Watching the poker channel a few weeks back I was rocked by a really obvious thought process that, for some reason, has never occurred to me. I can only assume that when playing poker people get into a rut where they believe there are only a few options open pre flop. Call, Raise or Fold. Of course, this is true but the thought process makes you think a hell of a lot more about it than I ever did before. Here is the simple example and the questions to ask.
----Situation----
Blinds are £1/£2.
You get dealt a marginal hand e.g. Q,8 suited. You are sat in early position and move to call the big blind.
Questions to ask pre-flop:
Why are you calling?
Will you fold if somebody raises you £4,£5,£6,£7? etc...
How much are the cards in your hand really worth to you?
Chances are, if your hand is worth a call pre-flop it is probably worth a small raise pre-flop (especially in early position IMO) as this will get rid of other marginal hands and may even win the pot without seeing a card. If you think a Q,8 suited is worth £4 in a "I will call this up to £4 or I'm folding" kind of way then surely the better move is to put the £4 raise in yourself rather than calling for £2 and possibly facing off against more people post flop. Also, chances are that somebody else in later position will raise pre-flop if you don't where they may only call your raise. This gives you the appearance of strength whether it exists or not but probably puts you in an advantage mentally post-flop should a king or ace come out...
The same questions and mentality can be taken into account post-flop too. Obviously, you have already invested in the hand and before too many cards come out, you want to work out where you stand. You can now see 5 cards and you can pretty much work out your pot odds of getting a winning hand. Is your hand still marginal? Is your hand still worth anything. Are you still thinking of calling to a certain amount..?
Repeat on turn. Repeat on river. Questioning what you are going to do later in the hand should help you work out how you act now.
Think on.....
