{"id":6977,"date":"2021-11-04T08:23:29","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T08:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bettingwebsites.org.uk\/?page_id=6977"},"modified":"2023-07-25T09:45:32","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T09:45:32","slug":"check-raising","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bettingwebsites.org.uk\/articles\/poker-guides\/check-raising\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Check Raising In Poker And Does It Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Poker is a game full of different strategies. As a new player, you will try to learn this, while also trying to spot them as others use their knowledge against you. One of the most popular strategies you will come across is the check-raise strategy, but is this a good idea in poker?<\/p>\n
There are two ways in which you can use this strategy, do they still work, can they help you, or is this type of play becoming all too common so that it doesn\u2019t have too much of an impact on the table anymore?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
First of all, let\u2019s look over the check-raise strategy, what it is and why you would use it. The great news for new players is that the method is really simple to execute on the tables, so you can use it from the moment you start playing.<\/p>\n
This strategy has two moves to it, the first is a check, and the second is a raise, which is where the name comes from. The idea is that when the betting comes around to you on the table, you check, which passes the betting onto another player. Then, when they bet, which they are happy to do because no one has shown any indications of a strong hand, you will raise their bet to increase the pot.<\/p>\n
In poker play terms here, what you are doing is first showing weakness to the table, by not having the confidence to bet. Then, after your opponent has seen this and decided to bet on the back of it, you are showing your strength by raising the pot and hopefully catching them out with your strategy.<\/p>\n
With just two moves on the same betting round, this is an easy strategy to spot, so don\u2019t expect to get away with it too many times, and you should also be able to easily spot if someone else is doing it to you.<\/p>\n
There are two reasons why you would perform a check-raise during a game. The first is if you have a strong hand, in this instance it can be used as a pot building strategy. Many players feel that if they bet straight away, they will scare away the opposition into folding. By checking first, you aren\u2019t scaring them away but then come back strong to build the pot with your raise.<\/p>\n
The second reason is to bluff the other players. Here, you are hoping to get players to bet on an average hand because they think you don\u2019t have a good hand. After all, you have checked. Then when you come over the top with your raise, you hope that they panic and decide to fold, even though they have already bet into the pot, leaving the pot for you to take.<\/p>\n
There are two elements to winning at poker. The first is being lucky with the cards you are dealt and the second is building a pot effectively so that when you win, you are going to win a big amount. One of the toughest aspects of pot building is scaring players away when you bet.<\/p>\n
This strategy eliminates that, which is why it is so popular with players. The reason for this is because you are not immediately showing your strength, instead, you are checking in the first instance, to try and put other players at ease around the table.<\/p>\n
To get the best from this, you need to make sure you try this when there are many players still to go behind you. If you leave it while late, with just a few players to come, these may not decide to follow you, which will mean the end of your chance.<\/p>\n
You should also have caution when you go in for the raise, again you are not looking to do anything that will scare people here. A small, minimum raise, can be enough, given that this is the second round of betting on the street so some people will have put in the pot twice.<\/p>\n
Like the other strategies for pot building, if you are going to use the check-raise strategy to do this then your biggest focus needs to be on not scaring people while trying to extract as much money from your opponents as possible.<\/p>\n