Part: Part Eight - Making Moves

The check-raise bluff

Flop
Heads-upPot 2,200 (5.5 BB)A♥K♦5♠BB7♣6♣● 16,000 (40 BB)YOUair on a board that scares the raiserBTN● 16,000 (40 BB)Buttonbets 1,100 (2.8 BB)D

You defended the big blind with 7♣6♣. Flop A♥ K♦ 5♠ - you have nothing, but it's a board you can represent. You check, the button c-bets.

A-K-high board, you have air, but you can credibly hold an ace or king. Best?

WhyCheck-raise bluff. This board hits the hands you'd defend and call with (aces, kings), so a check-raise tells a believable story that an automatic c-bettor with a weak holding can't withstand. The preconditions - a credible board and a likely-weak c-bet - are present.
What happensYou check-raise to 3,000; the button folds.  The move takes it.
On a board you could credibly hold, you check-raised an automatic c-bet off its weak holdings - a bluff that works because the story is believable and his bet was likely thin.

Check-raise as a bluff on boards you can credibly represent, against players who c-bet too automatically - the move needs a believable story and a weak betting range.