History: I've read several books, Play on 2 sites in play money games (mostly tourneys) and have done decent in several RL games, but there is one concept I can't seem to get straight in my head and I can't determine if it's me, or if it's truely a difficult concept to grasp.

Situation: You're dealt a decent hand of you're choosing, in middle position with a couple before you calling and a couple before you folding, do you raise or call.

Why: The books I've read have been on playing low limit poker, and they both disagree on the same point within their own pages. Both of them say that unless you're truely strong, you should see the flop as cheaply as possible and re-evaluate after the flop, while both of them also state (with the exact same wording) that if you're strong enough to call, you should raise. I can't seem to reconcile these statements.

Personally: I'm a cautious player, I like to see the flop for as little as possible. If I'm given a decent hand (say A-10s) in middle position at a full table, I like to call and see how the Flop comes out. But I undersand the reasoning behind raising in that situation. Right now when I play, I almost literally flip a coin in my mind and make my decision based on that outcome. So far, I like that system because I end up changing my stratagy.

I am afraid that, because the books I've read have been chosen (By my wife as they've both been gifts) more for their price then for their content, that their advice is less then perfect. As you're dealt these hands far more often then the truely powerful hands, I feel this is an important part of the game and I can't seem to reason it out in my head as I hear the arguements for both types of moves strongly in my head when the situation comes up...

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