A check raise in poker is a deceptive move that allows you to squeeze a lot of money into the pot when you have a strong hand. While some consider this move to be deceitful and even tacky (which is why some casinos and card rooms ban it entirely), if used correctly the check raise can be a powerful weapon in your arsenal.
A check rise is a poker strategy where you play a weak hand and then raise your opponent when they bet, usually early in the betting round. While you can make a check raise with any hand, it’s usually best when you have a medium or strong drawing holding. This will ensure that when you bet you have a good chance of making your opponent fold their weaker hands.
The key to this strategy is knowing when you can raise your opponent and how much you need to raise. This will depend on the type of player you are facing and how wide or tight their range is, as well as the board. For example, if your opponent is a nit who hardly ever bluffs then you can expect their range to be weighted far more towards value and you can use this information to polarize your check raising strategy.
Check raising for value
The vast majority of the time you will be check raising it should be for value. This is because when you check and signal weakness your opponent will bet a wide range of hands hoping to exploit your position by winning the pot with weak holdings. Check raising forces them to pay for this and you will be able to extract a lot of money from the pot with your strong hands.
To do this successfully you need to have a solid read on your opponent and be confident that they can’t beat you. If you check raise and your opponent holds a decent hand then they are likely to call, and this will mean that you’ll be wasting a lot of your own chips.
However, if you are confident that your opponent cannot beat you and have an excellent read, then you can raise your bet with almost any hand. The most important thing in this situation is that you don’t overdo it, as your opponents will soon start to notice and learn what you are doing.
Check raising as a semi-bluff
The other way to use the check raise is as a semi-bluff, by putting your opponent on edge. This is especially effective when you have a high amount of fold equity against their preflop check-raise percentage and can effectively pressure them from out of position.
The problem here is that if you check raise too often your opponent will quickly realize that you are using the move to trap them. They will be able to calculate how often you are checking in with your value hands and know that if you check raise with those kinds of hands they should fold.