bad habit?

[Gallo 1]

I was just wondering if this is a bad habit of mine that I shouldn't always do. Everytime I call someone's raise preflop I will almost always check to the raiser no matter how I hit the flop. If I hit I will normally call to see how the raiser will act on the turn, from there I'll make a decision on whether to call, fold or raise. I don't like being a calling station, I will call down if I sense something "funny" on the raiser's betting, but normally if I sense something "funny" or weak I'll raise. Well, I guess it might seem like I have a few bad habits there, but is it bad to almost always check to the raiser on the flop?

[Chief 0]

Reasons I can come up with from the top of my head:When you miss the flop completely and want to give up your hand, you just check to the raiser and fold.When you hit the flop hard, check calling or check raising are usually very good lines to take.You sometimes want to bet out if your opponent is weak tight post flop and wont continue without the goods.Another reason to bet out might be to induce a raise from the original raiser if you feel he might view that as suspicious. If you think you are winning on the flop, you need to bet out to protect your hand as well if you think your opponent will sometimes take free cards when checked to on the flop.

[Mattnxtc 0]

there are a few times where it can be correct to lead out the flop but usually it is a better idea to wait till the turn. I think it is more correct to lead against a position raise if you feel that he likely missed a flop and you also missed but may have the best handusually it is better to check to the raiser. If you flop a monster it is sometimes better to just c/c then c/r the turn.Its usually a good idea to c/r the flop if you hit top pair and he is a person that usually will stick a continuation bet in whether he hit or not

[Canada 0]

Your main concerns are the size of the field and your position relative to the raiser.As an example, assuming there is more than just the 2 of you.If the raiser is closer to your left you want to lead your weaker hands and check your monsters. That way when he raisers weaker holdings you face the field with 2 bets, putting the most pressure on others to fold.With your monsters you check to him he bets, everyone calls and you can c/r and hopefully trap the field for 2 bets.When the PFR is on your right, lead your monsters and check/raise your weaker holdings (that you intend to play with of course) to achieve the same resultsMake the assumption that the PFR is going to bet and generally raise flop bets as a basis (temper this with reads of course) and use it to decide how you want to manipulate the field.

[akishore 0]

this is a bad habit when the pot is multiway (see the post above mine for a good explanation why).this is *usually* completely fine when you are heads-up, e.g. defending against blind steals. this keeps your unpredictable and neutralizes the advantage your opponent has with position to a good extent.russ georgiev wrote an article about how he can make money playing 90% of his hands in deep-stack PL HE by using a very similar habit of always letting his opponents control the betting when he was in early position (by always checking to his opponents).however, there are certain cases when this is bad. for example, in a tournament setting, when the blinds are high, you often want to pull a stop-and-go. let's say the button opens for $500 (no limit hold 'em), and you have $1200 in your stack including your big blind. you pick up 6-6 in the big blind and decide that at this stage, your hand is not foldable.here, a stop-and-go is usually the best play, so you call the raise to $500 with the intention of pushing all-in for your remaining $700 on any and every flop. this loses you the same money when you're up against a bigger pair but protects your hand when your opponent has a non-pair hand and misses the flop (like he will 65% of the time).so, in certain situations, it is important to have the lead postflop, because of one of two reasons: a) when the pot is big and you have the best hand, giving a free card to an opponent can be disastrous, and B) bluffing is a lot more effective when you're the first one to get money into the pot.so, for the most part, when it's heads-up, your bad habit isn't a huge mistake unless the situation specifically calls for one of those two reasons to NOT check postflop. however, when the pot is multiway, always checking usually is a mistake in some hands.good luck,aseem