[Tk79]

When Im evaluating a check raise I look at a few things. First is who the move is being made by. If its made by a weak player who doesnt understand the game fully Ill give him credit for a pretty big hand. Weak players dont consider building a pot and keeping hopeless hands in. They flop the nut straight and boom! checkraise.

If its made by a strong player you have a lot more to consider. I think you can tell a lot about what he is really telling you with his check raise by what the move accomplishes(or attempts).

Consider a strong early position player who checks and the field of 4 check to the button who bets. If EP check raises you can bet he doesnt have a monster here. More likely some type of weak made hand that he doesnt want a lot of company with. He may also be trying to just pick this pot up on the turn.

If the player traps several opponents for a bet before he springs into action then I start to consider the board. If there is a lot of draws out I tend to put him on some sort of draw and raising for value with all the callers sure to call one more. I also tend to think that with a lot of draws out he would want to protect a made hand since a free card would be a disaster.

If the board is very uncoordinated then you have to put him on some kind of monster(set most likely) that he wants to build a pot with and has little fear of a free card.

Of coarse there is no rigid set of rules that you can live by especially in a sticky situation like being check raised, but these are just a few things that I consider.

If that made any sense. I guess I should be sleeping.