Poker News

Lou Krieger

While winning poker requires aggression, and betting and raising are the keys to aggressive play at the poker table, successful players always have a wide variety of tools at their disposal. Relying solely on hyper aggressive play can lead to money lost unnecessarily, but tempering a tendency to lean too heavily on betting and raising by calling every now and then can provide a good tactical balance to aggressive play.

Checking provides cover. When your opponent bets and you call, he has no idea whether you have ahand or are on a draw, and that may influence his action on the next betting round. While a simple call is seldom frightening in a fixedlimit game, anytime you bet and your opponent just calls in a no-limit cash game or a tournament you have to be somewhat wary about his intentions.

You might think checking is a weak strategy, and you’re not alone if you do. Many players view it this way. But it doesn’t have to be. After all, checking is not an act of surrender or a form of capitulation equivalent to tipping over your king in a chess game. Checking is merely a wager of nothing. Think of it as deferring your option to act, and passing that opportunity over to opponents who act after you in the betting order. It’s as if you said, “Go ahead; I’ll wait,” just like opening the door and holding it while a stranger enters before you. That’s all. You don’t relinquish your chance to act. You merely defer it.

If someone else takes the lead and comes out betting, you have three options available when the action gets back to you. If someone bets, you can fold, call, or raise. All your options are at your disposal. You haven’t surrendered a thing. Well, maybe one thing. If you checked because you have a powerful hand and want to raise after someone else bets, but everyone checks behind you, your opportunity to checkraise has been foiled. Rather than trapping your opponents for two bets, all that failed checkraise will accomplish is to give your opponents a free card which you probably didn’t want to do.

Checkraising is one of those “I need assistance” strategies, and you can’t do it without a little help from your friends. At least one player has to bet after you check in order for you to checkraise. And unless you have a human raising machine sitting to your left, you can’t always be sure that the checkraise you’re hoping to launch will get off the ground.

When you’re early to act in the betting order and don’t know the strength of your opponents’ hands, checking allows you to take a deep breath and see what other players do before you act. Suppose you called with Js-Td and saw a flop of Jh-8h-7c. You might have the best hand right now, but then again any one of your opponents might be in the lead. Possibilities are rampant: a jack with a better kicker is an obvious example, and if you are up against a couple of opponents, you might be trying to fend off a flush draw or a straight draw too. Even a made straight is a possible hand. All you have is one pair with a vulnerable kicker plus a gutshot straight draw, and while it might be the best hand right now, it doesn’t come with a guarantee. Even when it is thebest hand, it is vulnerable to other drawing hands. It’s not a hand you can really like. So many turn cards can cripple it that prudently checking-wagering nothing in order to see what your adversaries do-seems like the best course of action.

If there’s a bet and a call, and particularly if there’s a bet and a raise, saving your chips for a better opportunity by tossing your hand away is generally the best play. More to come about checking in the next issue.

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