The Check-Raise

Few poker plays are more fun than the check-raise. You act like you are weak by checking, the opponent tries to take advantage of the "weakness" by betting, and you put him in his place by raising, which lets him know where the power lies. There is a joyful feeling in entering a phone booth, stripping off your rather ordinary outer garments, and coming out as the "Man of Steel."

This reminds me of a chess story involving Emmanuel Lasker, the world champion during the early part of the 20th century. Lasker was on a transatlantic voyage, and one of the passengers asked him to play a game of chess, having no idea who he was. When Lasker was hesitant, the man misjudged the reason why, and offered to spot Lasker a queen (a monster spot, as the queen is the most powerful piece). Lasker played the man a game getting the queen spot and deliberately lost. Lasker then said, "I think it helped you to be without a queen. Let's play another game, and I will give you a queen." The man protested, and probably thought his opponent was a bit crazy, but Lasker insisted, so they played another game with Lasker giving the queen spot. Lasker trounced the man, then said, "I told you having a queen was a disadvantage." Later on, the man found out who Lasker was, and felt quite embarrassed.

In my opinion, the check-raise is an overly used poker play. The reason is mostly because it is such a psychologically satisfying play to use. If you are playing poker mainly for fun, I will not try to take away part of your entertainment. But if you are trying to win money, perhaps you are going for too many check-raises.

Poker hands played many years ago can still have a powerful lasting impression. Let me tell you about a couple of hands I played more than 20 years ago, but they are planted in my brain forever.

In a $10-$20 hold'em game in the old Golden Nugget cardroom, I was on the button with pocket threes. It was an unraised pot with four or five players. The flop came ace-rag-rag rainbow, and everyone checked. On the turn, a 3 popped off the deck, giving me bottom set with no possible straight out there. An early-position player had checked an A-3 on the flop, so a case card had come to give him two pair – and a loser. We went to war, each convinced that the other could not be holding a superior hand, given the previous betting. I do not remember how much I actually won on the hand – my opponent failed to buy either remaining ace on the end, his only outs – but it was a good-size pot. This hand nicely illustrates one of the drawbacks of going for a check-raise. If no one bets, you not only lose the money that betting would have gained, you also allow a player who would have folded a chance to beat you. Since we assume that you hold a strong hand to be trying to check-raise, the downside of your play may be the loss of quite a few extra bets, along with the money already in the pot.

In a $10-$20 game at the Stardust cardroom in the late '70s, I held the 9 7 in middle position. Everyone in front of me called the blind, so I called. (I would not make such a call today.) Then, the raising started. By the time the flop came, there were nine players in for a capped pot – and the cap was a bet and five raises. That was more than half a grand in before the spread. The flop was A-5-3 rainbow, and it was checked by everyone. The turn card was a heart (I forget which one), giving me a four-flush. The under-the-gun player bet, and I called. The third heart on board came at the river to make my flush, and when the player bet again, I raised. He called, I showed my flush, and he flashed me a 4-2 before mucking his hand. He had flopped a straight and checked it, and no one bet his hand for him. I would not have called a bet on the flop to draw to a 9-high backdoor flush, so his check on the flop had cost him this gigantic pot. This hand illustrates an important poker principle: When the pot is big, try to protect your hand rather than win extra bets.

I know there are lots of fine hold'em players who also would have checked that flop. In fact, I am not even saying the player actually made a poker error, even though on this particular hand, trying for a check-raise turned out to be an extremely expensive decision. But what I will say is that any player who checks in this type of situation should be doing so in order to confront the field with a double bet and thus eliminate players, and not simply to gain some extra bets. When the pot is very large, protecting your hand comes first.

There is another drawback to using a check-raise besides allowing players to draw out when no one bets your hand for you. Even when someone gratuitously bets, using a check-raise can cost you money instead of gaining. The reason is, you both have announced a strong hand, and you have created a situation in which the other player is informed of this early on. If you try for a check-raise on the flop and are successful because someone bet, the player may dump his hand, either when you check-raise or when you bet the turn. If, instead, you bet the flop, bet fourth street, and bet the river, your opponent does not really know that you have something very good. He may well go all the way with you with a modest holding.

Am I trying to get you to stop using the check-raise as one of your poker plays? No; I am only trying to persuade you to use it in moderation. Don't overwork the play. I know some people who automatically check whenever they hit a big hand. This is bad poker. In pot-limit, when one of these birds does bet, I put him on an ordinary hand, and may well risk trying to take the pot away from him by raising.

It is axiomatic that the fewer opponents you have, the less dangerous it is to give a free card. Most pots in which I go for a check-raise are either heads-up or threeway. With more than two opponents, I need to be persuaded that one of them is extremely likely to bet – perhaps, for example, if a very aggressive player was the preflop raiser, or something like that. So, my advice to you is to give up that overattachment you may have to that pleasure of check-raising, that coming out of the bushes to show who's really boss. Instead, get your poker kicks from counting your winnings.

Editor's note: Bob Ciaffone is available for poker lessons. He may be reached at (989) 792-0884. His website is www.diamondcs.net/~thecoach, where you can download Robert's Rules of Poker for free. His books Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Hold'em Poker are available through Card Player.