Food for Thought Check-raising flops

As a columnist for Card Player, I want to bring new ideas to the table. I want you to learn how to think about poker. I always tell my students that one of the best ways to improve is to actively consider each decision that they make at the poker table.
I want to teach you how to think and how to win. If you are entertained along the way, nice. So, if you want to be a true “playa,” read on.

Breaking down our decision-making process into a few categories is usually the best way to begin tackling a large-scale problem. After we call a raise preflop from out of position, we often check to the preflop raiser, and he often bets with the power of the initiative and the ability to continue to represent a strong range of holdings. Considering his preflop raising range, his continuation-betting percentage, the board texture, his intensity, and our recent play, we arrive at a decision about check-raising the flop.

Raising preflop and amping up aggression are well-understood and commonplace strategies to win the blinds and smaller pots more often. However, abuse of these techniques against a talented and observant player has ramifications. The more hands that a player opens preflop, the wider his range of holdings. If that preflop raiser is not careful, he will be vulnerable to check-raise bluffs on the flop.

Closely related, but not necessarily dependent on a player’s preflop raising range, is continuation-betting percentage, which helps us decide about check-raising a flop. The wider the range of hands with which the preflop raiser bets the flop, the less likely it is that he connected with the flop, and the more effective a flop check-raise bluff is. The idea of exploiting a wide range by attacking it with a raise seems intuitive, but you should take care to consider the intensity of your opponent. Intensity describes how willing an opponent is to allow you to win a hand uncontested when he’s facing a raise.

A player’s intensity can greatly affect the efficacy of a flop check-raise bluff. Remember, you can still bluff him if you are called on the flop or reraised. In fact, many confrontations on unconnected board textures are small games of chicken: The first player to fold loses!

Board texture is an interesting concept to examine, because of the varying approaches that players take on different boards. Many players bluff unconnected boards much more often than connected boards. These same players often check back marginal hands on connected flops, for fear of being check-raised. On connected boards that likely hit a caller’s range, you or your opponent will be put in a situation in which a simple flop bet or raise may not be enough to take down the pot. This is especially true when raising an opponent who can bet and call with a wide range of hands. As I said, we can always attack a weak range with a bluff and show a profit against the right player at the right time. Emptying the clip like Yosemite Sam every hand is not going to guarantee victory against a knowledgeable and observant opponent. People will adjust their calling ranges against your increased aggression, especially after exposure to that aggression.
Interpretation of recent history in a poker game is one of the pure dynamics remaining.

The problem for poker novices is that learning how to react to stylistic differences cannot be achieved by reading an article. To a large extent, the knowledge of adjusting is obtained through experience. Learning when a preflop raiser is about to crack is a skill that’s invaluable to a poker player. Anticipating mental and emotional inflection points helps to gauge how valuable a check-raise bluff is at a certain time. What this boils down to is that the more aggressive the history is of a capable and adjusting player, the more readily you should respond with your own aggression. Of course, playing tighter also works well, but where’s the fun in playing tight?

Every single decision made by a tough player at the poker table is based on countless choices and interpretations of dynamics. The better the choices we make against our opponents, the better our win rate is. So, now that I have given you some food for thought, keep at it.

See you next time, when you get hungry. ♠

See videos made by Reid Young and check out his book by looking up SHOOTAA at LeggoPoker.com.