by Edward Hall

Created on: February 10, 2010

"It is sound judgment to put on a bold face and ply your hand for a hundred times what its worth; forty-nine times out of fifty nobody dares to 'call', and you roll in the chips."
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

I have seen people who play like that and, in point of fact, there is some truth to it. But my favorite quote on gambling from Mark Twain goes something like, "I don't gamble I play poker."

Poker is a three fold game and you play all three at the same time. Of course it is a card game and you play your cards, it is also a psychological game where you try to assert yourself psychologically and control your opponents to your benefit and it is a game of money management. All three of these games require an iron discipline. On any given day the player who disciplines him or her self better will win at poker.

So how do you establish that control over yourself and your play? Because it is three games let me speak to each one separately and let me start with a poker truism. "Don't call if you can't raise."

If you intend to play serious poker that little phrase should be your watch words. "Don't call if you can't raise." No matter whether the game is Hold 'em, one of the variants of stud or draw I will not call you if I cannot raise. What I mean is, given my position at the table, the status of bets coming to me, the size of my stack, the size of the pot and, last but least, my cards; if I would not feel comfortable raising I do not call. Going a little further, if I am the first person to act (either I am "Under the Gun" sitting next to the dealer or everyone else has folded) I will not go in for a call. I will either fold or raise.

Like everything else, in poker the more accurate information you have the better decisions you will make. If I raise the bet three times the Ante or the Big Blind and get two callers I know that they at least believe they have a good hand. If I have watched these players carefully I can make an informed judgement concerning what range of hands they might have.

Also, if I make a substantial raise on the first betting and the situation seems appropriate I can make a "continuation bet" on the second betting round and drive out what are possibly stronger hands. This bet is called a continuation bet because you are continuing off your raise.

The next game, the psychological game, requires a special discipline of its own. You sit at a poker table and people talk about all manner of things. After they fold they do everything

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