Raising before the flop sends a strong message to the rest of the players that you have a good starting hand.  Most of the time you will raise before the flop and risk putting chips into the pot, when you know you have a strong chance of winning.  But, there is a big risk associated with raising the betting before you have seen the flop.

The flop can change everything.  Many a great player has raised with a strong starting hand only for someone else to come from behind, pick up great cards on 4th and 5th street and sink them.  But you have to trust your instincts and back your strong hands.

If you are going to bluff it is quite a good ploy to put in a small raise before the flop just to send a signal to your opponents to say, “Lookout I’ve got something here…”.  Then again if the flop looks like it could give another player a strong hand and they are beting boldly, exercise caution and way up your options of whether it is worth staying in the hand.