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Poker: Reasons to Raise and Call the Game
The most obvious reason to raise a bet is to drive opponents away. But there are other reasons such as those summarized by David Skansky's 1987 book The Theory of Poker:
To acquire more money in the pot when the player holds the best hand. By raising for value, a player with the best hand enables him to win a bigger pot.
Raising a call drives out your opponents because it gives out a message that you're holding a good hand. When a player has a made hand, raising a call protects his hand by intimidating opponents with drawing hands who, by contrast, improve to a better hand.
Raising a call is used to bluff or semi-bluff your opponents. If you raise a call with a weaker hand, you may deceptively put on a superior hand so they would fold. In semi-bluffs, if you call, you still have a chance to improve your hand and/or acquire a larger pot.
In cases when you raise with a drawing hand, your opponents may check on you on the next betting round, giving you a chance to get a free card and thus may improve your hand.
Raising also enables you to gain information. For instance, when you raise holding an uncertain hand, you gain information of your opponents' strength of hand if he is called. Players occasionally use opening bets on a later betting round to gain more information when called or raised.
You raise to drive out the worse hands especially when your own hand is only the second best. For instance, when you raise the bet with a second best hand, you scare your opponents away with worse hands so they would never have a chance to improve. This increases your chance to improve your own hand and a greater probability to win the game when your hand improves.
Raising a bet can be a form of isolation play. Raising drives out opponents who hold a drawing hand, or even holds a better hand. In this way, you raise solely as a bluff.
In addition to the reasons of raising a bet, the following are the reasons to call the bet:
You call for the bet to see more cards.
Calling a bet limits the loss in equity. It may be appropriate to call when a player enough pot odds to call but will lose equity on chips contributed to the pot.
Calling denies the original bettor the opportunity to add more on the pot and it denies him to re-raise.
You use calling the bet to conceal what your hand's strength is. When you have a strong hand, you're delivering a message that's uncertain.
You call to manipulate the pot odds. Calling usually induces opponents to overcall, thereby increasing the pot.
It is also used to set up a bluff for later betting rounds. This is also called as a long-ball bluffing.