Check and raise

Bluffing and deception are essential elements in most forms of poker. A player who is able to take advantage of certain situations with a bluff is both skilled and dangerous. The move known as “check and raise” is a type of deception, in which a player acts as if he is weak in order to extract more bets from his opponents. Here is a typical example of a check raise:

  1. Player 1 is in middle position with pocket Kings and flops a third King, making a set. He checks because he suspects that Player 2, an aggressive opponent, has a good hand.
  2. Player 2, who is in the dealer position, bets heavily.
  3. Player 1 then raises, putting Player 2 in a difficult position. This is a check and raise.

In the example above, player 1 was able to use his knowledge of player 2 and extract an extra bet. Check and raise is an excellent strategy that should be used to vary your playing style. The problem arises when you use this tool too much. Often the correct thing to do is simply bet or raise aggressively. If you choose to check, you give your opponent the chance to get a free card.

A situational strategy

There are a few reasons to have the check and raise in your poker arsenal. As mentioned, it is a good way to extract extra bets from your opponents. It is also an opportunity to surprise your opponent with a change in strategy. Here are some examples of situations in which the check raise is indicated:

  • Check and raise can be very effective against very aggressive opponents. If you need to calm down a maniacal bettor, use a check raise when you have a good hand.
  • Check-raising when you are expecting a card – that is, when you are on the draw – can be a good way to grow a pot and leave your opponents with little idea of what you have. This is best used when you are on a good draw with a lot of outs, such as one short of a flush, or an open ended straight draw.
  • Another interesting situation is to check raise against an opponent who raised before the flop and will act after you after the flop. More often than not, these players will try to win on the flop with a bet, and you can then raise them, increasing the pot.

A special tip about sets

Generally speaking, if you flop a set, you should start betting. Check-raising if your set is lower than an eight is an unnecessary risk. You really have to bet and make your favoritism count. With higher sets, check-raising is a relatively safe action, as it is unlikely that anyone will make a better hand than you.

While check-raising is a necessary strategy and very rewarding when it works, don’t overdo it, especially in low-stakes games. In these cases, making a good bet is usually better. The most important thing is to understand the game situation well and know your opponents well, so you can make the best choice when you have the opportunity.

Related Articles

21 COMMENTS

  1. Not all players agree that a check-raise is an especially effective play, however. In Super/System, poker legend Doyle Brunson claims to check-raise very rarely in no-limit hold 'em; he contends that it is more profitable to simply bet a quality hand, regardless of whether his opponent will try to bluff. His reasoning for this is twofold: First, a failed check-raise gives other players the chance to see free cards that may improve their hand; second, it makes it obvious to other players that you potentially have a very strong hand. The latter, however, may be used as a strong bluff technique, although the opponent could put in a re-raise to scare off a bluff.

  2. I use these tactics every now and then and it works
    let's say this is my deadly weapon
    because I call all in when the other person raises.
    hehehe
    Hey, poker, I don't play, I humiliate.

    • I've heard so many like you, seriously, it's just a bunch of talk, if you knew what poker really is, and I'm a graduate and I don't work anymore, because I earn a lot from poker, I don't need to work, my average in casinos and poker tournaments is 3000 euros a month, don't talk. Play

  3. Dude, I was at a game last week.
    I was UTG+2 and the utg folded. I paid the blind with Ad9d.
    button called and small blind completed.
    Flop 9,9eT with irrelevant suits. I felt like THE WORLD'S MASTER MONSTER.
    Aiming to check-raise, I checked and the button doubled the pot. Everyone fled.
    My chip count wasn't that great and I went all-in, with the guy calling.
    It shows T and J.
    Turn, J.
    River, J.
    I got up and left, almost not pissed off.

    • Look, your play has several problems. First: limping in with A9s in UTG+2. That was a clear fold. Second mistake: you overvalued a set made on the board (one card in your hand, two on the board). This type of set is much worse than the “set” set, which is two in your hand and one on the board. But if you were really short-stacked, the all-in was correct. The rest is statistics. If you don’t know how to deal with bad beats in the game, you’d better find another way to have fun. By the way, if any T had come, or if he had completed a straight, he would have won too. It was a bad beat, but it wasn’t the worst I’ve ever seen.

  4. This happens to me a lot. I don't know what to do. For example, when the flop comes JJ9, you have Q10 and the guy bets with a check, but you still have the odds to call. You call and a K comes and he keeps betting. You don't know if he has a set or a full. What should I do? Reraise. And if I reraise and he goes all in again, will I have to give up my straight? Because I play at a low level, it's hard to read (many would go all in with just a set). Or should I just call and stop extracting valuable chips from the villain (if he has a set) or preserve valuable chips (if he hit the full). This happens a lot with both straight and flush draws. When the villain gives odds and I hit, I don't know how to play. Can you help me?

    • Tzar, if the villain has a full stack and you play a straight solitaire, it happens and you will definitely lose your stack. The same thing with three of a kind versus smaller three of a kind. There are situations in poker that are unavoidable, and for that there is bankroll management.

      Now, if the flop has three of the same suit and the guy goes all-in, and you only have a straight, it will depend on the reading. In some cases it is correct to call and in others to fold.

      In short: it always depends on the opponent, how he plays after the flop.

      • Good comment Marcelo PD.
        tzar, you had a very good hand and played well, that's what matters.
        The important thing is to play the hand well, the result doesn't matter.
        In the long run this is profitable.
        Badbet, three of a kind or higher straights are all part of poker.
        Control your BR and keep moving forward.
        I'M GOING!

  5. These days I went to a satellite here and at a certain point in the game I got A, J in my hand and about 4 of them went limping on the flop and opened A, A, 7 and everyone checked including me and the girl on the left who was all-in, everyone ran from me calling, she had A, 9 and said right away: I didn't expect that!!
    haha it was very good

  6. Guys, all the tips are valid. But in poker we don't play cards, but rather situations. I think that at the cash tables it's worth analyzing your opponent, his stack, and how much of his stack he's committing to a bet. Example: I bet around 5 x the value of the BB with AA in my hand. A non-aggressive and safe player, after thinking for a moment, called. The flop comes "J 4 Q", different types. I make an aggressive bet on this flop and he raises more than three times my bet. My reaction: fold for sure. He has trips, probably on the 4. I still don't know, but I folded my hand because I was losing. A good fold also saves money.

  7. I was playing this morning and I made a quad of 7 on the flop, I tried to play dead fish, he just made a small bet, I called, opened the turn and checked hoping he would bet, but that didn't happen, unfortunately he couldn't make anything good and I ended up not taking much money from him, only after the river turned I decided to bet a small amount, but he ended up folding.

    • Tobias, no matter how good your hand is, the villain won't always put chips in the pot. Slowplaying only works if the other player has a good hand or is willing to bluff.

  8. Dear Tobias, when you got three of a kind on the flop and checked, he raised and you called.
    the turn opened and you checked again
    In my opinion I don't know if it's the best but I play like this
    I called the flop on the turn and I already raised to see if he folds because I already took it from him on the flop
    I think it's safer and yet still aggressive

  9. Well, I took a big hit 🙂
    A8s I raised 5600 blinds from 600/1200 I was a big stack
    flop raimbow AQ7 I OOP c-bet 5600 1/2pot had only one more in hand
    played 2 call turn 8 I thought a little I gave another check he gave me 4k I king raised to 12k I received another call and RIVER 8 I think OPA WE ARE FULL ”
    I thought for another 30 seconds and went all in. Player #2 only had about 10k left.
    call …
    he showed me FULL WITH QUEENS 🙂 ¬¬ QQ in the hand cracked since the flop ¬¬
    then I was short the rest of the tournament
    until I got a KK OOP my move all in I receive 2 calls one with QQ and the other with AJs
    but I even thought that with my 12k all in you would become huge with the calls hahaha
    I believe I played correctly, if there was any error, you can tell me.
    hugs

    • Well Arnon, it's difficult to analyze your hand because you didn't say your position or whether the villain who was involved in the hand with you is a loose or tight guy... and it wasn't a bad hand either... He with QQ, hits a set on the flop... if you drew that hand then it would be a bad hand.

  10. Speaking of bad beats, these days playing poker I came out with A10 insignificant suits, three villains called limped. On the flop, guess what: AAA, I was calm, there were raises and more raises and I kept calling. In the end they went all in and guess what, he had JJ, the other 1010 and I had nuts, impressive, full house vs Quadra

  11. In my humble opinion, in poker there is nothing that is 100% right, you have to have
    the ability to read the game and use some techniques and some luck, what matters most is your skill above all.

  12. To me, honestly, all poker sites are a scam, especially Pokerstars. They must definitely have a system with thousands of bots programmed to steal money from players spread across the tables, and also some kind of fraud in the shuffling of the cards, programmed to favor players over thousands of others, something like; some days you win a few bucks and on many other days you will lose what you won and all your money, to buy again, it becomes a vicious cycle, it must work like a rotation. The bad beats and losses with winning hands are ridiculous the way they happen systematically, at limit holdem tables they are a real robbery, in tournaments with higher values it is impossible to reach the final prize, if you go out with AA you will lose, if you make a flush and go all-in you will lose to a higher flush, and so on. Believe me! I once lost an all-in when I came out with four of 7s on the flop, my opponent, certainly a bot, made a royal flush. I have felt like a real sucker many times, and the only consolation is the fact that there are thousands, or even millions of suckers around the world, not just me. And, of course, this fraudulent practice is used by all online poker sites. Today I play just for fun, I deposit $10 and play around, but it's a joke! Stop being a sucker, don't believe in the honesty of these sites, they are all a scam, they blatantly steal your money...

    • I know how hard it is to deal with this, but I, an example of a guy who takes a lot of bad beats… lol I can say that despite being extremely annoying and irritating, it is perfectly normal.
      We generally complain when we lose with top set to a runner runner flush, but we don't complain when our QQ hits one of the two outs on the river against AA and we stack our opponent.

      Poker is like that, you need to have the mental strength to endure it, and study/strategy to increase the number of hands you play as favorites.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- disclosure -

Recent Articles

- disclosure -
en_USEnglish