Most poker experts will contend that very aggressive play and lots of betting and raising is the only way to consistently win at the table. And there is some truth to this philosophy too since a lot of players have built successful poker careers out of being really aggressive. However, there are also plenty of times when you are better off calling a bet or raise – even when you’ve got position on the table! With that in mind, let’s look at why a call in poker can often be just as, if not more, effective than a bet or raise.

One reason why experienced poker players make raises in poker is so that they can gather more information from their opponents. For example, if you are playing No-Limit Hold’em and an opponent makes a pot-sized raise then your subsequent wagers will tell a lot about your hand. A common move here is to re-raise (especially in position) so that you indicate strength with the hand. 

But the problem with this is that you might just be faking strength in order to fool the opponent with a semi-bluff. If they call here then you could be on the hook for a large amount of chips. That’s where the call comes in since it can be just as effective at disguising your hand since the opponent, who indicated strength with the raise, will have to guess at what you have due to the call.

Since the opponent won’t know exactly what you’re holding, they will no doubt be worried about what you have for the rest of the hand. This is even truer if you have built an unpredictable table image throughout the course of play. Essentially, a call is very good at masking the strength of your hand in late position.

Most of the time, players only make raises from early to middle position if they are holding really good cards. For example, A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, and A-K are premium hands and call for making a pre-flop raise from any position.  But having a strong pair of cards before the flop doesn’t guarantee success later on in the hand.

This is definitely true if a weak flop hits the board such as a 10-7-8 rainbow. This kind of hand doesn’t represent the best chances for a pair of high cards, but it could provide a straight opportunity for a lesser hand. In this situation, you can still call as it will leave your opponent guessing about what you hold. 

This if of course assuming that the player in early position makes a continuation bet to still represent strength. Oftentimes, a person will make this C-bet just because they think their over pair is still the best hand or they want to make it look like they hit the flop. But when you call, they still won’t have any clue as to what your hand is and can’t re-raise in this situation either.

It’s great to use the call to your advantage, but calling is also a weapon that can be used against you. For this reason, you need to know how to handle things when someone is calling in late position to withhold information. 

The good thing is that the solution to defending against fellow, late position callers is simple: check. No matter if you have a made hand or excellent drawing hand on the flop, checking after it hits will allow you to do a number of things depending on an opponent’s actions. If the opponent thinks you missed the flop and decides to bet then you can check-raise them. If you didn’t hit the flop then it’s possible that the opponent will simply check as well which will allow you to see another card for free.

But whatever the case may be, there are definitely ways to defend against your opponents trying to guard information with calls as well. When you master both defending against the call and utilizing it yourself, you will have gained a huge advantage over other players.