A Fun Play

I learned about this "play" while reading a card player article written by Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth talks about a hand he played against Johnny Chan where Phil raised and Chan called OOP. On the flop, Chan checked as did Phil. Chan checked the turn and Phil made a small bet. Chan then proceeds to check-raise Hellmuth and put him at a tough decision...

The play of double checking OOP, then raising when your opponent bets behind you on the turn, has worked wonders for me. Weak players are especially vulnerable to this play. This is what happens in their view: You check to them on the flop and they have missed, but still have a decent hand (maybe A-high or low-mid pocket pair), so they decide to check behind and take a free card since they have the option. They miss the turn as well, but when you check again, and they start to feel as though their hand may be good. They bet in hopes of just ending it right there. However, when you come over the top, they automatically assume that you have been slow-playing a massive hand and will give you credit for a monster. Sometimes they call this raise, but almost always they are drawing. As long as a card falls that doesn't look to help them, you may go ahead and aggressively bet the river.

Watch out for better players making this move on you. If you feel like they are check-raising you with air, then put in a good-sized third raise to let them know YOU weren't screwing around. Even if they have a big hand, they may lay it down assuming you must have the nuts by putting in a third raise....Thoughts?