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.

The check-raise is one of the moves often used in Texas Hold’em poker. Some label it as dishonest, but the truth is it is an important tool in any player’s arsenal. Stay if you want to be quick-schooled in the check-raising strategy. A check-raise in poker is a common deceptive play in which a player checks early in a betting round, hoping someone else will open. The player who checked then raises in the same round. A check-raise (C/R) is when you check out of position (OOP) and raise after the player in position bets. You can only check-raise when you are playing OOP. When you check in position (IP), you will just see the next community-card, and hence a check-raise is not possible. A Check Raise in Texas hold’em poker is a misleading poker strategy used by advanced poker players. The player checks their poker hand (usually a strong hand) as to appear weak or not that interested in playing. They are hoping one of their opponent (s) falls for the trap by betting.

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:

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:

1. Are you sure you’ll have the best hand if your opponent calls your check raise?
2. 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

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

Check Raise Upswing Poker

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.

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.

Hello, readers of Wincatchers. In this article, we are going to refer to a common but worth strategy for poker: check-rise, a really easy movement than can be dome by any player, expert or beginner, and I am sure you have used it, even without realizing of that.

It is important to underline that this movement should be used only in special circumstances and you need to know the reason you first “check” and then “rise” to play Texas Hold’em poker.

Contents

• 1 What is a check-raise?
  • 1.1 Is it really a good movement?

What is a check-raise?

In general terms, check-rise is a type of pokerstrategy that can be used in any of the three betting rounds of the post-flop: flop, turn and river. You will need at least three steps to perform this movement:

• First: Player A passes on betting (check)
• Second: Player B bets
• Third: Player A raises.

This technique is performed when you check the moment the action gets to you, with the intention of raising if your opponent bets. As you can imagine, check-raise is a very strong movement in poker and can be developed for any player.

Is it really a good movement?

Definitely, yes. The check–raise technique can be used bluffing your opponents out of pots and making them to put more money in the pot if you have a good hand.

Another good reason for this is that you can become more unpredictable to your opponents by using it, as it is not usual to find amateur players doing it.

So, let’s consider some benefits of using check-raise as a strategy for poker, so that you can really experience how to bet in poker:

To defend against players with more advantageous position

Some players take advantage of their position to bet against players who check. To face this kind of players, you should use check-rise on the flop more often. However, in order to do that, you should have a good hand, just like three of the kind, two pairs or a draw project.

Making check-raise with a weak hand is also possible, but probably not a good idea, as the pot may be big and hard to manage without good position. Against players with a potential good pair, you should use semi-bluff sometimes.

As in all the strategies, you should not abuse of the check-raise, especially if you are in the stage of learning how to play poker, because our opponents could notice and take note of your strategies.

Put pressure on your opponents

As we stated before, there are some players that abuse of position bets and put pressure on their opponents, as in the case of those players who raise more than 70% of the times in which they are in button or cut-off position.

In this situation, you can use the pressure against them by using this special technique. This way, all their strength turns against them along with the pressure. It is a very good option to balance the chances.

Raise the pot

This movement gives you the possibility to raise the pot and, consequently, maximize your winnings if your opponents decide to continue playing.

If you hit a monster hand, you will try to get as much money of your opponents as possible and this strategy can be really useful. However, you should use it more passively in order to avoid scaring all those opponent out of the hand.

Force your opponents to make mistakes

It is important for you to bear in mind that using the check-raise movement as strategy can be a doubled-edge sword, as it can make your opponents to be all-in with a weaker hand than you have, but it is also possible that they have a better one and you end up losing money.

Check-raise on the Flop

On heads-up, very often we complete on small blind to avoid playing big pots without position. In this situation, you can make a check-rise on the flop to get your opponent in trouble, as he can have a decent hand but no information of our hand when you use this movement.

As a general rule, you should not make a check-rise against passive opponents who make their bets only when they have a good hand. In those cases, it is much better to make a check/fold or check/call if you have good chances of winning.

Against aggressive players who make their bets mainly with position, you can use this movement only against those who fold more than 50% of the times they face a check-raise. Remember that this information is essential for you to make better choices.

Check-raise on the Turn

Making a check-raise postflop, specifically on the turn, can be useful for you to win a hand and avoid having an unexpected twist on the river, even though, professional players with a good hand and no position prefer to make a check/call on the turn and bet on the river.

At the micro limit levels, is it advisable to use the technique with really strong hands to optimize winnings, just like flush, straight, three of a kind or good double two pairs.

When To Raise In Poker

Check-raise on the River

Using this movement on the river is an extreme action that is usually accompanied by a very strong hand or as a bluff to win the whole pot in the very last moment.

At the micro limit level, you should be careful about bluffing and not using it almost never because a beginner player will not fold easily after making many bets.

So, it is only not important to know if the opponent has or not a strong hand, you must also be sure that he will fold in case you do not have nothing good.

Conclusion

Overall, check raise is a very useful strategy in poker that allows you to pass at the very beginning when you have no position to re-raise your opponent betting. You should not abuse of this tool, but it is important for you to have it always in hand in case of necessity.