The Check Raise

Some people find it very offensives to check raise.  For me, I love when a plan comes together. Some people will check hoping for a bet, but if it gets checked around, it doesn’t do much good. Before you check, you have to be confident who will bet and it better not be the last player to act. You see this time and time again.

Hero checks

P2 checks

P3 checks

P4 bets

Hero  check-raise

P2 and P3 fold. P4 calls (sometimes will fold).  

Wow, you picked up 1 extra bet. Whereas if you just call, P2 and P3 may come along for 1 bet, giving you three extra bets. If you don’t think the bet will come from P2 or P3, the best option is to bet out hoping P2 and P3 call and then P4 raises. Call the raise and now P2 and P3 are trapped for another bet. The best case scenario is if you’re confident P2 will bet, then P3 and P4 call, the check/raise works well here. If P2 reraises, you can pretty much define his hand and you’d better have the nuts to continue. Hope that makes sense. It is a little confusing. Basically, unless you’re sure of the outcome, most of the time the best move is to just bet.