Have you ever heard the phrase “there is more than one way to win the pot”?  While I do believe in this, I also believe that you should have a reason for your action.

If you are going to play poker and do it to make money you should not call, bet or raise without a reason for doing so. I think that the game of Texas Hold’em Poker is getting to the point where there are many good poker players that know how to play the game well. If you are asking yourself why this post is called what it is, it is just a question to ask yourself the next time you are playing poker and you are thinking of raising, you should always have an answer.

For the most part, you should be limping under the gun (UTG) with your decent hands (88,99,TT,JJ,AJs,AQ,AQs,AK,AKs) and not raise – at a full table.  The reason for this is, either you are expecting someone to raise, for you to be able to reraise, or players will assume with a UTG limp that you are strong and fold – giving you the same implications of raising, but still getting potential action on your decent holdem hands.