Why Do I Keep Calling When I Know I’m Beaten in Poker?

Sometimes you are paying to satisfy your curiosity, not because you think the call is good. Other times, you dislike the idea of being bluffed more than you dislike losing another bet.

Neither is much of a strategy.

“I knew you had it” sounds perceptive after the showdown. Unfortunately, the chips have already gone.

Give the call a reason

Before calling a river bet, I would ask three questions: what worse hands could bet like this, which believable bluffs are available, and does this player actually take those bluffs?

“They could have anything” is not an answer. Neither is “I’ve already put loads in.”

The chips you committed earlier do not belong to your next decision. Assess the price in front of you against how often you expect to win.

That does not mean folding whenever you feel nervous. You rarely know you are beaten, and a profitable call can still lose. The problem is calling without a reason beyond wanting to see.

My practical test: finish the sentence, “I’m calling because…”

If the ending is “I need to know”, pause.

You do not have to buy the ending to every story.