Mike Caro

• By Mike Caro | Exit

Here’s the situation. It’s just you and a single opponent on the last round of betting. When players have no chance of winning, they sometimes fold prematurely, instead of checking, thinking, "What difference could it make?" Well, it could make a difference and it often does. To an observant opponent, it means that when you don’t throw your hand away out of turn, you’re more likely to have something worth calling with.

So? So, among other things, this means your opponent won’t bluff as often when you check medium hands that are worth calling with, and you’ll lose out on opportunities to call and make profit. When you do call, you’re more likely to lose, because your opponent will bet a higher proportion of bigger hands relative to bluffs. And it’s all because you previously threw away hands out of turn.

You see, it’s important to go through the motions of checking and making your opponent decide what to do. Let’s say you have missed everything on the river in seven-card stud. You have king-high nothing, and your opponent has a pair of tens showing. This is a time you should check and make your opponent act before throwing your hand away. Even though it won’t matter this one time, it will matter in the future, if your opponent realizes that if you had a very weak hand, you would likely have folded. He understands, therefore, that now you’re more likely to have something beyond a hopeless hand.

So, check and wait for your opponent to act. Don’t surrender early.

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