OFF TOPIC -- Why are they calling?

Whenever you think you've got the winning hand and start betting, and someone calls your bets, you've got to SLOW DOWN and ask yourself

WHY THE HECK ARE THEY CALLING ME

followed by

WHAT COULD THEY POSSIBLY BE HOLDING

If you don't have a pretty firm idea of what they're holding, you've already made the first mistake.

If you don't stop and figure it out right now, you're making your LAST mistake.

STOP, LOOK, THINK!

Is there a straight you didn't see?

What about pocket pairs they could be holding.

WHAT IF ITS THE SAME THING YOU HAVE? Who's got the bigger kicker.

Ok, maybe sometimes you can't figure it out, or they're just being stupid, or bluffing.

But at least 70% of the time you should be able to figure out what they have.

Bottom line, if you don't know why they're calling, you'd better slow down and figure it out, because the ONLY VALID reason they SHOULD be calling is because they're so focused on what THEY think are winning cards they haven't taken the time to figure out what YOU could be holding.

So do you want to make that mistake, or allow THEM make it.

***

Actually, there's one other reason why they should be calling with an inferior hand, and that's because they believe in their heart of hearts that YOU'RE BLUFFING.

And if you've read and put into practice anything I've written so far, that should DEFINITELY be a possibility in their mind.