A crying call is a call made on the river when we know we have very little chance of success or of winning the hand. We typically make a crying call when we are rather certain that our aces are cracked, or when we wrongfully slow played our set from the flop on with a vulnerable board and the weak tight player bets on the flushed river.

Most often, we make crying calls at Poker Star when we have misplayed a hand – whether it was playing a hand in such a manner that caused our opposition to correctly catch up, or outdraw us. We also tend to make crying calls on the river when we have missed our draws and pray that our ace high is good – justifying the call with some excuse such as “there was too much money in the pot to fold.”

Bad Crying Calls

In the big blind, with pocket aces you put in a sizable preflop raise, which is called by two players. The flop comes out King – Five – Seven in a rainbow. The small blind comes out and fires a pot size bet, which you raise – squeezing the middle player out of the hand. The turn delivers another King, which the small blind checks, and you check behind. The River is a blank. The small blind bets half the pot. From past observations, you put the small blind on a king – top pair in that hand. The turn gave him trips, which he checked to you. His stop and go bet on the river suggested strongly he was trying to extract some extra chips from you. Because you know the player, you need not waste your time making the call. You can just comfortably fold knowing with great certainty you are beat.

Good Crying Calls

Again, in the big blind, this time holding Ace Queen suited, the button – who is an aggressive player raises. You and two other players call. The board comes out with flush and straight possibilities. The PokerStar.net preflop aggressor continues betting throughout the hand, giving the impression he is trying to bully his way into taking down the pot. You have the flush draw and a backdoor straight draw. The river seemingly helps no one. He over bets into you heads up. You think for some time, knowing this player is bluff capable, and has you on a flush draw, trying to take down the pot. Here is an appropriate time to make a big river call with ace high, as the board did not seem to help anyone, and there is a missed draw on the board as well.

While there is a time and place for crying calls, it is safely stated that one should not always be skeptical, nor should one always be afraid to make a big call on the river. Assessing the situation, understanding your opposition, and reconstructing the hand is key to determining whether to make the crying river call.