10 Essential Texas Hold’em Moves: The Check-Raise

We’re here to tell you winning at poker isn’t all about fundamentals.
There are a handful of special moves that, when mastered, can make the difference between winning a little, and winning a lot.
In this ten-part beginner poker strategy series we’re going to show you exactly how to use these powerful poker moves to make more money.
Today we’re talking about the check-raise, a move that’s one of the most basic yet powerful tactics you can add to your poker arsenal. By checking and raising your opponent’s bet you can use his position against him to get more money into the pot when you’re holding the nuts, and make him throw away the best hand when you’re bluffing.
The check-raise is a technique you should be using in every poker session, but it’s extremely important to understand the move and how to use it so it doesn’t become a serious leak.
The What: A check-raise in poker marked cards consists of checking when the action's on you, and raising after a player behind you has bet. The check-raise is a trapping move.
The Why: Check-raising can be done for two reasons. Either you are check-raising for value, to get more money into the pot when you think you have the best hand, or check-raising as a bluff, to make your opponent throw away the best hand.

Check-raising must be used with caution if you play Negreanu's small-ball style.

 

The When: The check-raise is an essential Texas Hold’em move that is right at home in any poker game on the planet. It’s equally effective in cash games, tournaments and sit and gos.
The Where: Since you must check in order to check-raise, this move only works when you’re out of position.

Check-Raising Done Right

Since this is a beginner poker strategy series, moves like the check-raise must be handled with care.
While the check-raise is definitely an essential move and deserves a spot in every poker player’s toolbox, if you start firing off check-raises willy nilly it’s only going to get you into trouble.
The first thing you need to know when check-raising is why you’re doing it. Poker is a game of planning and the check-raise is a prime example. Unless you know what you’re trying to accomplish by check-raising you’ll just be burning money.
Check-raising is done in two main ways. Either you’re holding what you think is the best hand and you check-raise for value, to get more money into the pot, or you think your opponent has the best hand and you’re check-raising as a bluff to make your opponent fold.
Check-raising also serves to balance your checking range, meaning that by raising some of the times when you check, your opponent won’t automatically know you have a weak hand when you check to them.

Check-Raising for Value

As a beginner the vast majority of the times you check-raise should be for value.
When you think you have the best hand you need to get as many chips into the pot as possible. The better your hand, the more comfortable you should be putting all your chips at risk.
Check-raising for value gives you another way to entice your opponent into putting money into the pot.
By checking and signaling weakness your opponent will bet a wider range of hands, trying to use position to win the pot with weak holdings.

Check-raising will make your strategy less predictable against talented, thinking players.

 

By check-raising, you can either force your opponent into making a mistake by calling with the worst hand marked poker, or you can induce and all-in shove from drawing hands and second-best made hands.
Here are a few key points to keep in mind when check-raising for value:

• You must be first to act.
• Your opponent must be aggressive enough that he will bet with a wide variety of hands when checked to.
• Check-raising with a monster for value can be especially effective in multi-way pots.

But remember, check-raising is a powerful move and can force your opponent into laying down even moderately strong hands. So if you hold the nuts, be cautious of overplaying your hand and forcing your opponent into folding before putting all his money in the pot.

Check-Raising as a Bluff or Semi-Bluff

Because check-raising is such a powerful poker move it should come as no surprise that it’s one of the most effective bluffing tactics out there.
By taking advantage of a few common Hold’em situations, you can use the check-raise to knock players off pots regardless of the cards you’re holding.
The most common situation where the check-raise can be used as a bluff is in a heads-up pot when you’ve called out of position. Because even most beginner poker players know they should be continuation-betting the majority of the time when they raise preflop, you can turn the tables on them with a well-timed check-raise.
In this situation you can use your opponent’s knowledge of c-betting to your advantage.
If your opponent decides to c-bet a 4♥ 5♥ 6♠ flop, you can check-raise as a bluff to represent a hand you’d be likely to just flat-call with preflop, a pocket pair that hit a set or suited connectors that flopped big.
Check-raising as a semi-bluff is also a great way to add strength to the way you play your drawing hands. Next time you flop a flush draw, check-raise instead of check-call and give yourself a second way to win the pot.

Check-Raising in Action

If you're still unconvinced about the power of the check-raise, check out the video below.
Listen to Gus Hansen teach you about check-raising in a clip that looks more like a kidnapping ransom video than a poker strategy tutorial. We particularly like the monotone delivery.

No-Limit Strategy: Position and Drawing Hands

In No-Limit Hold'em, playing drawing hands well is critical to your overall profitability.
Most of the time, playing aggressively is best. But knowing exactly when to jam the pot and when to call is tricky and usually depends on whether the pot is heads-up or multi-way.
Playing drawing hands aggressively does three important things:

1. Forces your opponent(s) to lay down marginal hands
2. Creates doubt about the true strength of your hand (and helps disguise strong hands)
3. Gets you bigger pots when your draw hits

In this article, we'll discuss how position affects drawing hands in a heads-up pot.
General Rule:
When you're heads-up, drawing hands should be played aggressively - independently of your position. Because you only have one opponent to beat marked cards, taking an aggressive approach will often win you the pot without going to a showdown.
In Position
When you're in position heads-up, you simply have more options. Typically, if I'm in position and flop any reasonable draw (flush, straight or even a gut-shot straight draw with two overcards), I'm going to play the hand fast.
If my opponent bets the flop, I'll raise; if he checks, I'll bet. In this sense, position doesn't have a huge impact on the flop. Whether you're first or last to act, you'll be the aggressor.
But things can get tricky if your opponent has a strong hand. If he bets, you raise and he re-raises all-in on the flop, or he checks to you and then makes a large check-raise when you bet, it's decision time.
In either situation, you simply have to go with a little bit of math and your gut feeling. Depending on how deep the stacks are, if you do the math, you'll probably find calling (or moving all in against the check-raise) is never as bad a play as it might intuitively seem.
Sometimes it's better to make a (slightly) negative EV play (for example, moving all-in) if it results in your opponents making fewer moves (bluffs) at you in the future. As an added bonus, once they've seen you're capable of moving all-in on the come, you'll also tend to get more action on your big made hands.
Playing the Turn
In heads-up action, the play of drawing hands on the flop is not influenced tremendously by position - you're simply going to play your hand aggressively. It's really on the turn where position most comes into play.
Let's assume you've missed your draw and one player, who's called your bet (or raise) on the flop, checks to you on the turn. If you're in position, you have a couple of options:
One, you can keep representing strength and fire a second barrel. This puts your opponent, who's out of position, in a tough spot as he'll have to fear another bet on the river.
Two, you can simply check behind and see the river card for free (an option you don't have if you're out of position).
Checking behind may seem weak at first, but if your opponent has ever seen you bet the flop, check the turn and then bet the river with a strong hand such as top pair, top kicker or a big over pair, then a bet-check-bet pattern can be effective.
Using this betting pattern will make your drawing hands and your strong made hands look exactly the same, and that can only benefit you.
Another profitable situation that can pop up is if your opponent flops a strong hand but waits until the turn to make his move cheat poker. If you're playing aggressively (which, after you've read this article, you will be) and fire a second barrel on the turn (after missing your draw) and your opponent raises, his raise will very often be too small.
Case in point: Imagine on the turn you've bet $80 into a $100 pot. An opponent with a strong hand (but not a lock) will often only raise to $200. So you're now getting 3.2-1 pot odds. If both of you have money behind, you'll have an easy call based on the implied odds.
This kind of betting error is amazingly common, and it's an especially profitable opportunity if you're in position. Your opponent has to act first on the river and will usually end up paying you off if you hit your hand. He simply won't be able to convince himself you were on the draw.
Playing Drawing Hands Out of Position
Simply put: Playing drawing hands out of position gives you fewer options and can get you into awkward spots if you miss (both on the turn and on the river). So generally it tends to be less profitable. But, despite this, it's still critical to play aggressively.
The primary reason it's less profitable is if you miss your draw on the turn, you don't have the option of checking behind and taking a free card. If you check and your opponent senses weakness and bets the turn, you'll usually have to give up the hand and miss the extra shot at the pot on the river.
To make matters worse, if you bet, a large raise may shut you out and again cost you an opportunity to make your hand (and presumably win the pot) on the river.
When you're out of position and flop a draw, you should still bet. You also can try and win the pot right then with a large check-raise, but although this will often win the pot, if it doesn't and you miss on the turn, you'll again be in an awkward spot.
Anytime your opponent calls a bet on the flop and you miss on the turn, you'll have a decision to make. Lots of players weakly check their drawing hands and then fold (to a bet). But if you find yourself playing this way, you're costing yourself a lot of money.
To plug this leak, you have to do two things: increase the percentage of times you fire a second barrel, and be more selective pre-flop (play fewer drawing hands) when you're out of position.
Remember, if you want to maximize profit on drawing hands, position and aggression are the key elements of success. In heads-up play, any reasonable draw should be played aggressively. The number of outs you have may vary depending on the draw, but the way you should play the hand doesn't change that much.
Stay tuned for the next article in this series, where we'll discuss how position impacts drawing hands in multi-way pots.

25 $1,800 BOM Packages on Full Tilt Starting July 3!

A huge week of Battle of Malta prize-package giveaways is about to get underway at Full Tilt Poker with five packages up for grabs this Wednesday.
Every day from July 3-7 (Wed-Sun) five full $1,800 travel packages (25 in total) are on the line in a nightly $5 MTT on FTP.
Events are open to all Full Tilt marked card tricks players open an account at Full Tilt Poker via PokerListings link to play) and overlays are expected.
Each tournament will award the top five finishers a 2013 BOM package that includes:

• €550 Entry into Main Event
• 4 nights at 5-star Corinthia Hotel Malta
• Daily breakfast and daily buffet lunch at the casino
• Airport & hotel transfers
• Invite to complimentary VIP party
• Exclusive access to special side events

You could be next on interview list.

 

The second annual PokerListings Battle of Malta will run Sept 26-29 at the Portomaso Casino in Malta with a €200,000 guaranteed prize pool.
ESPN WSOP reporter Kara Scott will return as host and will be joined by A-list pros Dan "Jungleman12" Cates, Johannes Strassmann and Andreas Hoivold.
More info on the Battle of Malta here.

The Naked Raise Plus: Post-Flop Play Part III

Let's continue our overview of post-flop play. In the past two columns we looked at eight fundamental strategic moves.
Here are four more.
IX. The naked raise on the flop.
This ploy is a variation on the float play (see Part II) in that it takes advantage of an aggressive marked cards player who has likely missed the flop.
The principle behind it is the same one that motivates the float: most flops miss most hands. However, instead of flat-calling the pre-flop raiser's continuation bet, you raise.
The move will be either a bluff or a semi-bluff, depending on whether you caught a piece of the flop yourself.
The success of this gambit depends largely on the texture of the flop and your sense of the range of hands your opponent might have raised with pre-flop. Since the move is essentially a steal, it's more likely to succeed on raggedy boards.
Interestingly, it won't matter all that much what your table image is here. If you're seen as loosey-goosey, your opponent is going to wonder about a possible two-pair on a flop like T♣ 8♦ 5♠
If you've established a tight, conservative image, flops like this invite thoughts about flopped sets.
There are also other boards that invite this move, including what you may think as unlikely ones like three suited cards or three mid-sized connectors. They work because your opponent has to worry about you having hit the flop hard.

Employ the move judiciously, or you may get froze, Iceman-style.

How much to raise will be an issue and there are no unmessy ways to determine this. Factors such as your image, your opponent's tendencies, your positions, stack sizes and the like will come into play.
Generally, you want to use the smallest raise that looks like it will work since if you get called or re-popped you're almost certainly going to have to let the hand go.
The naked raise isn't a move for every hand. In fact, it should be employed judiciously.
X. Pay attention to players on your left. They will often have tells about planned action.
Numerous columns have been written about this, yet surprisingly, many players fail to use it after the flop - especially one that has been seen by several players.
The most costly outcome of this failure is to make a modest bet, say half the pot, and then look left and see that your opponent has already picked up a stack and is moving in for the kill marked card tricks.
Having to dump a half-pot bet into the ether once or twice a night can be expensive.
XI. In most situations, the value of a made hand diminishes with each new card. I know, this is obvious, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to forget it under pressure.
I have no hard data on this but as we noted earlier (Part II), I suspect that more money is lost in NLH with flops that give you either top-pair top-kicker or bottom-two than any other holdings.

More money lost in NLH on flops that give you either top-pair top-kicker or bottom-two than any other holding.

They are highly vulnerable hands just because they're unlikely to improve, whereas there are myriad holdings that can run them down - and when they do, it can hurt.
The problem is it's so easy to get emotionally attached to strong hands ("get married" is the tag line often heard). The solution is to remember that their strength diminishes with each new card that hits the board.
Make sure you think through each situation. Try to calculate the likelihood that your hand is still best or whether flop texture, betting, position and your opponent's likely hand range shout out warnings.
XII. Learn how to counter "standard" gambits like c-bets, traps and float plays.
Most winning players know the standard ploys and use them advantageously. However, many have not dug sufficiently into the ways to counter them.
There are no algorithms here but some tricks that work are known. For example, you're reasonably sure your opponent's call on the flop is the first move in a float play. Instead of checking the turn, fire a second bullet or, even more aggressively, check-raise.

Wait a second. This looks like a standard gambit.

The "naked raise" move discussed above can also be used to neutralize the continuation bet. When you raise a c-bet from a typical player you are accomplishing several things.
First, you're shaping your image as a focused and aggressive player. You're telling the table that they're not always going to get away with a simple c-bet.
Second, you're introducing an element that will play an important part of the meta-game. It can get you a free card that a less-aggressive player won't.
It can also provide you with the opportunity to take control of a hand by removing the initiative.
More in a later column.

Why You Call When You Told Yourself to Fold

You're in a tough $5/10 NLH game. You know the guy in the checkered shirt in seat 8. Solid, unimaginative, with little trick in his game.
He's just pushed a stack of greenies at you on the river. You missed your draw; you've got middle pair and, basically, can only beat a bluff.
So you sit there looking at your cards, at the board, at your opponent.
You've got a good read on the situation and know precisely what you should do with your hand. In fact, this is exactly the situation you've been warning yourself about over and over again in recent weeks.
Do NOT make marginal calls in situations like this one because they have long-term negative EV (indeed, very negative).
Yet you feel an odd twinge deep below the surface of your mind. You know that you should fold. You plan to fold.
The cards are almost in the muck, you're going to slip quietly away when you see an ethereal hand, one that looks a lot like yours, though acting like it belongs to someone else marked cards, grab a bunch of chips and you hear a voice that has a fretfully familiar tone to it and seems to be coming from your mouth say, "I call."
And, of course, he wasn't bluffing and you've just shed another buy-in on a truly idiotic move that felt like it was made by some demon inside you, for you would never have been so stupid.
From my psychologist/poker junkie perspective, the really interesting part of this tale is not that you just did something moronic but that you did exactly the thing you've been trying to banish from your game.
If the word "irony" comes to mind now, it should. If the name Daniel Wegner comes to mind, I'll be really surprised.
Dan is a psychologist at Harvard. He's an old friend and even though he's not a poker player, I'd like to tell you a bit about how his research applies to our game and how, if we can work this out carefully, his insights can help reduce the number of silly and financially damaging actions we take.
Wegner studies irony. He's been fascinated all his life with those situations where we tell ourselves that we should do X and avoid Y like the plague then, bingo, we end up Y'ing.
Dan's research is slowly yielding an understanding of why these situations arise and why we keep doing the very wrongest things.
Here's his analysis, in simplest terms:
When we consciously suppress the thoughts about the thing we do NOT want to do, we don't actually banish them from our minds.
They take on a life below the surface and sit there, unnoticed, in what is technically known as "implicit memory" (if you want to call this your "subconscious" that's okay).
It takes a certain measure of mental effort to keep these unwanted thoughts in their mental jail.
If I ask you to NOT think about white bears or NOT to spill any red wine as you carry your glass across the carpet or NOT to think about calling a pot-sized bet from the tightest cheat poker player at the table, two things will happen.
First, you WILL think about those things. Second, you will manage, most of the time, to suppress that thought ... for the moment.
But what Dan's research has shown is that this suppression doesn't always hold.
When it does, fine. You won't waste time imaging white bears on (vanishing) ice floes, dumping a glass of Merlot on someone's beige wall-to-wall or donating a stack of greenies to the rock in seat 8.
But what Dan has also found is that when stress levels go up, when pressure is put on us, or we are distracted, these unwanted thoughts and actions become surprisingly likely to occur.
Ask someone NOT to use a particular word in conversation and, if they get distracted or stressed they are far more likely to blurt that word out than if the initial request was never made.
If you sit there and think something like "calling pot-sized bets on dangerous boards is something I will simply not do anymore" you run the risk of making it more likely that you will do the very thing you've counseled yourself against, if you're under stress or distracted or are put under heavy mental load.

We're all familiar with settings that are likely to produce these unhappy ironic outcomes.

We're all familiar with settings that are likely to produce these unhappy ironic outcomes. You've been losing. You're on tilt because you've been bluffed twice and both times the bozos showed you.
You're in the cash game because you bubbled the MTT. An old girlfriend just walked in the room hanging on the arm of some idiot with a shaved head and his shirt unbuttoned down to his belly button.
You just realized you forgot to pick up your wife's prescription ... whatever. All invite bouts of terminal irony.
Is there a cure for this affliction? Not really. Just take your time when stressed. Think through the situation.
And, of course, practice helps. Experienced players usually handle stress better and are able to suppress thoughts that might leap up and take control of your hands or your vocal cords.
Poker isn't an easy game. But you can make it less painful if you work on combating this ironic tendency - the one that Edgar Allan Poe called the "imp of the perverse."

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50 Fun Things to do in Las Vegas you will not want to Miss!

There are so many things to do in Las Vegas that you may be wondering what to choose.  Of course, you will not be able to visit all of the wonderful attractions in one visit.  That is unless you are in Las Vegas for quite some time.  This list is simply to give you some ideas on what you can put on your agenda for your Las Vegas visit.

1.    Visit an atomic museum.
2.    Be a star and dance on the bar!
3.    Visit the discovery museum with the kids.
4.    Be brave and take a tour of all the haunted places in Las Vegas.
5.    Ride down the Las Vegas Strip.
6.    Become mesmerized at the Fountains at Bellagio.
7.    Discover natural beauty
marked cards at the Bellagio Gardens.
8.    Be a dare devil.  Ride a roller coaster on top of a hotel!
9.    Do you love dolphins?  Ever wanted to swim with the dolphins?  You can do more than just swim with them in Las Vegas.  You can actually be a dolphin trainer for the day!
10.    Laugh your socks off at a comedy show.
11.    Prepare to be amazed at a magic show.
12.    Visit Hard Rock Hotel and eat at the Pink Taco.
13.    Find yourself in Venice taking a gondola ride.
14.    Experience pure luxury in a spa at almost any hotel in Las Vegas.
15.    Experience the call of the Sirens at TI.
16.    Get a massage.
17.    Cool off in a Las Vegas pool.
18.    Check out the city from up above on a helicopter.  Ever so beautiful, especially at night!
19.    Take a day long nature tour.
20.    Take a long, slow walk down the Strip, without going inside a casino!

21.    Watch a volcano erupt, what a rush!
22.    You don't have to jump out of an airplane to skydive in Las Vegas!
23.    Get married in Las Vegas!  How original!
24.    Watch the sharks feed.
25.    Get your picture taken with a wax celebrity!
26.    Eat a late night meal trick cards.
27.    Play poker.
28.    Go dancing with the celebrities.
29.    See a masquerade in the sky.
30.    Ride a wave pool.
31.    See a movie.
32.    Car fanatics – see an auto collections show.
33.    Go to an aquarium.
34.    See the Blue Man Group.
35.    Visit Paris in Las Vegas!
36.    See the Shadows at the Shadow Bar.
37.    Shop ‘til you drop in Las Vegas.
38.    Stump the Jester at the Excalibur Hotel.
39.    Check out the animated birds and animals in Sam's Town atrium.
40.    See the infamous White Tigers.
41.    Visit the Lake of Dreams at Wynn.
42.    Watch the mimes that stroll along the Canal Shoppes
43.    Go back to the time of the Titanic and see the treasures they had.
44.    Check out the Flamingos and African penguins at the Flamingo.
45.    Ride a runaway train.
46.    People watch at Caesars Forum Shops.
47.    Go to the circus!
48.    Ever heard of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?  Las Vegas has its own scrumptious chocolate factory!
49.    Wake up early and watch the sunrise over the desert.
50.    Get up and get moving without making a plan – just go where your heart takes you that day! You simply cannot get bored in Las Vegas.  There are literally hundreds of things to do.  This is just a small piece of the pie.  Have fun!