Poker Plays with Pokerpeaker: Why Check-Raising Can Cost You Value

You should never use the word "never" in poker. It's a game where absolutes not only don't apply, they're foolish.

But I'm never check-raising again.

If you've read this column with any regularity - hi, loyal reader - you know I'm not a big fan of check-raising. Well, I've decided to swear off it for good. I'm never doing it again. Why? Well, I'll give you a hand that I think shows why.

I'm playing Pot-Limit Omaha, and it's a .10/.25, full-ring game. I'm stomping all over the game and currently have $2 in profit. Man, sometimes it's just too easy.

Anyway, I'm dealt Q♥ - A♠ - A♣ - 7♦. I'm in the Big Blind. We get a limper, a second limper and a third limper before the cutoff min-raises it to .50. It's a terrible raise for me and for him.

It's a terrible raise for him because there's no way he'll chase anyone out of that pot with that raise. He's giving them odds to call, especially in Omaha, when potential  is everything and people hate to fold pre-flop.

But it's also a terrible raise for me because that doesn't give me enough of a chance to raise big back at him and maybe isolate him. There's no way I could get it all in post-flop with just one bet even with a re-raise pre-flop. I honestly don't even know if I can get anyone to fold.

That's probably OK anyway. I'll be out of position the rest of the hand and I don't have a strong Aces hand. Not one Ace is suited, and there isn't a ton of straight possibilities here either. In fact that 7♦ is nothing more than a dangler, and I usually avoid playing with danglers. Maybe I'll do a future article showing the difference between trash Aces and good Aces. This hand is more of trash Aces hand.

I'm not folding Aces, though, especially not for a quarter more, and so I call.

The flop comes 6♦ - A♥ - 9♣. Did I say something about trash Aces? I LOVE my Aces now.

This is a great flop for me. It's almost a perfect one, actually. I have top set on a board that doesn't really threaten me with draws (and that's rare in Omaha, generally one reason for big pots in this game is because someone has top set and another has a monster draw).

So this is one of the few times in my life I check in a Pot-Limit Omaha game. My reasoning is I've got six players in this hand, and the original raiser has yet to act. I wouldn't mind pulling people along for the ride until the turn card, when I can put the hammer down.

Sure enough, after four checks (sigh), a player bets .50. The frisky cutoff raises him to $1.50.

Oh, man, this is perfect.

OK, I'm just going to call here. I don't want to show too much strength, and in Omaha, it's conceivable that I could be on a draw of some kind, even if there doesn't really appear to be a solid one out there.

The K♦ falls on the turn. Well, as expected, that puts a flush draw out there and another straight draw, so I'm ready to bomb the board with a pot-sized bet.

And so I...check?

Now, really, a check looks OK from his end. Again, I could be on a draw. So I'd bet, too, if I were in his shoes. And he does. Unfortunately, it's a small bet, $2.

I raise $5 to $7. And he folds.

Dammit.

This is why I don't like check-raising. Put yourself in his shoes. A check-raise, in Omaha, no less, means I was willing to see a free card. It shows incredible strength on my end. After calling his raise cold on the flop, a check-raise on the turn is pretty strong statement on my end. It means I have a big hand for sure.

It's way too obvious.

I would fold in his shoes unless I had a huge hand too. And he obviously doesn't with that small bet on the turn.

A better move on my part would have been to just bet the turn. A bet is much harder to read. Am I bluffing? Am I trying to push him off the pot? Or do I have something? But does my something beat his something?

Plus it builds a pot, which is always a good thing to do in a Pot-Limit game when you have a hand.

I did win an $11 pot, but in my mind it could have been a lot more with simple, straight-forward bets, instead of a check-raise. A check-raise usually means only two things. One is I've got a huge hand. Two is I'm bluffing the crap out of you.

Hmm. I think I'm onto something. I will check-raise. But I'll only do it as an elaborate bluff.

After all, you should never say "never" in poker.

Mar 2010

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