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The exact formula is in the theory of poker, and I won’t go into it again here. A typical example where you should check and call would be if you have
and he has
and he has been betting strategy all the way and you have a seven-five or seven-six. You really do not have many options but to check and call. This is especially true because your 7 is showing and you can’t risk a raise.
If, however, you have a seven-five, but the 7 is in the hole, it may be a better play to come right out betting into a hand that could have you beaten simply because it is better that you bet than check and call when you don’t really have to fear a raise.
This is also covered in theory of online poker and I refer you to that. As an example of what I mean, if you have a seven-five low but don’t have a 7 showing and your opponent has a three-card six showing, you should now bet it even though he may have a six low, especially if you think he’ll call you with a seven-six or an eight low but will check it if you check.
In other words, if you think your opponent will check an eight and bet a seven six or better, you should bet your seven-five to make sure you win your bet from the eight, especially if your board is so strong that you don’t fear a raise.
The option to check and fold is the best option in those cases where your chances of winning do not warrant a call on the pot odds.
This actually does not come up too often in razz since the pot is usually quite big, and if you have been in all the way it is tough to make that fold. About the only time you can do it is against a player you are sure very rarely poker bluffing.
In general, remember that three factors that are most important in determining how you playing your hand at the end are the cards that are out, the way the hand has been played thus far, and the cards that are showing *.
(*The order of your cards and your opponent’s cards may also be critical. Some examples of this can be seen in the 25 razz problems that follow.)
This last factor may be the most important of all. If you have
and someone raises you on the end you can certainly throw away a seven-four. If however, you have a 2-3-7 showing and someone raises you on the end, you probably have to pay it off since he may be raising with a seven-five-trey-deuce-ace.
One final aspect of seventh poker street in poker play not yet mentioned is whether to bluff. You may be either first to bettor be second to act after being checked to. In either case, you should bluff with a hopeless hand as long as you think your chances of getting away with it are better than the odds you are getting from the pot.
Of course, evaluating your chances of pulling off a bluff is something that you can usually only learn from experience. However, there are some guidelines based on reading hands (an example is given in the problems that follow ).
In general, you should try a bluff if your hand appear good and he doesn’t seem to have much.
Thus, just as in every other form of poker, an important aspect of razz poker when determining both whether to bluff or bet for value is not just reading your opponent’s hand out figuring what he reads you for. The specific implications are covered in the “Psychology” chapter of The Theory of Poker.