Poker betting III
September 19th, 2008For a poker player, he is free to decide how to act when betting action takes place. One of the most important choices he has is raising. It is an important part of poker strategy to be able to read one’s hand and judiciously decide whether one wants to remain in the game and play for higher stakes by raising.
The pot already contains a bet amount and when one raises he must increase the bet size that is currently doing the rounds. Raising also stipulates that all the players intending to bet from now on must at least call the new amount. In case the ongoing bet amount is zero, then a raise is the same as an opening bet. When any player (including the player who had made the raise) makes another raise in any given round of betting, it is called a re-raise.
According to accepted norms of poker playing a minimum raise rule is followed. So, if someone is betting $10 then the player who wants to raise must raise by at least $10 or more and is not allowed to raise by any amount lower than $10. This rule comes into effect when the betting that is going on is high, say $100 and someone slows down the game by making marginal raises like $5 or $10. However, if a player is going all-in and has only $5 and the current bet is $10, then he may be allowed to raise the bet by his entire stake of $5.
Most casino houses make it a rule that number of times a raise is allowed during course of a betting round in a fixed limit or spread limit game must be set, and it is generally three or four times. Such restrictions are not found in games of pot limit and no limit. An interesting rule in many casinos is that players are not allowed to make a string raise, that is he cannot call and raise at the same time and must either call or raise.

