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I've heard that check-raising isn't allowed everywhere. What is the reason behind that?

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Do you have any examples of this? As far as I know there is no reason why you wouldnt be allowed to Check Raise. – Gaz Winter♦ Jan 29 at 15:18
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I can't tell you the exact places where it's not allowed to check-raise. It's mentionned there en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check-raise but no reasons are given. – alain.janinm Jan 29 at 15:30
Interesting. I have never heard that before. I dont see why it wouldnt be allowed. – Gaz Winter♦ Jan 29 at 15:32
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I've played in home games where there's a house rule for no check-raising. It was to try and 'level the playing field' between the experienced and the inexperienced. Never seen it in the wild though. – Jacob G Jan 29 at 15:47
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It's actually more weird than interesting. If I ever sit down at a table and hear something like this, I would just get up and walk away. This rule would be just too stupid to be acceptable. The one from WSOP which says that you can't talk about your hand during the hand (I hope I remember it correctly :D ) also comes pretty close... – Radu Murzea Jan 29 at 17:00
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2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

The point is to make players feel like they're not getting hustled by a shark. Some people, particularly newer players, think it's an unfriendly thing to do. The game will tend to have a little more action than one where check-raise is allowed, which means that the rake will be a bit larger.

In practice, however, it actually favors more experienced players. The Excalibur ran a 1-3 spread limit hold'em "Beginners" game in the mid-90s, with the only difference from the regular 1-4-8 hold'em game (other than the limit) being that check-raise wasn't allowed.

When I noticed this game, it was the only place I played for months, until it wasn't really going anymore. My adjustments were very simple - I played much tighter in early position and would play almost any two cards on the button if there were enough players seeing the flop. Regardless of what I thought of the flop, I'd almost always bet if it was checked to me. I don't have detailed records for the game, but I recall almost always winning. I was certainly disappointed when I stopped in one night and found out they weren't spreading it anymore.

So, the real reason it isn't used in card rooms much is because it increases the rate at which the losers run out of money.

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up vote 2 down vote

It is unlikely that any comercial card room would ban check-raising in standard limit or no-limit games such as Stud, Hold'em or Omaha. The rules for some lowball limit games prohibit or restrict check-raising.

Roberts Rules of Poker goes into more detail as to what games (Ex:A-5 Lowball) and on what streets check-raising is prohibited.

It might be common in some home games to limit weaker players losses and to keep it "friendly". And of course there may be some card room somewhere that does but I could find no evidence of that.

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