Check/Fold Button – Friend or Foe?

All online poker players, regardless of their chosen online poker room have at some point used the check/fold button that is displayed on their screen throughout the length of their time at the virtual felts.

The addition of the option was based on the idea that players would be able to act quickly to decide if they were going to either check or fold to any bet with the hand that they are holding at that point in the game.

But the reality of the situation is that if the button is used, it offers information to opposing players that are seated at the table alongside you, possibly offering potential opponents within a hand an insight into the value of your hand even though they are unable to actually see the cards that are face down on the table.

Looking into how the use of the box shows insight into your hand reveals that the main tell that is offered to opponents that are in an environment where poker tells do not make a huge presence because continued use of the option means that you don’t value your hand enough to invest anymore funds or chips into it.

This means that players are more likely to bluff you with cards that carry very little value because they have already been given the opportunity to a mental insight into your hand so they have the inflated confidence that you are not about to call their bet or raise.

When people first realise that this is the case, many online poker players looked to use the button to their advantage, selecting the button when they were holding a hand that carried some value and could easily have been played.

Little did they realize that if the action is on a player that is seated after them and the action is to pass around the table and they make a bet and the remaining players fold quickly, they have seen their hands laid down, leaving their plan to back fire.

So what can we take from the experience of these players?

The check/fold button is something that represents a poor or low value hand, rendering the cards invaluable to a player should it have been clicked into operation. No player is going to select this option if they have a hand that they value as a good value hand and so should you find a player at your table using the button, exploit it to your financial advantage.

Although you will be able to take chips from the player, ensure that you are able to offer a hand with some value at the time of raising or betting into the pot if you are not the only player still active within the hand as if there other players still live within the hand there is a chance that you will get a call and have to progress within the hand.

Now you have something else to think about when you want to select that seemingly useful button.