Definition To check a street (with the initiative) after your opponent has checked to you. Our poker HUD software offers a large amount of statistics. Knowing which ones are relevant and important can be overwhelming. If you are new to poker software you can initially ignore all statistics except the essential three poker statistics. They’ll check or call too often. Good players know to play good hands aggressively postflop. With an aim to take a free card, or with a reason to fold your cards if any of the opponents will make.
Can there be any more magnificent play in poker than the check?
There you are, a fat stack of chips next to you, staring at your cards and you decided to … do … basically nothing. You signal to the table that you’re cool with how things are now. You’re not going to push in any chips, but at the same time you’re not folding. Just thinking about it is enough to raise goosebumps.
Okay, that’s probably a big fat lie. To most poker players, checking probably feels only a shade better than outright folding. It can feel like quitting, not committing anything to the pot and, in turn, not forcing anyone else to commit either.
Still, checks are an important tool in your arsenal. They’re a good defensive move if you’re not sure how the table stands. They’re also a great offensive tool and the start of a number of effective bluffs and big money moves.
That’s why we’re going to look at checking in more depth. We’ll look at when it makes sense to check and when you might just want to fold. It’s also important to consider what checking says to the table (whether you want to say it or not.)
It may not be the most exciting poker play ever, but if you can master the check, it will help you master the game of poker.
What Is Checking?
If you’re a beginner at poker and are unfamiliar with the term “check,” it’s okay. A check is an option for you to choose when betting that says you’re not going to add any more chips to the pot, but you’re not folding, either.
You can’t always check when playing poker, though. If you are playing a game in which you have to bet (such as when you’re the big or small blind in Texas Holdem) then you still have to put the chips in the pot. You cannot just decide to check and let action move on.
Also, if someone else makes a bet before you, then you cannot check. You have to either call the bet, which means that you bet the exact amount of chips your opponent bet, raise, fold, etc.
When to Check
The easiest answer to the question to when to check is when you want to keep playing, but you’re not completely confident in your cards.
The nice thing about having the option to check is that it means you’re in a low-pressure situation. No one has (yet) to force you to spend your money to stay in the game. Therefore, it’s completely up to you to determine how much money you are willing to risk.
Therefore, if one of the following is true, checking becomes a good idea:
- You don’t love the cards in your hand
- You’re getting a strong sense that your opponents have better cards than you
- You’re working towards a great hand, but you need help from the dealer
- You’re unsure of what your opponents have at all
- You’re playing Teddy KGB and figure out his tell and you’re in the movie Rounders
Again, all you have to do is say “check” and play continues on. Now, there is no guarantee that someone else won’t bet and force you to toss chips into the pot, but at least for now, you’re in the game without risking any money.
Also, keep in mind that it doesn’t cost you anything to check.
Even if you have a really terrible hand, you can always check just to see if anyone else is going to bet. It may be that everyone else is also wary of their cards so you get to stay in and see how the board shapes up.
There’s also the case when you have a terrific hand and you are using the check to sucker in your opponents. This falls under doing a check-raise, but that is a different topic for another time.
When Not to Check
Don’t check if you have a strong hand or you are working towards building one. When this happens, close this article and go read one on how to raise. If your cards are good and you think you can potentially take the pot, you want to make it bigger.
Making a pot bigger means raising and getting the other players at the table to toss chips into the pot as well. That’s exactly what raising is good for. Checking is good at letting you live to fight another day.
Don’t Regret Checking
One other thing. Like poker itself, checking can be a bit of a gamble. If your cards are borderline or you end up drawing the cards you need, don’t regret the chips you could have won. Celebrate the chips you did win because you stayed in the game.
What Checking Signifies to the Table
There are fewer less ambiguous moves you can make at the poker table than checking. A check is a pretty clear indication that you don’t think you have the goods, at least not yet.
When watching professional poker, checks are often used for smaller pocket pairs or when players are hoping to draw a card to complete a straight or a flush.
Either way, if you check, you make yourself out to be a bit of a wounded animal. In some ways, checking can embolden other players to go after you, thinking that you might fold. If that happens, so be it.
You can decide then whether you want to fold and call the bet. Chances are, though, if you’re not thrilled with your hand, muck it and go on to the next hand.
What to Do After Checking
Watch your opponents and see how they react.
As noted above, some of your opponents are going to decide you don’t have the cards and come at you hard. If they do, you can decide if you are going to call based on whether you think they are bluffing at you or not.
Check Poker Term
I will say from my own playing, I am more likely to bluff or bet larger amounts of money if someone else has checked. This is purely because I think that opponent doesn’t have the cards.
When the Entire Table Checks
Ideally, though, when you check, other players are the table are going to check, too. When this happens, the table is essentially all saying their cards aren’t great and it opens up a range of possibilities for more aggressive poker play.
Be CarefulYou have to be a little careful because if everyone checks, you don’t get to bet again until after another card comes out and changes the board state. It could be that someone waiting to finish a straight got their card or happened to make a set out of a bottom pair.
Still, there have been several times when the table has checked, a fairly high face card is dealt and I bet aggressively making everyone thing I just completed a pair. This has back fired on me, too, but it is certainly something that you can consider.
I have also found that if I bid ultra-aggressively after everyone has checked, the table (rightly) assumes I am just being a bully and calls me. In these cases, medium sized bets often work best because it doesn’t make my opponent think I am bluffing and forces them to pay to stay in the game.
Checking When You’re an Aggressive Player
Yes, even if you think of yourself as an aggressive player, you can still check. It won’t hurt your reputation.
There are some players who will raise on every hand, just to make other people pay money to stay in the game. That is certainly one strategy that you can follow. However, this strategy can end up backfiring on you because you may end up losing the money if your cards are not good enough.
Therefore, even if you like to raise, look at checking as a way to preserve your stack. If you are the type to raise every hand, eventually others will call you because they think you don’t have the goods. If you don’t, you would have been better of checking and letting play continue. You would still potentially be in the game without having risked any chips.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, a check is a valuable tool for poker players to have in their arsenal. While it unfortunately sends out a direct message to the rest of the table that you are not happy with the hand you’ve been dealt, it still gives you a fighting chance to keep playing and protect your stack.
Plus, if you can get out of a round of betting without risking any chips, you will be better positioned in the next round because you will have an extra card and have some idea of what your opponents have in their hands.
Check Vs Call Poker
Good luck poker players and remember that even if it doesn’t feel great, a check can lead you to victory.
Poker What Is Check
