At PokerStars, calling means matching the raise of a previous player, while raising means increasing the bet by a certain amount, which has to be matched by the players who wish to stay in the game. When you don’t have a good enough hand, it’s preferable that you fold altogether, rather than risking your money for a hand that likely you are going to lose.

However, if you think that your hand might be good enough to win, what is better to do, call or raise? Some poker experts say that if you don’t have a hand that is good enough to raise the bet, then you should simply fold. However, you might sometimes be better off to see what the flop brought you before you fold.

Before the flop, it’s better that you define your hand as either good or bad, you either trust your hand and you raise, either you don’t trust it and you fold. If you raise when you are in late position and no one raised, even with a relatively good, but not excellent hand, you might win the blinds right away.

If you raise pre-flop, you also make the rest of the players to define their own hands as good or bad. The opponents with mediocre hands can sometimes just go along to see cheaply what the community cards are.

Calling can be considered a sign of weakness and later in the hand, after the flop, people might not believe your bluff.

However, if someone else raised the bet, then you should not call, unless you have a great hand, or if the opponent is known for his loose play or for bluffing. If you have a mediocre hand, calling a raise of a tight player just so that you see what the flop can bring is not a good strategy.

But when is pre-flop calling acceptable?

If you already played the big blinds, no one raised and you don’t have a good hand, you can simply check and hope you can get some good cards after the flop, as this will not cost you anything.

If you paid the small blinds, calling also makes sense mathematically. You’re betting just half that the others pay and you can have weaker hands when you do this, and you’ll still be winning more than the cost, on average.

If you’re in late position, you have a not so good hand (like JT) and no one raised, you can just call and hope you’ll get something at the flop.