Check-raise – This tactic involves making a raise after having checked previously on the same betting round.
Historically, check-raising has been viewed as a clever tactic within poker because it combines a passive move (checking) followed by a more aggressive one (raising). This unpredictability can be highly effective.
Regardless of its perception as a deceptive maneuver, check-raising is an integral aspect of poker strategy. Mastering the timing of your check-raises is vital for increasing your winnings.
Here are several tips and strategies for effectively employing a check-raise in poker.
Check-raising the Flop
One of the most frequent opportunities to check-raise on the flop arises when you are out of position and have just called a raise in a heads-up pot. After checking to the initial aggressor, you have a chance to respond with a check-raise once they make a continuation bet.
Generally, our check-raising strategy should be polarized – this means we should raise a mix of strong hands and drawing hands .
Value Range – Typically, this includes a set or two pairs, although the specific hand strength may depend on factors such as stack sizes and the nature of the board.
Bluff Range – This involves utilizing a variety of decent draws, including straight draws, flush draws, and backdoor draws for semi-bluffs, making sure not to include completely weak hands.
When deciding on a check-raising strategy, considerations must be made according to the tendencies of the opponent you are up against. Usually, an opponent will either call too frequently or fold too much when faced with a check-raise on the flop.
Calling Too Much (the norm) – In these situations, we should focus on excluding some weaker bluff hands from our check-raising range. Against many players, it’s unnecessary to use backdoor draws for check-raising. Instead, we should raise with stronger flush draws, straight draws, and value hands, possibly expanding our overall value range.
Folding Too Much – In contrast, we should become more aggressive with our bluffs, using lesser hands for check-raises. As a broad guideline, if an opponent folds more than 55% of the time to a 3x check-raise on the flop, we can consider check-raising with a wider range of hands.
Check-raising the Turn
Opportunities for a check-raise on the turn often arise when you've check-called an opponent's flop continuation bet while being out of position. Now, you're faced with their second bet on the turn.
As before, our overarching strategy should maintain a polarized approach .
Value Range – At this stage of the game, we usually consider hands like top two-pair as potential check-raise candidates, although again, this relies on the effective stacks and board dynamics.
Bluff Range – In this instance, we’ll typically employ stronger draws, such as flush draws, open-ended straight draws, and some gutshot draws. Ideal bluffs for a turn check-raise will generally not be strong enough to check-call (if they can check-call effectively, they belong to the checking range).
Once more, the strategy for turn check-raises should adapt based on the characteristics of our opponent.
Calls Too Much (Most Common) – In such scenarios, we may decide to include only the strongest draws in our semi-bluff check-raising range, or alternatively, adopt a pure value range.
Folds Too Much – When our opponent is folding frequently, we should be bold with our bluffs while continuing to raise our strong hands. At times, we may choose to tighten up slightly to safeguard our value bets from being overly aggressive.
Check-raising the River
Overall, the best-suited advice for executing check-raises across any betting round is to “use slightly stronger ranges than the theoretical optimal ones.” polarised This method allows us to exploit the tendency of many players to not fold as often as they ideally should in response to check-raises.
If we try to bluff with check-raises too aggressively against unknown players, we might occasionally hit a stumbling block, particularly when they refuse to fold hands that normally should be given up.
Timothy \"Ch0r0r0\" Allin is an experienced poker player, coach, and writer. He began his journey back in 2006, starting from the lowest limits in online poker without any initial investment. After competing successfully in some of the toughest environments worldwide, he now shares his knowledge and strategies in the pages of 888poker magazine.
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