Check-raising
and slow playing are two ways of playing a strong hand weakly
to trap your opponents and win more money from them. However,
they are not identical. Check-raising is checking your hand
with the intention of raising on the same round after an opponent
bets. Slow playing, which we discuss in more detail in the
next page, is playing your hand in a way that gives your opponents
no idea of its strength. It may be checking and then just
calling an opponent who bets, or it may be calling a person
who bets ahead of you. When you slow play a hand, you are
using deception to keep people in for a while in order to
make your move in a later round. Clearly, then, a hand you
slow play has to be much stronger than a hand with which you
check-raise. Check-raising can drive opponents out and may
even win the pot right there, while slow playing gives opponents
either a free card or a relatively cheap card.
