Necessary Conditions for Check-Raising

Two conditions art needed to check-raise for value- that is, when you expect you might be called by a worse hand. First, you must think you have the best hand, but not such a great hand that a slowplay would be proper Second, you must be quite sure someone behind you will bet if you check. Let's say on fourth street in seven-card stud someone bets with





you're getting sufficient pot odds to call. Now on fifth street you catch a king to make kings up. Here you might check-raise if you are pretty sure the player representing queens will bet.
This second condition - namely, that someone behind you will bet after you check - is very important. When you plan to check-raise, you should always keep in mind that you could be making a serious, double-edged mistake if you check and no one bets behind you. You are giving a free card to opponents who would have folded your bet, and in addition you are losing a bet from those who would have called. So you had better be very sure the check-raise will work before you try it.