Exclusive Netbettor Texas Hold'em Article:

Crushing the Microlimits
The Check-raise Part I

Why the check-raise? There are two reasons. Firstly, in loose passive games, where five or more players are routinely seeing the flop, it is imperative that you do what you can to knock players out of the pot. Remember our earlier essay about playing hands when the pot gets large? Well, when you find yourself in a game where almost every pot is large (by which we mean over 8 big bets by the showdown) it becomes more important to knock players out that to garner additional action with strong but vulnerable hands. The reason for this lies in the fact that as more players vie for the pot after the flop, your chances of winning the hand usually go down faster than your expected win goes up. For example, you’d rather win a 6 big bet pot 70% of the time (giving you 4.2 big bets of profit) than a 9 big bet pot 40% of the time (a 3.6 big bet profit). Although this dynamic is more pronounced in 7-Stud than it is in hold ‘em, rest assured that it applies to hold ‘em as well.

Secondly, the check-raise is often the best way to get more money into the pot when you have an unusual amount of pot equity. While the idea of using the check-raise to knock players out usually applies to those situations where you expect the bet to come from your right, this second concept applies to hands where the bet will likely come from your left. This speaks to the versatility of the check-raise as a strategic weapon; it can be used both to knock players out, and also to ‘suck them in’.

Knocking players out: Multi-way pots

Let’s look at the following hand which a Netbettor visitor recently emailed us. Our hero was in the big blind with the A 5 in a .50-1$ game, and watched as four players called the opening bet. The button raised, the small blind called, and our hero called along with the four limpers. Seven players see the flop for 2 small bets each. Now the flop came A 6 4. Our hero bet, and was called in three places (including a call by the button). Since the button didn’t raise he rightfully assumed he wasn’t out-kicked by the pre-flop raiser, so he happily bet out again when the 8 fell. Now two players called, and the button dropped out. The river brought the 5. He had two pair now, although the board looked a little scary… Anyway, he bet out, and was promptly raised by one of the callers. He called (correctly, I might add) as was shown pocket 7’s. He sent us this email as evidence that you just ‘can’t beat bad players’ when they ‘call with anything’ on the flop.

Two things here. First, I have made more money than I could stuff in a closet by tearing up bad players at the hold ‘em table, and this included the type who ‘call with anything’ on the flop. Second, it’s worth mentioning that our hero made a terrible play on the flop—a play which probably cost him the pot.

What was that play? Simply put, he bet out! In a hand like this, when you have top pair in a big pot and a fairly coordinated board, you are almost always better off going for a check raise as opposed to betting out. In a hand like this there was a great chance that the button would bet the flop, trying to represent a hand like AK. When he bets our hero can raise, thereby charging the field 2 small bets as opposed to 1. Will a check-raise here get a hand like 7 8, or K 4, to fold? No, it won’t. With a pot this size those hand are probably coming anyway. But, by check-raising he’ll collect twice as much from these hands when they miss. Further, a check raise will either a) get pesky hands like 7 7 to fold, or b) at least make it mathematically incorrect for them to call. After our hero’s bet on the flop, the rest of the field is getting somewhere between 15:1 and 18:1 on their flop call. With odds like this there aren’t a hell of a lot of hands that aren’t worth taking a card off with. However, if our hero check-raises he’ll have cut those pot odds in half, making it clearly incorrect for hands like K T, and 9 9, to call. Remember: Your primary objective in hold’ em is usually to get other hands to fold. If you can’t do this, then the second best result is charging other hands as much as possible to continue on with the hand.

So, how often should you be check-raising in spots like this? The answer is probably somewhere above 90%. In fact, when I find myself involved in a ‘zoo pot’ where I can expect a flop bet to come from my right, I almost always go for the check-raise unless I’ve flopped a) top two pair or better, or b) a flush or open-ended straight draw that doesn’t include over cards. Otherwise, I’m rapping the felt and letting someone else bet. The benefits of charging your opponents two bets instead of one so far outweigh the risk of giving a free card that a check-raise is virtually always the optimal play.

Also, we need to emphasize that you don’t need to be involved in a huge pot for this to be the correct play. Say for example that you limp in early position with a hand like K T, and four players call behind you. The small blind folds, the big blind knuckles, and you go the flop six handed. The flop comes K 8 4.

In a spot like this I’ll usually go for a check-raise. The reasons for this are three fold. First, as with the earlier example, I’d like to charge my opponents two bets as opposed to one to see the turn card. Since there are plenty of possible hands that would be correct to see the turn for one bet, but not two (hands like 9 8, for example, or 7 5, or A 4), it behooves me to try and ruin their pot odds. Secondly, with a pair of kings I’m not too worried about an over card hitting the turn. Yes, an ace could drop off and give someone with a hand like A 3 a hand that beats me. But this is only going to happen along the lines of 6% of the time. And third, if it does get checked around it’s more likely that my opponents will misread my hand when I bet the turn. This could easily result in getting paid off by some joker holding a hand like T 8, or even something as goofy as 3 4-- hands that may not have given me action if I’d bet the flop.

In sum, every one of you need to be check raising more! In early position this is almost always the play with a hand like top pair, yet too many of you still insist on betting your own hand. Ethics belong in the philosophy classroom, not the poker table! If someone else is gracious enough to bet your hand for you, then for God’s sake take full advantage of their generosity.

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Other Poker Strategy Articles:
The Check-Raise Part II
The Dark Art of the Suckout I
The Dark Art of the Suckout II