Fearsome Check-Raise Bluffs Made Easy

Playing out of position in no-limit hold'em puts you at a big disadvantage. Consequently, I recommend avoiding it as much as possible. Does that bully in seat 4 keep raising your blind? For the most part, I say, let him have it. When you're playing with $200 stacks, a measly $2 blind isn't a big deal. And it's quite easy to lose a nice chunk of your stack by trying to "take a stand" with a hand like J-7 after a 7 flops. So, I usually just fold the J-7 and wait until I have the button.



But you can't help but play out of position sometimes. Let's say that you have K-Q in the big blind, and a loose-aggressive player raises from the cutoff. You have too much hand to fold. Calling is good, as is reraising. (I would choose one or the other depending on the specifics of the situation.) Let's say that you call. Now, you're playing out of position.



The hand will continue most commonly as follows: You will miss the flop, you will check, and your opponent will bet.

Aggressive players will continuation-bet the flop a large percentage of the time. Some players will bet every time. If you simply fold every time you miss, you are playing into your opponent's hands. To win your due, you sometimes have to check-raise bluff.



But you definitely don't want to check-raise bluff every time. If you try that, your opponents will catch on and your success rate will plummet. So, you have to pick your spots. Here's my guide to choosing the best situations:



Pick on Loose Players: Joe McRock has just opened from under the gun. He is ultratight from up front, so you think he probably has pocket aces, kings, queens, jacks, or A-K. One player calls, and you call from the big blind with the 3 3. The flop comes J 7 4. You check, Joe bets two-thirds of the pot, and the other player folds. This is a weak opportunity for a bluff. Your opponent's range of hands is simply too strong, on average, to bluff profitably.



This would be a much more attractive bluffing opportunity if the raiser were loose. If you could expect the raiser to sometimes have hands like the A 3, 8 6, or K 9, a check-raise bluff would work much better.



Watch the Stack Sizes: Stack size is the most critical factor in nearly every no-limit decision, and bluffing is no different. When you check-raise bluff, you don't want the stacks too shallow or too deep. You want them just right.



They're too deep if your opponent might think that he can call your check-raise and "wait and see" what happens later in the hand. For instance, let's say that you're playing $1-$2 with $500 stacks. Someone opens for $10, and you call from the big blind. The pot is $21. The flop comes, you check, your opponent bets $15, and you check-raise to $50. It's $35 to go to your opponent, but there's still more than $400 left in the stacks. Your opponent may call with hands as weak as a gutshot or a weak pair, reasoning that the betting hasn't really gotten "big" yet. If you check-raise bluff with these deep stacks, you should be prepared to sometimes fire another barrel later in the hand if you get called.



Now let's say that your opponent has a $60 stack. He opens for $10, and you call. The flop comes, you check, he bets $15, and you check-raise to $50. Since that's all your opponent has left, he might well call you with just modest draws or weak made hands, figuring that he can't lose a whole lot even if he's beat.



You want the stacks to be deep enough for your opponent to fear losing a big pot, but not so deep that he believes the betting isn't even big yet.



Attack Weak Bets: Your opponents will often give away information about the strength of their hands as early as their flop bet. The natural inclination for many players is to bet more with good hands and less with weak ones. When they're weak and just want you to fold, these players might bet half the pot. And when they're fairly strong and hoping to protect their hand, they might bet closer to the full pot.



If you pick up on a pattern like this one, you can choose to check-raise when your opponent makes a smaller bet and let it go against a bigger one.



Leverage Dry Flops: A dry flop is one that naturally hits few hands. For example, the 7 2 2 is an extremely dry flop. No flush or straight draws are available, and to have a really strong hand, you need to hold the card that people are least likely to raise preflop, a deuce. Your opponent is far more likely to miss a dry flop than a coordinated one (for instance, Q 10 8), and therefore your bluff is more likely to succeed.



Indeed, 7-2-2 is maybe even a little too dry to make for a perfect bluffing flop (though it doesn't have to be perfect to be worth check-raising). It has two problems. First, your opponent will likely have at least two overcards, which may be enough to convince him to continue. Second, your opponent, if he is thinking, will know that it's hard for you to have hit the flop, as well, and may suspect a bluff and play back at you.



A flop like the K 7 3 is somewhat less dry, but it makes for a great bluffing opportunity. If your opponent doesn't have either a king or a fluke monster hand, you'll likely get the fold you want as long as the other conditions are in place (namely, your opponent has a wide range of hands, the stack sizes are right, and perhaps his continuation-bet was on the weak side).



A Fearsome Check-Raise Bluff: So, that loose-aggressive player from the opening example makes it $8 to go from the cutoff in a $1-$2 game with $200 stacks. You call from the big blind with the K Q. The flop comes J 7 7. You check, your opponent bets $10, and you make it $35 to go. Your opponent folds instantly.



This well-timed bluff worked because:



1. Your loose opponent could have a wide range of weak starting hands.

2. The stack sizes threatened your opponent with a big loss if you actually showed up with the 7 you were representing.

3. Your opponent's continuation-bet size didn't exude confidence in his hand strength.

4. The board was a dry one that would hit only a relatively small percentage of your opponent's possible holdings.



Keep these guidelines in mind, and you'll soon be winning your share of pots when you happen to be playing out of position.



Ed will personally answer your questions at his online poker advice column, www.notedpokerauthority.com. He has authored four books on poker, most recently Professional No-Limit Hold'em: Volume 1.