If isn't good enough to raise with, don't call

"If it isn't good enough to raise with, don't call". What do you all think of this as advice for tight aggressive play? A certain poker columnist always ends her articles with this advice. Do any of you play this way?

she's an idiot, this comment proves it.

This phrase is bankrupted by subjectivity. What, or rather, who, exactly, defines "good enough to raise with?" I'll tell you who. You do, when it's your turn to raise or not, and I do, when it's my turn. So, obviously, the hands we do choose to raise with are the ones that are in fact "good enough," by our individual standards, to raise with. It's dizzyingly circular. Technically, it's nonsense.


Tommy

uh .... no

BUT NOT ALWAYS!

There are several hands U would just CALL --even in a tight-aggressive game.

Sitting Bull

I'd humbly suggest that it rings true, but has no statistical or scientific basis (as other posters have noted). I think a better statement goes like this (Sklansky and Malmuth are the experts here): "In general, you should rarely 'just call' if you have a hand. The risk of giving a free (or cheap) card can be large, depending on the board and number of opponents. Even in cases where you are on a draw, it may be advantageous to raise in order to a) pick up the pot b) semi-bluff for a free or cheap card later or c) limit the field."


In my personal opinion and experience, "just calling" usually leads to disaster. I've hit my hand on the flop, called an early raiser all the way and had them win on the river. A simple reraise would have put them in their place. It happens so often, it's not funny. Well, maybe it is a little funny. But not to me.

A decent start. However, as we have seen some raising hands can quickly become folds if you adjust one or two parameters at your particular table:

loose/tight

passive/aggressive/wild

your image at the moment

"feel" of table at the moment

any information you get from other players

likelihood of various actions from those who follow you

alignment of the planets


I can tell you that in loose, good games raises are not always your best friend, at least up front.