Tip # 37 of 52, What to do when faced with calling a bet with less than top pair is the toughest decision you'll have to make on the turn in a heads-up pot.

Although touched upon in the previous tip, this is an important and common enough situation to merit additional comments.

Here are three considerations to help guide your decision:

How Does Your Opponent Play?

You can call with a much weaker hand against an overly aggressive player. This type of player bluffs frequently, and it is often a mistake to fold any pair against him. He will just have to show you the best hand. Against a player who is ordinarily very tight or passive, however, it's a pretty safe bet that you are beaten, so you can confidently fold. In fact, you may even consider folding top pair with a marginal kicker against someone who is exceptionally tight.

What Is the Texture of the Board?

On a board such as 2-2-7-Q, it is highly unlikely that your opponent will bet both the flop and turn without at least a pair. There aren't any draws present, and your call on the flop alerted him that you have some kind of hand. However, if the board shows 4-5-9-T (and two of the cards are the same suit), it is quite possible that a hand like A-9 is good at this point. Your opponent might have a T or a 9 with a worse kicker, or be semibluffing with a straight or flush draw. You should be more inclined to call your opponent down with second pair when several logical draws are present on the board.

What Is the Pot Size?

Don't make the mistake of folding too quickly when the pot is large. A bad call costs you one or two bets, but a bad fold costs you all the bets in the pot, so it is far better to err on the side of calling if you are unsure about your hand. That said, the pot may have reached its present size because your opponent has been pushing a good hand, so you needn't always pay off with a marginal second pair type of hand simply because the pot has grown large.

Mistakes in Judgment

Don't be discouraged if you make some mistakes in judgment in these types of situations. It takes a great deal of experience to make consistently correct decisions, and even the best hold'em players make occasional mistakes. If you remember to consider your opponent, the board, and the size of the pot, you will have a good framework for making the right choice, though. On those times when you are still torn between calling and folding, however, remember that calling with a loser is a small mistake, but folding a winner is a big one.