In a previous article I talked about when it is okay to check and call. However, it is important to note that one of the biggest mistakes you can usually make is to check and call. It is a mistake that many players make and is for the most part, a fundamental error.
Why is it wrong? Because it is your bet or raise that defines your opponent’s hand. If you just check and call, you really have no idea what your foe has. He could be on a draw. She could have middle pair. He could have the nuts. She could be on a stone cold bluff. Unless you bet, you just don't know.
Betting and raising also has the additional benefit of letting you win the pot by causing your opponent to fold. When you check and call, you not only eliminate that, but you also build up the size of the pot and make it correct for him/her to bet you out of the pot by applying pressure to you on the next street. There is also one additional benefit to betting/raising (especially when you have position) - if you are called, you will generally be checked to on the next street and if you are on a draw yourself, you will be able to take a free card, or if you have a strong but not great hand, you can check and call a bet on the river, while you would not have been able to call a check raise on the turn.
Try it. Say you flop middle pair, out of the big blind, against one player who limped in middle position. Bet out with it. If you check, you know he's going to bet. What do you do? Fold, call or raise? If you bet out, he'll either fold because the flop missed him (more times than not), call because he is drawing (either to two over cards he holds in his hand or a flush/straight draw), or raise because she believes she has the best hand. If you just check and call, you have no idea whether she has top pair or not. She could be holding nothing better than a pair of 2's but because you are checking and calling, you're eventually going to fold to her bets because of the uncertainty you have created (and generally speaking it would be correct for your foe to continue betting unless she knew you were the type of player who was a calling station).
Here is a hand that gives you an example of what I am talking about:
Level VIII: 50 Ante 150/300 Blinds (25 Minimum Chip)
Average Stack: 14,407.89 (10,000 starting chips)
Remaining Players: 304 (438 started)
Seat 1 : starts with 32,625
Seat 3 : starts with 5,925
Seat 9 : ME with 28,125
Seat 2 : has the dealer button
ME dealt down 
Seat 3 posts the small blind 150
Seat 4 posts the big blind 300
ME raises 600 to 900
Seat 1 calls 900
Seat 3 calls 750
>>>DEALING FLOP<<< 
Seat 3 bets 500
ME raises 1,500 to 2,000
Seat 1 raises 8,000 to 10,000
Seat 3 calls 4,475 and is all-in
ME folds
Seat 1 cards were 
Seat 3 cards were 
>>>DEALING TURN<<< 
>>>DEALING RIVER<<< 
As you can see, I didn't just call the flop bet. I raised because I wanted to define my opponents hand. I wanted to see if he was drawing to the spade flush, had 9-9 or a bigger pair than mine. I wasn't too worried about a 4 as any hand with that would likely
be eliminated by my pre-flop raise. When it is re-raised and called by the original bettor before it gets to me, I KNOW I am behind, and I know this because I have defined my opponents hand by raising instead of calling. It's a tough fold here on this board, but an absolutely correct one.
Poker is a game of incomplete information. One of the big questions in poker is how do you get information in the first place? There are many ways, but one of the most important (and obvious) ones is by betting and raising. If you want to know how much your opponent likes his hand, there is one sure way of finding out... raise. You might be surprised by what you learn (and win).
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