News: Which hands to check/raise bluff with?

If you are going to check/raise big hands you need to check/raise bluffs too, but which hands should you choose to check/raise bluff with?

Most of you will understand that if you want to get a check/raise for value paid off, you need to have some check/raise bluffs in your range. If you are never bluffing in a check/raise spot then you waste some of your bigger hands as you give your opponents a chance to get away cheaply.

The question is, which hands should you check/raise bluff with? Some people like to check/raise bluff with big draws and others think it is best to do it with complete air.

I have found from the solvers that the better candidates to check/raise bluff with actually are ones with OK showdown value. It's the hands that you don't mind if the check gets through in the first place.

For example, let's say you have 8 9 on a flop of K J 8 flop. If you check here and it gets through, it's not a disaster. You likely have the best hand and might get to realise equity with it. It might even improve to two pair, trips or a runner runner straight.

If you check and your opponent bets, now your bottom pair doesn't look so good, you are likely up against a better pair or a draw with better equity than you have. But, we might be able to fold out a better hand by raising here. This is an ideal spot to turn your hand into a bluff because we no longer want to try and get it to showdown. If you are called, however, you occasionally improve to trips or two pair, which will be well disguised. If not, you can easily give up on the turn.

The key to picking hands of this type to check/raise bluff with is because it gives you options for what to do when you when the plan does not go as expected and your opponent checks behind.

We discuss the types of hands to check raise bluff with and much more in the latest Chip Race strategy video featuring Irish Open champion Ian Simpson:

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