Poker Essays
Fixed
Limit Hold 'em Strategy - When to Check-Raise?
By Pokershopping.com
May 2006
Poker is about more than just betting
and calling with the best hand. If it were, it would
be easy to master. Part of being a great poker player
is understanding the variety of tactics available
to you in your game. In Fixed Limit poker, one of
your goals is to extract the most bets from your opponent
when you have the best hand. Another of your goals
of course is to win the pot. One tactic that can help
you with both of these is the check-raise.
Check-raising, also called 'sandbagging',
is a poker play where instead of betting one's hand,
you check to an opponent whom you know will bet, and
then raise him. In this way you either get two bets
into the pot instead of the one you would have gotten
by betting outright, or induce him to fold and give
you his bet uncontested. A check-raise generally signals
great strength, as you are trying to get extra poker
chips in the pot when your opponent has already
indicated that he has a good hand. In the early days
of poker, some players felt that sandbagging was somehow
dishonest, 'dirty' poker. In this day and age, most
players understand that it is simply a part of the
game. If someone gets angry at you for check-raising,
poker is really not for them. (Note: This assumes
you are playing at a casino or a home game where the
goal is to win, rather than to make friends. If you
are playing with friends or family for fun you are
of course free to make whatever rules you like, however
the reality is that a check-raise is no more a 'dirty'
play than a bluff.)
When are some good opportunities for
a check-raise? For one thing, you generally should
have a very strong hand. If you have a hand like A,
7 and the board is A, 6, 3, this is not a great time
for a check-raise. You would much rather bet and see
how your opponents react than induce a bet from an
opponent who may have a stronger Ace and then put
additional bets in. On the other hand, if you have
Q, Q, or A, Q and the board is A, Q, 3, this might
be a good time to check-raise, as you will probably
get a bet from another Ace. If this board contains
two of a suit and there was a pre-flop raise by someone
close to you on your right, a check-raise is a good
tactic here to thin the field. If it is checked around
and the pre-flop raiser bets and you raise, it will
be very difficult for flush and straight draws to
call two bets to see the turn. If the pre-flop raiser
is somewhere in the middle, many of those players
will have already seen his flop bet by the time it
gets back to you, at which time it will definitely
be worth it for them to call your one additional bet
when you raise.
If you flop a big hand and the board
is not that threatening to you, you might want to
flat call a pre-flop raiser and save your check-raise
for the turn, when bets are doubled. If you check-raise
on the flop, you will alert your opponents to the
strength of your hand, and this may cost you bets
on the more expensive streets. You would also like
to check-raise in an early position. If there are
only one or two players to act after you, you are
better off betting out. Opponents may put you on a
late position steal, plus if you check you are taking
a greater risk that it will be checked around and
everyone will get a free poker
card. Finally, you can occasionally check-raise
as a bluff. Because a check-raise is so often perceived
as strength, you can take the pot away from another
player by employing it. This is a good ploy to try
if you know the bettor is an aggressive player who
likes to bet when he senses weakness. Since it costs
only one bet for him to call your check-raise, this
play may require for you to put in another bet on
the turn to get rid of him. Far from being "dirty"
poker, the check-raise is a necessary tactic for you
to maximize your poker success. It behooves you to
learn to use it effectively.
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