Check Raising In Poker

The Art of Check Raising At the Poker Table

The poker check raise is an advanced play that is not nearly used enough, or not used to its full potential during poker games. The check raise essentially involves a player checking with the intention to raise if an opponent bets after them. For example, if we are in a pot with one opponent and you are first to act you can check to them. Then if our opponent then makes a bet, you can raise their bet, forcing them to put more money into the pot if they want to see the next card.

 

This ‘traps’ there money in the pot and confuses our opponents, because we showed both weakness and a lot of strength all within the space of one betting round, typically un-disciplined players will call this bet this can mean a number of things. One of them being they could possibly be waiting on a draw, i.e waiting to hit a flush or a straight.

 

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The check raise can be used in a number of different situations, and can be used both as a bluff and a method of getting more money into the pot when you have a strong hand. Alternatively the check raise can be used as a bluff because it shows more strength than a standard bet would and is more likely to cause an opponent to fold a decent hand.

 

However, this play must be used with caution, because this can cost you a large amount of chips if it does not work out correctly. You must be pretty sure that your opponent is a tight player and will fold to a check raise for this to be a profitable play.

The check raise can also be used as a method of getting more money into the pot when playing against numerous loose players. If you flop a monster hand then your main goal is to get as much money into the pot as possible. Therefore if you can get your opponents to put more money into the pot by check raising instead of using a typical betting approach, then this becomes the more profitable play.