Texas Hold’em has come a long way in the past 20 years. Millions of people have started playing “The Cadillac of Poker,” and many of those people have become very good at it. Fortunately, you can still get your foot in the door by learning some basic online Texas Hold’em strategies and figuring out when to use them. Let’s start with a play that used to get you thrown out of certain establishments. The check-raise, known pejoratively as sand-bagging back in olden times, is common enough today in real cash online poker – but it still puts opponents on tilt, especially newcomers to the game. The mechanics behind the move are simple enough: You check when it’s your turn, and if your opponent is betting, you raise. This play can be done for value (when you have a good betting hand), as a bluff (when you have garbage), or as a semi-bluff (when you’re somewhere in between). Here’s how to use the check-raise in each of these three cases. Check-Raising for Value Generally speaking, when you’re out of position post-flop, it’s a good online poker strategy to check rather than open the betting – especially if you called from the blinds. Your opponent will often play a continuation bet if you check, then you can go over the top and play a juicy raise. If you lead out first with a good cards, you’re giving them the other player to fold instead of betting. Don’t let this happen to you.