Checking vs. Betting
It is your turn to act. Are you going to check or bet? There is a lot more to consider in making this decision then simply what hand you hold. There is an old saying in poker: “Fold more than you raise, raise more than you call.”
The first part of that advice is easy to understand. Most hands you are dealt are not playable, the most common action a poker player takes is to fold. But the second piece of advice is tricky. The suggestion is that when you do enter a pot, you should be entering for a raise and not a call. In fact, another common poker saying is: “If a hand is worth playing, it is worth raising.”
Sure there are times when you will check and there are certainly situations where you will call but the point is that when you raise you do something a call or check will never do. When you raise, you force any other player in the hand to make a decision. When you check, they can check. When you call, they can call or if they made the original bet, we all get to see the next card.
When you raise, the other players now must make a decision and one potential decision is to fold. Your opponents can’t quit the hand with a fold unless you give them that opportunity with a raise. There is also the intimidation factor of a raise, you might well raise again when the next card comes out, you might already have a made hand or you just might be bluffing but no matter what; it is going to cost them chips to find out.
Betting is always a stronger move, even when your hand is weak. So get out there and put that raise into the pot and do it with strength. Oh, by the way, I check.
-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #76
