Poker Guide Part 6: The all powerful check-raise!

The most powerful move in poker!

Check raising is the one of the sneakiest techniques in the world of poker. We’re going to take you through how to bamboozle your opponents and trick them into thinking you have a poor hand, when in-fact you have a bloody fantastic hand!

This is done in a very specific way, so let’s take a look at how to implement this brilliant technique.

What is check-raising?

Check raising is rather simple; you pretend you have nothing by checking and once somebody raises, you place a hefty re-raise to throw them off the mark. It’s a classic skill that has been used and abused by professional poker players on the WSOP Tour for decades. Check raising is now at the point where professionals can spot it instantly and has even been banned in some tournaments.

What we’re looking to teach you is a tactic that the pros know, but the regular online poker player isn’t particularly familiar with.

Moves like the check-raise should be done with care, as they become rather obvious after a few attempts. The first thing you have to ask is, ‘why am I check-raising?’ If you’re doing it for the sake of it then you may as well stop. Poker is a game of planning and it’s absolutely necessary to plan ahead.

It’s done in two main ways:

Either you’re holding what you think is the best hand, and because of this you decide to check-raise for value as a means of getting more money in the pot.

Or…

It can also be used as a bluff, to make experienced opponents think you’re check-raising them instead of just bluffing. Check-raising also confuses your opponents as they don’t exactly know when you’re checking and when you’re check-raising.