What does check mean in poker? If you have ever asked yourself that question, then look no more. We are here to provide you with the definitive answer to this perennial question. Checking is what any player does when they want to pass the action onto another player, but stay on their hands. Calling is what any player can do when they hold a bet or want to call the opponents bet from their hand. Finally, folding is what any player can do when they are behind on the money and trying to get ahead. 

When a player has passed the action on but keeps their cards: they can either re-raise or re-fold. Re-raising is when the raiser plays on the same hand, raising the total to an amount they will be able to spend. Typically, in pot size wars, the re-raise will usually win the pot. On the other hand, re-filing is when the raiser folds and tells the table that they would like to take the pot now, but will let the opposing player has the last say in the pot because they have beaten them with their own card. This is often done as a means of intimidation, because the raiser does not want to leave the pot with anything but a hand of one color. 

In some cases, when the re-raise and the re-filing happen at the same time: this is called a flush. In a flush, both players have checked and both have raises made. Now, after the flop, the first player has raised and checked, and the second player has folded. This is the result of the second player having greater value than the first player due to having checked. This does not make for a very nice flop, so the second player will probably end up folding. 

When a player bails in on the re-raise before it happens: they have beaten the entire opposition, making it quite likely that they will win. If they do not win the pot on the re-raise, then they may fold because it takes so long to get there. However, if they win the pot on re-raise, it may still take a very long time until they have beaten the opposition. This is the case even if they have folded on the re-raise, since it still takes a long time for the opposition to break even. It is very rare for a hand to stay in after both players have spent a long time playing. 

Sometimes a re-raise happens after a player has already folded: This is not uncommon, however, because many opponents are willing to re-raise the pot if the odds are in their favor. This is especially true if the re-raising player is known to be aggressive or if their opponent is known to be passive. This tells the re-raising player that their opponent is likely to be passive, so it is better to re-raise if the odds are in their favor. 

Knowing what does check mean in poker: is the first step to winning any hand of poker. Once you understand what this means, you will be able to eliminate the bad plays and make your game a lot more fun to play. Good luck!