Friday, October 16, 2009

Check Raising

No SNGs.

First, a little family controversy. What do you think?

So, I get an email from Mrs Wonka saying that Thanksgiving for her moms side of the family is the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I simply hit the decline button on email and stated that Sunday is the Dallas / Washington Football game and I simply can't make Thanksgiving.

Let's talk reality here. I only see these folks a couple times of the year and they really aren't interested in me or what I have to say. Of course, they want to see Mrs Wonka and the Wonkettes so fine, let them go and I will stay home and watch the game with the Cowboys and the hated Redskins.

Thoughts?

Check Raising. When to do it.

I can think of a couple of reasons.

1. You have raised preflop and missed the flop in this session and have check folded a number of times. I'm not saying that everybody pays attention to this; but the regulars surely do.

2. You are against a villain who Cbets alot. In Full Ring, I would define "alot" as anything over 80%. Anywhere in the 70s and you should take more things into accounts such as board texture, people in the pot and your general image.

3. Generally, you can do it to the regulars as calling stations don't fall for it.

4. Playing monster hands.

5. Playing against aggressive type people that tend to bet upon perceived weakness.

Here are a couple of hands. What are you general thoughts on Check Raising and the hands below?


Hand #1

Villain is a 31/23/inf over just 14 hands

Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/326729
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $196.55
BTN: $43.00
SB: $197.95
Hero (BB): $200.00
UTG: $401.65

Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is BB with Ks Ah
UTG raises to $7, 2 folds, SB calls $6, Hero raises to $28, UTG calls $21, 1 fold

Flop: ($63.00) 9h 2d Kd (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $30, Hero raises to $98, UTG folds

Hand #2


Villain is a 62/25/3.4 over 70 hands

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Pot Limit Hold'em - 9 players - http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/326730
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $131.55
UTG: $110.00
Hero (UTG+1): $100.20
UTG+2: $107.40
MP1: $100.00
MP2: $236.10
CO: $100.70
BTN: $98.50
SB: $20.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG+1 with Ac Kc
1 fold, Hero raises to $3.50, 2 folds, MP2 raises to $7, 4 folds, Hero raises to $22.50, MP2 calls $15.50

Flop: ($46.50) 6h Ks 5d (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $46.50, Hero raises to $77.70 all in, MP2 calls $31.20

Turn: ($201.90) 2d (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($201.90) 3h (2 players - 1 is all in)

http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/326729-326730

Have a nice day!!!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like it. I also like playing more passively (chk/call) if you hit an ace. It really looks like a good pp that isn't ready to give up just because an ace flopped. You can often check/call the flop and check/shove the turn

On a K hi board like these, you are just less likely to get that kind of action, and a check raise looks kinda weird/bluffy.

noldmax said...

Hey Wonka, both interesting spots.

H1) So you hit TPTK in a 3-bet pot on a dry-ish pot. But frankly, it's still wet enough that I'm not crazy about having it check through and then seeing a 3rd diamond or a T-Q peel off. So I like C-betting here. I think you really have to know that your opponent is aggro and likely to bet for you to check here rather than lead out. I think a C-bet better disguises your range than a check-raise. You might get a call from a hand like QQ, hoping to shut you down and get to showdown. And you could always get value from a hand like KQs.

H2) This hand is slightly different...it's a 4-bet pot, which greatly narrows the hand ranges to big pairs and AKs. You get a much drier flop and your opponent is looser and pretty aggro over a bigger (although still small) sample, so this is probably a case where you are only likely to get more action by letting your opponent bluff. Clearly, given the SPRs here, you are getting it in either way, so why not check, let the villain bet, and then get it in and hope that he makes a big mistake and commits himself. Of course there's a chance he has you crushed with AA/KK, but you are committed so oh well. I like how you played this one.

Hammer Player a.k.a Hoyazo said...

I like both of those check-raises you illustrated.

Generally speaking I think the check-raise is one of the most often misused moves in poker. The thing most people don't realize in my experience is that unlike some other moves you can make, the check-raise is just overtly strong, and it screams out that you have a very strong hand. People for example love to check-raise flopped sets against me, which is something I almost never do because I don't want my opponent then folding to my lead-out bet on the turn when he does not improve.

In general when I am check-raising on the flop, it is usually indicative of my having a beatable hand. In blogger tournaments (when they used to exist) or against particularly thinking players of course I would change this up, but out in the world if I check-raise the flop I usually have a one-pair type of hand, and/or a scary board like the first example you gave.

Zerbet said...

Thoughts?

Well, "Dead Man Walking" comes to mind...

Memphis MOJO said...

Thoughts?

Hey, I'm as big an NFL fan as anybody, but on this one, you're gonna be the person who gets check-raised if you're not careful. Just sayin'.

Who links to my website?