[CrisBrown]

Hiya Salt,

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I have noticed online players re-raising with made hands against the initial raiser, now for me this doesn't make that much sense, especially on the flop. Why re-raise someone when you have hit your hand? You know they are going to keep on betting for you, so why scare them away.

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Doyle Brunson talks about this in Super Systems, which I was re-reading today to get my head cleared. If you've hit a hand against a pre-flop raiser, you want to bet into the raiser, because he's probably coing to come back over the top of you. At that point, he's probably going to be pot-committed, and you can bust him with your hit hand. If you check-call, he's likely to spot the trap and won't put any more into the pot.

Now, when you have position, reraising the raiser is more questionable. A smooth call may look like you've hit some tiny piece of the flop, and you're trying to look him up. And yes, he may keep betting into your made hand, and you can bust him that way.

A lot of it, though, comes down to the texture of the board. If there's a draw board and you don't have the nut hand, you usually want to protect the hand you do have. For example, a lot of players will raise on a suited Ace -- as a semi-steal -- and then bet again if they have a four-flush. If you've hit for two pair or better, I think you need to push hard here, and charge him to draw at that hand.

In short, I don't think there's any one correct way to play these. It really depends on your opponent (will he shut down if you smooth call?), the board (could he be drawing at a hand that will beat you?), your position (can you suck him into playing all of his chips on a second-best hand?), and so on.

Cris