Check-Raise: To Bet Or Not To Bet, That Is The Question

Check-raising in poker is when you check early in a betting round in the hope that someone else will bet. When the play comes back to you, you then raise this bet. If you had betted in the beginning then unless someone else had raised you then there would not have been a chance for the pot to get this big.

Basically, it’s an aggressive move in itself and you do it when you have a good hand - so you are pretty much hiding your hand and then pulling the trigger when the betting comes back round to you. Especially the loose players will take your bait and call to your raise even if they suspect you have at least a moderate hand and the pot will grow nicely.

Check raising is also useful if you have a not especially good hand. By doing this you make the price for staying in the game much higher than it would have been if you had betted instead of checked, and everyone had simply called.

The check-raise is basically an aggressive move designed to lure in the fish. The smarter and tighter poker players will usually fold at this point unless they have a good hand or they think that you are bluffing.

For best results, you should at least have a marginal hand anyway in case your check-raise does not come off as well as you had anticipated. Also, your raise should be at least twice the size of your opponent’s bet.

Some poker pros rarely use the check-raise. They think that it is better to be aggressive and just bet anyway. By check-raising you may be giving an obvious sign that you have a great hand and giving a cue for everyone to fold. Or if no one else bets then you are effectively giving your opponents free cards.