[elindauer]

What does it mean to "have the initiative"? In a sense, the betting and raising is a war of escalating claims between two players. With each bet and raise on a given street, the players tell each other that they feel they have the best hand. When one of these players finally relents and just calls, he has, in a simple sense, conceded that the other does, at the moment, have the best hand, or at least that the hand his opponent claims to have beats his own.

The player who put in the last raise on the previous street has, therefore, a standing claim to having the best hand. He has what we refer to as "the initiative". In typical poker games, the next street will involve everyone checking to the guy with the initiative. He bets, and then anyone who was helped by the most recent card (or cards) can raise claiming that now they have the best hand.

Advantages to having the initiative. Having the initiative has several advantages in a game that plays the way I just described, with lots of "checking to the raiser". First, you can often take a free card when you feel you need one. Particularly on the turn, taking free cards at will is a huge strategic advantage. Second, you are afforded the "right of first bluff". You get to make the cheapest bluff available, while your opponents will be forced to raise and make a much more expensive bluff if they want to contest the pot. Often times, especially in short-handed pots, everyone misses, and having the "right of first bluff" results in the guy with the "initiative" taking down the pot.

Raising to gain the initiative. These advantages are so significant that often players justify raising with marginal hands for the sole purpose of gaining the initiative. They expect their opponents to check to them, to tend to fold to continuation bets, etc. This expectation is so strong in fact, that most players will bet the flop no matter what they hold or what the flop is, simply because they raised preflop.

An important realization. Here's the catch though... the initiative is just a made up word! There is nothing inherent in the game that makes having the initiative more advantageous than not having it. The only reason having the initiative is an advantage is because your opponents allow it to be! Their mistake is in constantly checking to the raiser, giving you free cards and cheap bluffs when they should be betting and competing for their fair share of the pot.

Taking advantage of their mistakes. If your opponents are making a mistake to check too many hands to you, how do you take advantage? It seems obvious that you should not bet as often. Take the free cards they are giving you rather than bet someone else's hand. Most players bet constantly when checked to, and that gives up a significant part of the advantage to having the initiative... the ability to take free cards.

Not making this mistake yourself. If it's a mistake to check to the raiser, does that mean you should bet your legitimate hands? Not necessarily. When you flop a strong hand, you should often check to the raiser just like the bad players. The reason is that you are taking advantage of your opponent's tendency to bet way too much. If he'll bet all his hands, of course you should check to him.

There's another angle though, and that is reclaiming the "right of first bluff". Particularly in smaller short-handed pots, being the first person to fire at the pot is a significant strategic advantage. Don't feel that you must check-raise to bluff at a pot. Just bet! It's a much cheaper bluff and it puts your opponent in a difficult position. If he raises too much, you simply start betting your made hands as well, planning to 3-bet. In a vaccuum, checking these hands might be better, but you bet-3-bet in order to fight for the right of first bluff even when your opponent has raised preflop.

If he instead folds his weak hands, then he has given you an enormously profitable flop bluff that you can take whenever the flop is likely to have missed your opponent. Flops with exactly 1 card in the broadway zone are ideal for this.

In other words, you make life much more difficult on the preflop raiser when you bet into him with your bluffs rather than check-raise, and at the same time, you make the actual bluff much less costly for yourself. That's a winning combination. Add in the fact that you will be putting your opponents in new and uncomfortable positions, and they are sure to make more mistakes against you than they do against other players.

Summing it up. Since so few players actually do bet / bluff this way correctly, it's hard to predict how your opponents are going to respond to you. As always, pay close attention and take notes. Do they fold much? If so, consider making some pure bluffs. Do they fold a bit and call a lot? Semi-bluffs with outs will be very profitable against this player. Do they constantly raise? Just wait for a made hand and fire into him, planning to 3-bet.

Take advantage of your opponents misplaying of the initiative by checking behind more. At the same time, ignore the initiative whenever you do not have it. Your wallet will thank you.