In general, when to use a check raise is in a spot where you want to represent a strong hand. If you can represent that big hand and put your opponent under the suspicion of having a weak hand, you can potentially hide the strength of your hand allowing you to hopefully extract a maximum of chips from your opponents.
Carefully go through the following list to determine when to perform a check raise.
- Numbers of opponents at the table – You only want to check raise when you are in late position and when your opponents are fewer in number. You also want to happen upon a full table, where there is more likelihood of your opponents holding weak hands.
- Position of your opponent – If you are sitting towards the left of your opponent, you want to check raise more often, since you have the advantage of seeing your opponents before you act.
3.enyou are in better position – If you are in the first few positions after the blinds, you are in better position to steal the blinds.
- Number of players left to act – If you think that more players will call your bet, you can attempt to make your move when there is fewer players left to act.
- If you think your hand is not strong enough – At this point, you want to use your poker strategy and Due diligence to determine if your hand is strong enough to win the pot. Establishing this fact to your opponents is essential to a successful check raise.
Performing check raises correctly is very important to your ability to control the size of the pot. Do not try to do this in a situation where you are vulnerable to a big raise by your opponents.
Also, make sure that you areFollowing appropriate timing and attention to your opponents. As you have mentioned earlier, if you bet after the flop, it is more likely to succeed when you check raise. In other situations, you may want to bet first when you check-raise and you may want to call when you check-raise.
Timing is very important in poker, since you are ultimately placing your bets risking their money for your to have a bigger pot in the event where you have the best hand. Since timing is very important, make sure that you are acting after your opponents.
Due diligence, or in general, reading what your opponent will do in a certain situation is the heart of any successful poker strategy. When you do not provide your opponents with enough information, you are essentiallyandi to fold when you get involved in a hand.
This is generally true in tournament poker, since the whole point of entering the tournament is to get more chips. As your opponents have no idea regarding your hand, they are more likely to call a bet than fold to one, especially if you have many chips on the table.
The fact that you have many chips is your opportunity to perform deception. Betting at the wrong time, or with no idea of the strength of your hand is known asthe bluff. While you may win substantial pots using this style of play, there is always a chance you will take your opponents chips from you.
To prevent this, you must know the hand range for your opponents. If you are a tournament player, you will want to know the typical hands for the various stages in a tournament. You should be able to guess, with a high degree of certainty, what hands your opponents will call, raise or fold.
Once you have that read, you can determine the stage you are at the top of the hand variance. If it is late in the tournament, and your opponents have nothing in their hand, you can often steal the blinds simply by betting and raising. The old adage that tournament poker is all about getting the money in the pot, is true for the top of the hand as well.
However, once you approach the bubble, if your opponents have begun to tighten up, you should loosen up and look for a position against opponents, which will allow you to steal, and ultimately win the tournament. In many instances, I will lay out a simple strategy, and often follow it to my own frustration. But, if I’m on a short stack, I do not have time to worry about fashioning my strategy around what everyone else at the table is doing. I have to get in a heads up battle once I am in the bubble.
Sometimes, I will call on an open ended straight, against the right dealer, with a half chip in front. Against the right person, I will always play slow, but I will nevertheless pick up a nice pot. Against decent players, I will wait for a strong hand, and then force them to make a decision. I’m looking for two things here; a weak hand, or a big raise to steal the blinds.