raise shortens the odds |Poker Strategy|

Another thing to remember is that every raise shortens the odds. Here is a simple illustration based on the game mentioned before. You have a $1 ante by the dealer, a $1 blind opening by A, and a $2 blind raise by B. If C opens (in effect) by raising to $3, and all the others drop, B can come in for $1 and get 7 to 1 on his money. There is $7 in the pot and he need put in only $1. If another player raises to $4, the pot goes up to $11, but it costs him $2 to stay and now he is getting only 52 to 1. And so on, every time there is a raise.

Some authorities advocate adopting a strict system and sticking to it. That would be excellent if there were such a system, but I'm afraid there isn't. A system can cover precisely the times when you should play or raise or drop, but it can't cover the questions of judgment that are bound to arise sooner or later whether or not to call, whether or not someone is bluffing or underestimating his hand. You can lose enough by misjudging these situations to offset the advantages of the system.

The most nearly foolproof system I have seen is the one advocated by the excellent poker writer and player who writes under the name of Jack King. He applies it to table-stakes stud. If he plays at all, it is because he believes he has the best hand at the time, and then he pushes in his entire stack.. If his appraisal of his hand is correct (as it almost always will be), he has the best chance of winning.

This is a simple application of the rule that the best hand going in will probably be the best hand coming out. But there is the social drawback (in an informal game the other players probably won't like this system); and possibly they can beat the system anyway by calling only when they are pretty sure you have overrated your hand. If they learn to do this, your winning pots are mostly peanuts, and you can lose back a lot when you go wrong.