Check Raising the Draw
When faced with a situation where you have a large draw against a poker opponent’s represented medium to large hand, you have a few options of how to respond. With holdings such as the open ended straight or four flush, many players will try to see the turn and river as cheaply as possible so that they can then suck out and only put a lot more money in the pot if and when they make their hand.
Another type of poker player will tend towards checking and, when an opponent bets, raising in the manner of a semi bluff. This action has the bonus of representing a made hand of power strong enough to check raise, which can therein cause an opponent to lay down a hand that would have won if the draw does not come in, but is not strong enough to reraise the semi bluff.
Varying between these two modes is often good procedure, depending on what you judge to be the opponent’s hand. Are they the type who can fold in these situations? Or are they the type that will likely call down even with just top pair and weak kicker? Knowing where you’re at and who you’re up against is often just as important as the odds of making or breaking your holding. Keep this in mind when you play poker online.
