Poker When To Check Raise
- Poker When To Check Raise Social Security
- Poker Hud Check Raise
- Poker Term Check Raise
- Poker Check Raise Sizing
- Poker Rules Check Raise Call
- Poker Call Check Raise Fold
Your hand probably won’t be the best one every time you check raise, and when it’s not, you’re going to find yourself facing a re-raise. To compensate for this, you should only check raise when you believe you will hold the winning hand if you are called.
When you get down to basics, the check raise is simple. You have a good hand with opponents who act after you do – a hand you strongly suspect is better than anything your opponents could possibly hold – but rather than betting and showing strength, you feign weakness by checking instead. When one of your opponents seizes the initiative and comes out betting, you raise when the action gets back around to you. It’s that simple.
All you did was defer your opportunity to act from early position in the betting order as a way of encouraging one of your opponents to come out betting, thus enabling you to check raise and win even more money than you would have if you had been the bettor and he simply called.
Probably the two most common check raising occasions by beginning players is when they make either the best possible straight or best possible flush, or they flop a set by matching a card to their pocket pair.
The check raise is one of the more glamorous and sexier poker skills, and there’s not a player you’ll encounter who isn’t fond of slamming down a check raise when the situation calls for it, simply because it feels so good. Maybe it’s the love of deception in all of us. Perhaps it’s the thrill of getting back at the table bully who has been pounding us with bets and raises, and now we get to turn the tables by raising or reraising, and maybe even stacking off all his chips. We showed him; didn’t we? And boy did it feel good.
When to Check Raise and When to Bet
The check raise, like just about every tactical ploy in poker, is sort of a two-edged sword. For every advantage it offers, there are ways savvy opponents can counteract it and dodge your deftly crafted plot.
Before you automatically check all your sets, straights, and flushes, you really have to decide for yourself whether it’s better to come out betting or run the risk that your opponent will simply check behind you if you check first, thus raining on your check raising parade. Your first step in learning how to check raise unsuspecting opponents is to know when to try for a check raise, and when it’s better to come out betting.
First, and Most Obvious, is to Consider Position
Check raising works best when you’re early to act in the betting order. After all, if you’re last to act and check after everyone else has also checked, there’s no way to get a raise in there except to wait for the next betting round – but in doing so, you’ve just given your opponents a free card by not betting. But what if you’re not first to act and not last to act either? There’s no hard and fast rule here, but in general, the later you act, the more difficult it is to check raise. It’s all a matter of numbers. With fewer opponents yet to act, there’s less chance that one of them will fire out a bet for you to pounce on.
The General Rule on Check Raising
There is a general rule on check raising, and it has two component parts. First, check with the intention of raising only when you believe you will have the best hand most of the time you are called.
Just believing that you have the best hand does not justify a check raise. Here’s why. Your hand probably won’t be the best one every time you check raise, and when it’s not, you’re going to find yourself facing a re-raise. To compensate for this, you should only check raise when you believe you will hold the winning hand if you are called. The only exception to this part of the rule occurs when you believe check raising will cause your opponent to lay down a better hand.
Bluffing with the Check Raise
If you believe a check raise will cause your opponent to lay down a better hand, then check raising can be successfully employed as a bluff. Suppose you have a hand like and a third heart comes on the turn:
Poker When To Check Raise Social Security
Figure 1
Because you have the Ace of hearts, you know that your opponent cannot possibly make an Ace-high flush. If you check and he comes out betting, you can check raise and put him to a decision. If he hasn’t made a flush, it’s tough for him to call here, and even if he’s made a small one, he might credit you with a bigger flush and fold to a big raise – particularly if you also raised before the flop.
Will Your Opponent Bet?
This is part two of check raising’s general rule. If you check you need to believe your opponent will come out betting. It’s a hollow feeling to check a big hand only to have your opponent check too, especially if you know he would have called if you came out betting.
If you can’t answer a resounding “yes” to both of these questions, you’re better off betting than trying for a check raise:
- Are you sure you’ll have the best hand if your opponent calls your check raise?
- If you check, will your opponent bet?
A Straight vs. a Flush
It’s easier to check raise when you make a straight than when you make a flush. This is because flushes are more obvious to your opponents. Even aggressive adversaries tend to slow down when a third suited card appears. Because they’re betting and you’re calling, they will think you’re on a draw and might just decide to apply the brakes when a third suited card falls.
One way around this is to semi-bluff by betting some of your flush draws, thus convincing your opponents that you have some other hand and are not trying to complete an inexpensive flush draw.
If you’re going to try for a check raise when a third suited card falls, you need an opponent who is aggressive enough to bet right into what might be a completed draw. Sometimes you’ll be able to delude opponents into thinking you have some other hand entirely, but you’ll need some help from the cards to pull this off. Let’s assume you have . You’re raised. You call, and the flop is .
If you come out betting and your opponent holds A-A, K-K, Q-Q, or A-Q, you’ll probably be raised:
Figure 2
Obviously you’ll call in such a situation. By checking and calling if a blank falls on the turn, your opponent might assume you were either trying to steal the pot from early position, “testing” your kicker with a hand like Q-9 or Q-8, or were betting second pair to find out where you stood.
You’re hoping he won’t figure you for a flush draw if you get lucky on the river:
Figure 3
Poker Hud Check Raise
The trap is set because an aggressive opponent will probably bet, and probably make a crying call when you raise, but he’ll pay you off nevertheless.
The Additional Benefits of the Check Raise
Another advantage of betting hands like four-flushes on the flop and checking the turn is that you’ve created some running room to bet other marginal hands on the flop and get a free card on the turn whenever the board is threatening. Check raising helps add deception to your game, and a deceptive strategy will either win additional money from your opponents or allow you to see the turn for free.
There’s a caveat to all of this, and here it is. This only works against sharp opponents who will spend some time thinking about what your hand might be instead of just considering their own cards in a vacuum. When you are able to deceive them, you will have created some additional manoeuvring room for yourself since those opponents will no longer see you as a transparent adversary.
On the other hand, if your opponents are absolute maniacs, compulsive callers, or just brain dead, don’t waste any energy faking them out. They will always follow their hunches, whims, and proclivities, regardless of any seeds of misinformation you scatter in their path.
With a maniac, you don’t need to set up a check raise. He’s going to bet most of the time, and you can snap him off whenever you’re holding a better hand. With a calling station, don’t check raise. Just keep value betting when you have the best of it. You’ll have to show the best hand to win, but you’ll always get paid off.
Related Lessons
By Lou Krieger
The author of many best-selling poker books, including “Hold’em Excellence” and “Poker for Dummies”. A true ambassador of the game and one of poker’s greatest ever teachers.
Further Strategy:Tight Aggressive : Continuation Bet : Check Raising : Float Play : Stack Sizes : Relative Position
Seeing as it is quite possibly the most powerful move in poker, you really don't want to leave the check raise on the sideline when you sit down at the poker table.
It isn't difficult, nor is it complex, yet it is a move that can win you some very nice pots if it is employed successfully. So lets learn what this check raise is all about then shall we?
What is the check raise?
A check raise is essentially where you check when the action reaches you, with the intention of reraising any player that decides to make a bet after you have checked.
It shouldn't be too difficult to figure out in your head, but let me give you an example anyway...
Let's say you are playing $1/$2 heads up NL Texas Holdem with an opponent and you are first to act on the flop. You decide to check, and then your opponent makes a standard bet of $10. The action is back on you, but instead of calling or folding, you come over the top making a $35 raise. I bet you didn't think of doing that before did you? This is called a check raise.
Why is the check raise effective?
The check raise is effective because it is a show of great strength, and in addition to this it 'traps' your opponent's money in the pot.
At first you are showing weakness by checking, and so your opponent decides to be the aggressor in the hand by betting out. However, you turn the hand on its head by showing no fear of your opponent's bet whatsoever by coming in over the top with a strong raise, which is sure to set alarm bells ringing and force your opponent to take a step back for a second.
Your opponent has now had their money 'trapped' in the pot because they will now have to call your raise to see the next card, which is something that they didn't expect to happen when they decided to bet out. Furthermore, your show of strength means that they are going to have a very hard time calling this raise unless they have a very strong hand, and so the likelihood is that they will fold.
How to make a successful check raise.
Aside from having to be the first to act to be able to use the move, the two primary features of a successful check raise are the size of the raise and the situation in which the check raise is used.
1] Make sure your check-raise is big enough. Don't be feeble.
Firstly, when you make your raise you want to make sure that you are raising enough so that you force your opponent to make a tough decision. If you make a minimum raise or a raise that is a little too small, your opponent will feel compelled to call and your check raise will have lost its venom.
As a general rule, I will usually make my check raises around 3.5 times the size of my opponent's bet. So if they bet $10, I am going to raise $35. I would rarely (if ever) consider making a check raise of less than 3 times the size of the initial bet.
2] Check raising with monster hands is not always best.
Secondly, you want to make your check raises when you want to take down the pot before the hand develops any further. So whether you are bluffing or trying to protect your hand from future rounds, the idea is that you want to make your opponent fold so that you can avoid playing on further streets.
So if you have a monster hand, you do not really want to be making a strong move like a check raise, as there is a good chance that it will cut off your action and prevent you from making money on the next few betting rounds.
When not to check raise.
As I have mentioned, there is no need to check raise when you have a monster hand. With a very strong hand, you want to get as much money into the pot without scaring your opponent(s) away, so the best plan of attack in this instance will be to slow play your hand rather than check raising and throwing your weight around. With a check raise you are trying to stop the action, which is the opposite of what you want to do with a strong hand.
Poker Term Check Raise
The check-raise is not magic. It will not magically help you to win bigger pots when you have the best and get your opponent off the best hand when you are bluffing. Have a good think before using it.
You should not attempt a check raise if your opponent is passive, or if you feel that they are not going to bet out after you have checked to them. By checking to such a player, you are risking giving them a free card, which could turn out to be very costly. If you want to protect your hand against this type of player, you are better off betting out off the bat rather than trying to get tricky with a check raise.
Check raise overview.
Poker Check Raise Sizing
Check raising is a deceptive and effective play, and your opponents are not going to like you for using it. In my standard game, I do not utilize the check raise too often, as I normally prefer to bet out rather than risk giving my opponent a free card in a failed check raise attempt.
However, from time to time I will use the check raise, but this is more often than not going to be when I am semi-bluffing when playing a flush or straight draw.
If you want to go out and start getting to grips with the check raise, be sure to pick your spots carefully. The check raise can prove to be very costly if things do not go your way, so take your time and use it sparsely, or prepare to lose a bit of money whilst you learn how to use the check raise properly.
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Poker Rules Check Raise Call
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