Keeping a Player Honest

  There is a certain logical absurdity about the trying to keep a poker player honest. The sport of poker has lying to your opponents built right into the culture of the game, so trying to keep someone honest is at best a futile act. So why do so many players waste money at the end of a hand trying to do just that?  Let's say you are at the river and in a position where you are trying to decide whether or not to call someone's bet or raise. There is a percentage of players out there who know they are beat at that point, but will still make the call in order to force their opponent to show their hand.  There are situations where this call would be worth the bet you are losing. If you are not sure whether or not they are bluffing, and want them to expose their deception, then the intelligence you have just acquired about this opponent was worth the lost money. On the other hand if you know that you are beat and just forcing them to expose their hand in order to plant the seed that you will always go that far to sniff out their bluffs, you are wasting money. All they will see you as at that point is a cash machine who will hand over that extra bet instead of folding to a superior hand.