In poker, one of the motives for betting or raising is to give your hand protection, which means to encourage opponents to fold a drawing hand that might otherwise improve to the best hand. A player generally protects made hands perceived vulnerable to an opponent's drawing hand. A protection play differs from a bluff in that the bluff can win only when the opponent folds, while protection bet is made with a hand that is likely to win a showdown, but isn't strong enough for slow playing.

The importance of protection increases when there are multiple opponents. For example, if a hand is presently the best, but each of four opponents has a 1-in-6 chance of drawing an out, the four opponents combined become the favorite to win, even though each one is individually an underdog. With a protection bet, some or all of them may fold, leaving fewer opponents and a better chance of winning.

The term protection is also often heard in the context of an all-in player (see poker table stakes rules). A bet by an opponent serves to protect the all-in player by reducing the number of opponents the all-in player must beat. To deliberately make such a bet solely to protect another player's hand constitutes collusion.

A player may also be said to "protect" his or her cards by placing an object like a specialty chip or miniature figure upon them. This prevents the player from having his cards accidentally collected by the dealer.

See also

• Poker jargon
• Poker strategy
  • Aggressive plays
  • Bluffing plays
  • Check-raise plays
  • Defense plays
  • Drawing plays
  • Isolation plays
  • Position plays
  • Slow plays
  • Stealing plays

Poker gameplay and terminology