WHEN CHECKING IS THE SMARTER MOVE

Situations where checking is a smarter move

• If the flop smashes your opponent’s range, checking can save money.
• If you are in a multi-way pot and missed completely, checking may be better than pretending everyone will fold.
• If your opponent calls too much, you may want to bluff less and value bet more.

Checking can also protect medium-strength hands. Suppose you raise with pocket tens and the flop comes ace-queen-six. Betting may fold out worse hands and keep better hands in, which is not a great result. Checking controls the pot and gives you more room to think.

Good players are not scared of checking. They know that giving up on one flop is sometimes the price of playing the next hand better.