A wise man once said that the very nature of poker is about betting and raising.

Betting, raising, and re-raising are instrumental weapons in a poker player’s arsenal. And seriously, having an arsenal is not only a constitutional right in this country, but it also makes poker a heckuva lotta fun.

A player should bet, raise, or re-raise whenever they believe that they have the best hand. This is done to increase the amount of the bets in the pot and to protect their hand against drawing hands.

Players in late position may also bet or raise with strong drawing hands to either win the pot right away, or to enable them to receive a ‘free’ card on the next betting round when all the players who act before them check.

If a player flops or later makes a very strong hand, then checkraising becomes a powerful play to get extra bets into the pot. Players must be very confident that someone else will bet after they check for checkraising to be a viable option.

Betting, raising, re-raising, and checkraising are powerful tools when trying to deceive or bluff opponents, but only when they are used sparingly.