Checking behind

No Limit Holdem / Marcus Bateman / 02 August 2010 / Leave a Comment

As the continuation bet has become such a familiar and well understood concept in No Limit Hold'em, so the check on the flop has changed in statue to become something very different than it formerly used to be. When Hold'em first leapt to popularity, the vast majority of weak players simply gave up on any flop they didn't connect with. Even observant players tended to lean towards folding without a clear hand, and as a result players who continuation bet tended to win far more pots than they should have.

In the modern game this has become a totally different ball game than it once was. Now nearly all players understand that most people continuation bet, will frequently raise or call such bets with very marginal hands (if a hand at all), and the continuation bet has become a much harder move to make profitably than it once was.

Due to this, the reverse strategy to continuation betting - that of checking behind or before an opponent - has started to become an important part of the mid limit games and above. As most people expect a continuation bet in the modern game, in some cases a check can actually represent strength to an observant opponent, and allow you to extract future value later in the hand.

Say you are playing loose in a cash game and raise a hand like 7c8c and get a caller from a relatively proficient loose aggressive player in the big blind. The flop comes out Ah9c2d. Your opponent checks. As this is such a dry board, and one which either hits your range well or completely misses it, many good thinking players will rarely let you simply take down this pot with a simple continuation bet. Often good players will call or check raise you here, simply to try and establish if you have an ace or not (as most of the time you don't have an ace, it is obvious why this play is often good).

However, if you check behind in this scenario, you can make your opponent's life much harder. If they fire the turn and you call, your hand reeks of extreme strength, as it looks like you were hoping to give free cards to let your opponent catch up. If they check again, usually they will be basically admitting to missing the hand and giving up. Even if they call the turn, they will put themselves in a very complex position to call big river bets with any of their likely holdings (under pairs or weak aces).

Against opponents you can't simply bulldoze your way through, much greater deception and intrigue is crucial to how you play your hands. As continuation betting has become so prevalent and understood, in order to stop a leak developing in your game you have to tone your aggression down against observant opponents and balance your actions better. Poker is an endless game of balance, and although aggression is the preferred gear, at times it has to be toned down in the interests of deception and long term results against observant opponents.

Related Entries

Omaha hi/lo - the importance of check raising
Check Raise Bluffing
Check Raising on the River

Join Betfair Poker now