Not check raising enough

I often find myself in multiway pots and or in good position when I find a hand to play (granted check raising isn't part of a late postion arsenal). When I am in a hand I usually bet out for two reasons: 1) I can't stand the thought of giving someone a free card that can beat me 2) I hate missing bets. The games I play in are usually very good. The players I play against will call with hands that, they wont bet. Part of my thinking is, that if someone is going to bet, much of the time they will raise, in wich case I can three bet and possibly get some dead money in the pot. It turns out that I wind up check raising a hand like top pair top kicker less than 20% of the time. I go for a check raise more often with a hand like two pair when I am less woried about giving free cards. This is a small detail but I believe that because I don't check raise as often as (maybe) others, I get less free cards from early postion. Is it possible this is just a perception problem because, as I stated, I am as often as possible in later postion than my opponents? Any input wil be greatly appreciated


Thank you


Eric

In these loose game, multiway pots I think you are absolutley correct to play straightforward as you do. 1)These people will call with ANYTHING (from tonight, guy calling with 7-5 under the gun on A-Q-6 flop with blind betting out and three players behind him comes to mind. Talk about dead money). 2) Better chance to get more money in the pot with bet, 3bet than the check, hope someone else bets, raisea and announce a monster. Jam up the flop!


But when it gets shorter I think you have to check-raise more. You have to be concerned about people noticing you never check-raise and so they steal every time you check. So when its heads-up or three way you can give up a small flop bet every now and then to check-raise at some point. Small price to pay to avoid getting constantly run over.


Joeflex

The best times to go for a check raise are when you have a good idea where a bet will come from. This usually means check raising an aggressive preflop raiser on the flop, or check raising the flop bettor/raiser on the turn. Depending on the position of the player you want to check raise, you are generally trying to do one of two things: check raise to narrow the field, or check raise to build a pot.


With vulnerable hands (such as top pair top kicker or two small pair), you should frequently be going for field narrowing check raises, especially in the loose multiway pots you seem to often find yourself in. For example, this might mean check raising an aggressive late position preflop raiser when you flop top pair top kicker from early position, or check raising with a small two pair on the turn when the flop was raised by the player on your right.


With hands that don't mind big multiway action (such as sets, top two pair, and big draws), you should often try a check raise when you think a player on your left will be betting into a large field. Again, this would usually be an aggressive player that raised preflop, or the bettor/raiser on the flop. When your hand or draw is very strong, you shouldn't mind building a large pot on the flop which will encourage your opponents to put in a lot of chips with longshot draws. Check raising to build a pot on the turn should usually only be done with a made hand unless your draw is very large (15+ outs), in which case you can check raise for value if there are 3+ players who stand to be trapped in the middle of the check raise.