Decisions decisions. We all face them playing poker. Some are easy and some will make you lose sleep if you make the wrong choice. I can tell you that the larger the pot the harder the decision.
You never want to face a situation for a majority of your chips with a marginal hand. A hand like top pair with a big kicker might look good while your playing but there are lots of hands that beat you. Lets look at an example.
Blinds are $100-$200
You hold Kh-10S and raise 2 times in the cutoff. I get one caller on the button. The flop comes 8D-10D- 7S
You are sitting with top pair and a big kicker. But if you watch the board you can also see a possible strait and flush draw.
This is a great time to check and keep the pot small. You most likely are holding the best hand but if you bet and get raised you have a tough decision. A check call here is the best move.
Turn is a harmless 2H. Another check here is good. Your opponent may put you on something like an AJ or AQ. When he bets you might put him on the same. I would just call putting him on a bluff or a drawing hand.
River is a 3s. Strait and flush possibilities are now gone and I feel pretty sure my 10's are good but I still check the river. Reason being he may have hit two pair or a set along the way, check calling keeps the pot small.
If my 10's hold here then I win a small pot. If I lose I limited my losses on a medium hand.
Each choice was easier because I let him bet and just called instead of getting raised, the pot remained small and I was able to be in the hand.
Now while this might not always be the correct move, being able to keep the pot small and invest less with a medium hand will work out more times than not. Remember, There is always another hand.
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