The moral?

Any time that you can eliminate a player from a poker game, DO IT! When a player is short stacked, push him to make a bad decision and knock him out of the game. Period. Even if you have to lose a few chips, eliminating a player from the table is likely worth it.

This is also why it is so important for you to make a move when you are short stacked before it is too late. Once your stack is too short, you will find it very difficult to battle back.

Understanding Chip Position is a key element of any strong poker strategy. However, it is just one aspect that you should consider every hand you play.

How to Check-Raise Your Way to Victory

The check-raise is one of the most potent and powerful weapons that any poker player has. If you are leaving this tool in your belt, you are missing out on more pots than you can imagine.

The check-raise intimidates players, allows you to control the tempo of a game, and puts other players on “tilt.” It is safe to say that when I play novices, I win more pots with the check-raise then I do with good cards. This is why it is so confusing to me when people don’t use this secret. To master the check-raise, you must first understand what the check-raise really is.

A check-raise is when a player checks to his opponent who places a bet. Then the player proceeds to raise his opponent. This simple strategy is extremely powerful for several reasons…

First, a check-raise confuses your opponents. A check is often read as a show of weakness and is met by a bet. However, when you raise after checking, your opponent must reconsider his read. Also, this strategy often intimidates your opponents. Especially if you are playing against amateurs, you can SCARE players out of hands by using the check-raise.

Yet another advantage of the check-raise is it will often put other players on tilt. For example, you have pocket 7’s and the flop comes 10, 7, 2. If you check and your opponent tries to buy the pot with a large bet, a raise will “catch him” and win the hand. Anytime that you can catch someone on a bluff, you gain a serious advantage. Since bluffing is so important, if a player is too scared to bluff, he will be broke soon.

The final benefit of the check-raise is that it can be used to win pots no matter if you have the cards or not. If you have great cards, you can check-raise to increase the pot size. This is better than simply placing a large bet because other players will already have money in the pot.

So using the check-raise, you can drag in more money without forcing out your opponents. You can also use the check-raise when you don’t have good cards. When you check, players will often sense weakness and try to buy the pot. When players try to buy the pot, they are not ready to be raised or willing to call a significant raise unless they have good cards.

The check-raise is somewhat like an ambush. You show weakness with a check; then your opponent chases you, but falls right into your trap.

Every strategy you add to your repertoire will improve your game and increase your winnings. Check-raises are very powerful, but they must be used as part of a large collection of strategies and “tricks.” If you rely too much on one strategy you will become predictable and things will turn bad.

Million Dollar Poker Star

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