Poker News

Lou Krieger

This is the second in a two-part series about that most common of poker plays, checking.

Checking affords the leeway to defer your opportunity to act until after you see what your opponents do. If there’s no appreciable action and you feel your hand is in the lead, you can come out betting on the next round as long as the turn card is benign. But if there is enough action to convince you’re not winning this race, toss it away with the assurance that checking and folding will save you a few chips.

Money saved equals money won. Money that stays in your hand because you were prudent spends just as well as chips you win. Checking in early position can be vitally important when you’re playing no-limit. That’s a game where position is even more important than it is in fixed-limit poker. If you have a draw in early position and are facing two or three opponents, it’s usually wise to check and see what your opponents do. If they check, that’s great. A free card may allow you to complete your hand at no cost or risk to yourself.

Checking is also a good idea when you have a very big hand and the opponent to your left is aggressive. Your check should convince him to bet. Then you can checkraise and win a bigger pot. If your overly aggressive opponent’s bet attracts calls from players who act after he does, you can trap them all for two big bets in a fixed-limit game, or blow them out of the pot with a big raise if you’re playing no-limit.

If your opponents realize that you will checkraise very big hands, it might allow you to check and get a free card when you’re the one who’s on a draw and in need of help to complete your hand. When you need improvement, what could be better than getting some help at no cost?

You can always check before the flop from the big blind whenever the pot isn’t raised. By checking the big blind you are essentially seeing the flop for free. If it’s to your liking, your opponents won’t have any idea how powerful your hand is until you begin pounding them on later betting rounds.

A check is a deferral. It’s as if you’re saying, “Go ahead. Give me some idea about the real or purported strength of your hand. Once I have some additional information at my disposal, I’ll decide what to do about it.”

Here are some reasons to check.

? To deceive and trap your opponents when you have a big hand.

? When you’re in a quandary as to how your hand stacks up against your opponents, checking gathers more information prior to acting on your hand. It’s a no-lose situation because checking still retains your option to fold, call, or raise-only now you have a bit more operational intelligence upon which to base your decision.

? To get a free or inexpensive card to complete your draw.

? To see the flop at no additional cost when you’re in the big blind.

Checking has many ofthe same attributes as calling. The only difference is in one’s position in the betting order. When first to act, you can always check. But once someone acts, you are forced to either fold, call, or raise, and checking is no longer an option.

While aggressive play is still the hallmark of a skillful poker player, it’s selective and aggressive play-not unrestrained, unmitigated aggression that we’re talking about. That means betting and raising most of the time with your good hands and checking and folding your weak ones. But when you have a drawing hand, are trying for a checkraise, or you want to deceive an overly aggressive opponent into committing and losing all his chips, checking and calling-or checking and raising-is a tactical ploy that can yield terrific results.

Try it. You might be glad you did. Visit Lou Krieger online

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