A check-raise in poker is a common deceptive play in which a player checks early in a betting round, hoping someone else will open. The player who checked then raises in the same round.
This might be done, for example, when the first player believes that an opponent has an inferior hand and will not call a direct bet, but that he may attempt to bluff, allowing the first player to win more money than he would by betting straightforwardly.
Of course, if no other player chooses to open, the betting will be checked around and the play will fail.
While it is an important part of poker strategy, in some home games and certain small-stakes casino games, this play is not allowed. It is also frequently not allowed in the game of California lowball.
Sandbagging (also called slow play) is deceptive play in poker that is roughly the opposite of bluffing: betting weakly with a strong holding rather than betting strongly with a weak one. The check-raise is one such play.
This might involve a check or call with a hand that you might otherwise raise with, to lure other players into the pot who might fold to a raise, or to lure them into betting more strongly than they would if you had bet or raised. This is often dangerous because it sacrifices the protection that a bet or raise would give you, and it also risks losing the pot-building value of a bet if your opponents also check. It can nonetheless be profitable to do this under circumstances that include the following:
Your hand is so strong that protection isn’t needed.
An opponent is likely to bet when you don’t.
Opponents are likely to fold or just call if you bet.
Here’s an example from a four-handed draw poker game among Alice, Bob, Carol, and David: After anteing, Alice looks at her hand to find a pair of aces, and opens the betting for $2. Bob raises an additional $2, bringing the bet to $4. Carol folds. David calls the $4, and Alice puts in an additional $2 to match the raise. Drawing three cards, she receives another ace, and a pair of fives. Since her aces-full is almost certain to be unbeatable, it does not need the protection of a bet (and this is the last betting round, where protection applies less anyway). Also, Bob earlier raised, and David called a raise, so they likely have strong hands and one of them will bet if Alice doesn’t. Finally, since Bob and David earlier showed strength, and they know that Alice knows this, Alice betting into them would be seen as a bold move likely to scare one or both of them off, especially if they weren’t as strong as they seem. This is a perfect place for a check-raise. Alice checks. As she hoped, Bob bets $2. David thinks for a minute, then calls the $2. Alice now springs the trap and raises $2. Bob calls the additional $2, and David (who now realizes that he is probably beaten) folds. Bob reveals three sixes, and surrenders the pot to Alice. If Alice had just bet her hand on the second round, it is likely that Bob would just have called and David may or may not have called, earning Alice $2 to $4 on the second round. But with the check-raise play, she earned $6.
Even in games (such as California lowball) where the check-raise is not allowed, one can make other sandbagging plays such as just calling (“flat calling”) instead of raising with a very strong hand and then later raising.
In games with many betting rounds, such as stud poker and community card poker games, one can make multiple-round sandbagging plays. Let’s say, for example, you are playing Seven-card stud and your first three cards are all fours. An opponent with a king showing bets first, and you raise, getting two callers. On the next round, the first bettor catches another king, and you miraculously catch the last four. You suspect he has two pair or three kings, and he suspects that you have two pair or three fours (four of a kind is so unlikely that he will probably ignore the possibility, just as you can probably ignore the possibility that he has four kings). He bets again, and you just call. You should probably just call for next round or two, and maybe even check if no one bets, rather than raising, for several reasons. Your hand is so strong that the chance of getting beaten is negligible, so you don’t need protection. If the bettor just has two pair and you act strongly, he may think you have three fours and fold if he doesn’t improve. Allowing other players to continue for smaller stakes might allow one of them to catch a hand such as a straight, flush, or full house that will call your final bets or possibly even raise you back, building a very big pot. Finally, keeping as many players in the game as possible will make a bigger pot. At some point, though, you will have to “come out of the woodwork” and bet strongly; after all, the point of the exercise is to get more money in the pot, and you can’t do that by continuing to check on every round.
Another common sandbagging play that occurs only on the last betting round is called “fishing for the overcall”. This occurs when the last card you are dealt makes you a very strong hand, a player in front of you bets, and there are more players to act behind you. While you might normally raise with your hand, just calling may encourage the players behind you to overcall when they would have folded to a raise. This play is best when there are several players behind you, and they are the kind of player likely to call one bet but not a raise. If there is only one player behind you, for example, then getting the overcall gains no more money than raising and having the initial bettor call (at least in a fixed limit game). This play also sacrifices the profit you might have made from players who would have overcalled even the raise.
In poker, to bluff is to bet or raise with an inferior hand, or with a hand believed to be inferior. The term is also used as a noun: a bluff is the act of bluffing.
The bluff is an important part of the strategy of any poker game, though it will come into play more in some games than in others. This is because a bluff is intended to represent a strong hand. For example, bluffs are much stronger in pot-limit and no-limit games, because your opponent will have worse pot odds, in addition to the threat of larger bets in future betting rounds if there are any. On the other hand, bluffing is less common in limit Omaha, because it’s often likely that if you don’t have the hand you represent, one of your opponents does.
Strategy
Do not be predictable. If you always bluff in certain situations, your opponents will figure this out and start calling more. On the other hand, if you never bluff, they will figure that out too and stop calling your non-bluff bets, which is a bad thing—even though you might win the hand, you will fail to win the amount of their call. The exact ideal bluffing frequency in each game situation is a complicated exercise in game theory that you will not be able to solve at the table, so you may have to rely on rules of thumb, prior analysis, experience, and intuition.
General guidelines
Bluffs are more successful with fewer people in the pot. Against only one or two opponents, your chances are often good that no one has a hand good enough to call. Against three or more opponents, at least one of them probably does, so bluffing is unlikely to succeed.
Bluff much less in high-low split games—some very weak hands will call hoping for half the pot, and the likelihood of splitting the pot greatly reduces your pot odds in any case. In some games such as limit Omaha high-low, you would not be giving up much advantage if you never bluffed at all.
In games with many betting rounds, bluffs are more often successful in early rounds rather than late ones. Once other players have put a lot of money into the pot, they are less likely to give up (this tendency is based on the false concept of being “pot-committed” and goes beyond the correct strategy of calling more often with higher pot odds. cf. sunk cost fallacy)
Value bet your strong hands, consider bluffing with hands you are almost sure cannot win any other way, and check the ones in between: On the last betting round, if you have a hand that might be good but that is not very strong, you are probably better off checking and then calling a bet by your opponent rather than bluffing. A player with a worse hand will probably not call if you bet, but a check might induce your opponent to bluff, allowing your call to win more money. On the other hand, a player with a better hand than yours will almost certainly call, and may raise, costing you money. You also do not need the protection of a bet.
A raise, and especially a check-raise, as a bluff is more psychologically intimidating than just opening. Of course it also risks more of your money and makes the pot bigger (and therefore more likely to be called), so it must be used with care.
Semi-bluffs
In games with multiple betting rounds, to bluff on one round with an inferior or drawing hand that might become a much better one by chance in a later round is often called a semi-bluff. Semi-bluffs thus afford a player two opportunities to win the pot: everyone may fold, or the player still might win the showdown if called.
For example, a player in a stud poker game with four spade-suited cards showing (but none among their downcards) on the penultimate round might raise, hoping that others believe they have a flush even though they do not. If their bluff fails and they are called, they still might be dealt a spade on the final card and win the showdown (or they might be dealt another non-spade and try their bluff again, in which case it is a pure bluff or stone-cold bluff on the final round rather than a semi-bluff).
Randomizing devices
In performing bluffs, it often helps to have a randomizing device: for example, if your analysis or experience leads you to believe that you should bluff half of the time in a certain situation, use a device such as the color of the last card dealt. Another strategy useful in short-handed games is to give yourself fake outs: if a jack is not a scare card, pretend that every jack is an out for you, even if it is not. This strategy has a mathematical basis in game theory.
Bluff (the game)
Bluff is an ancient predecessor of poker played in the 1800s, where only the cards from 10 to Ace were used, and straights and flushes hadn’t been invented yet.
In poker, the probability of each type of 5 card hand can be computed by calculating the proportion of hands of that type among all possible hands.
Derivation
The following computations show how the above frequencies were determined. To understand these derivations, the reader should be familiar with the basic properties of the binomial coefficients and their interpretation as the number of ways of choosing elements from a given set. See also: sample space and event (probability theory).
Straight flush — Each straight flush is uniquely determined by its highest ranking card; and these ranks go from 5 (A-2-3-4-5) up to A (T-J-Q-K-A) in each of the 4 suits. Thus, the total number of straight flushes is: 40.
Four of a kind — Any one of the thirteen ranks can form the four of a kind, leaving 52 − 4 = 48 possibilities for the final card. Thus, the total number of four-of-a-kinds is: 624
Full house — The full house comprises a triple (three of a kind) and a pair. The triple can be any one of the thirteen ranks, and any three of the four suits. The pair can be any one of the remaining twelve ranks, and any two of the four suits. Thus, the total number of full houses is: 3,744
Flush — The flush contains any five of the thirteen ranks, all of which belong to one of the four suits, minus the 40 straight flushes. Thus, the total number of flushes is: 5,108
Straight — The straight consists of any one of the ten possible sequences of five consecutive cards, from 5-4-3-2-A to A-K-Q-J-T. Each of these five cards can have any one of the four suits. Finally, as with the flush, the 40 straight flushes must be excluded, giving: 10,200
Three of a kind — Any of the thirteen ranks can form the three of a kind, which can contain any three of the four suits. The other cards can have any two of the remaining twelve ranks, and each can have any one of the four suits. Thus, the total number of three-of-a-kinds is: 54,912
Two pair — The pairs can have any two of the thirteen ranks, and each pair can have two of the four suits. The final card can have any one of the eleven remaining ranks, and any suit. Thus, the total number of two-pairs is: 123,552
Pair — The pair can have any one of the thirteen ranks, and any two of the four suits. The remaining three cards can have any three of the remaining twelve ranks, and each can have any of the four suits. Thus, the total number of pair hands is: 1,098,240
No pair — A no-pair hand contains five of the thirteen ranks, discounting the ten possible straights, and each card can have any of the four suits, discounting the four possible flushes. Alternatively, a no-pair hand is any hand that does does not fall into one of the above categories; that is, any way to choose five out of 52 cards, discounting all of the above hands. Thus, the total number of no-pair hands is: 1,302,540
Frequency of 7 card poker hands
In some popular variations of poker, a player uses the best five-card poker hand out of seven cards. The frequencies, probabilities, and odds are calculated as above; however the total numbers are greater since there are 133,784,560 (over 50 times more) 7 card combinations. It is notable that the probability of a no-pair hand is less than the probability of a one-pair or two-pair hand. (The frequencies given are exact; the probabilities and odds are approximate.)
There are several excellent books on poker strategy, and this article will only attempt to deal with the basics that must be mastered by the beginner. A list of articles on the material summarized here appears below.
Hand strength
Once a player has mastered the rank of hands, it is more important to realize their relative strength at a poker table. Approximately half the five-card hands in any given game will be less than a pair of twos, but only about one-fourth of five-card hands in the long run will be better than a pair of Aces. A full house is such a good hand that it is far more likely to be the best hand on the table than a 7 high (the lowest possible hand) is to be the lowest hand at a given table.
One mistake made by many beginners is to bet hands that are unlikely to win in the showdown, hoping that they will eventually improve. In the long run, this is a losing strategy against experienced players. For example, in draw poker, any hand less than a pair should generally be folded at the earliest opportunity. In other games, such as Texas Hold ‘Em where only two cards are dealt before the betting round, unmatched combinations of low cards are unlikely to result in a winning hand.
Improvement and pot odds
Athough improvement is possible with virtually every hand, most beginners forget that players with better hands may also improve their hands on the draw, and that in the long run the player with the better hand before a draw is likely to have the better hand after the draw as well. Generally, if you have reason to believe that your opponent has a better hand than you at any given point of a betting round, the appropriate action is to fold. However, if the money in the pot is large compared to the bet required to stay in (the “pot odds”), a call is possible. This is particularly the case when a player is attempting to fill a straight or flush. However, the approximate odds of filling an outside straight on the next draw is about 6-1, and the odds of similarly filling a flush is about 5-1. As such, calling is not recommended if the money that could be won gives a lesser payout on the bet.
One bet made by beginners that rarely pays off is to fill an “inside straight” – a straight with one of the middle cards missing. The odds against filling such a straight on a single draw are roughly 13-1 against and should not be considered unless the pot odds are particularly good.
Bluffing
Beginners, even talented beginners, see bluffing as a way to “buy” the pot. However, bluffing seldom works against poor players (who tend to overestimate the strength of their hand to begin with) and does not work for long against expert players if a player bluffs too frequently. Although all players should bluff occasionally to make their large bets on good hands look less credible, consistent and constant bluffing generally leads to large losses.
In large games it is difficult to bluff because of the high chance that someone has a good hand. It is also more sensible for your opponents to call than fold if the pot is large unless they are sure their hand is dead. Paying $10 to call with $100 in the pot is good value for anyone with more than a 10% chance of winning.
Position play
Generally, players who have to bet first need stronger hands to open the betting than players who bet later. This is because the raw odds of a better hand being on the table increase based on the number of players who have not had the opportunity to bet. For example, in a six-player game of draw poker, it is recommended that a player check in the first betting position unless they have at least a pair of aces. However, the last player to bet (the dealer) may open the betting if no-one else has spoken with as little as a pair of twos. One expert Hold ‘Em player recommends folding if you are the first player to the left of the blind unless you have the strength to raise.
