You believe check-raising to be a better way of building a pot than leading with a bet.You are reasonably sure your opponent will bet if you check.You have a stronger hand than your opponent(s).To sum up, you want three conditions to be in place when check-raising for value: If you doubt your opponent will bet, forgo the check-raise and lead with a bet in order to get more value from your good hand. If you do decide to check-raise with a strong hand, be reasonably sure that your opponent will bet if you check, since there's nothing worse that checking down a big hand without any additional chips going into the pot. Check-raising this flop against a player who has missed it entirely will likely earn a fold by many players, meaning you've won a little more though perhaps not as much as you could have.Īnother reasonable play here would be to check-call the flop, then save the check-raise for the turn when the pot is even bigger and your opponent may well improve to a good second-best hand he's going to be less inclined to fold. You could then check-raise after your opponent's flop bet, although understand that the check-raise is often construed as an aggressive play - that is, it is a show of strength (whether true or a bluff).
