The Effective Check-Raise

The check-raise has to be one of the most over used moves in tournament poker. In most situations it screams out “I HAVE A BIG HAND” to your opponent when used out of context. On the other hand when it is used sparingly it can place doubt in the mind of your opponent giving you an opportunity to win a larger pot and value bet the river.

The problem with the check-raise when it is used too often is that it looses the element of surprise. If you are constantly check-raising after the flop, as so many like to do, a savvy opponent is simply going to go over the top realizing that you likely have missed the flop as well. One of the ways to effectively use this move is after you have shown down a hand for a pot. At this point your opponent realizes that you did have a hand and it plants the seed for the move in later hands.

I like to use the move against weaker players that make continuation bets after whiffing on the flop. I prefer to be in position in order to control the pot size. Again, this doesn’t mean that you employ it every single time you are in a pot but it does mean that when timed correctly you can take down a lot of dead money.

Lastly, when you are at an aggressive table you can use the check-raise to allow the aggressors to put money into the pot and then cut them off on trouble boards or to narrow down the number of players in the hand. Either way you need to have a good feel for the game to use this move effectively. When you do you will certainly reap the benefits over and over again.