to put more money in the pot after that.     The cost of voluntarily calling the blind when you don’t have a premium hand adds up over the course of a game. Remember, a dollar saved is worth just as much to you as any dollar you could win.     In late positions you can call with average to good hands but in early positions you will need a very good hand to call. For long term success, the trick is to consistently play the hands that you think have the most chance of improving to the best hand by the showdown. Raising before the Flop     In a lot of cases a good thing that you can do to immediately improve your game is to not routinely call pre-flop raises unless you have a genuine raising hand. This will impact on your game as there is usually a lot of pre-flop raising, especially in the average low limit game.     When you do raise, you should do so only with genuinely premium hands and not with hands that you figure to be already beaten before the flop. This is especially true when you are in a very late position as very few players will throw away their hands when they know they only have to call one bet to see the flop. Don’t forget - a raise in an early position will tend to narrow the field while a raise in a late position will tend to build the pot.

Hold'em Strategy - Seat Position - Pre Flop Strategy - Flop Plays - Turn and River - Bluffing Strategy

* This article compliments of Pacific Poker