The Top 3 Action Killers in Poker

In poker there is a phrase to describe a situation where you are unlikely to part your opponent from any of their precious chips; these scenarios are known in poker parlance as “Action Killers”. I can think of three separate scenarios where players need to be aware that hitting a certain card or taking a particular action will in effect kill the action most of the time.

This isn’t to say that this is a bad thing, but players need to be very aware of these instances so as not to overestimate their implied odds. Another reason is to recognize when a bluff may work on a very coordinated board or why a check-raise bluff may work better than a continuation bet.

Drawing to a straight or flush using a single hole card

One such scenario is when you are drawing to a hand where it will be very obvious that you have made your hand: The most obvious examples of this are straights and flushes that only use a single card from your hand.

In these situations the board itself is so scary that you are likely to get any action from the other players. Additionally, it’s difficult to bet into these types of boards unless you have the straight or flush, so when you bet your opponents will be fairly certain you actually have what you are representing, and aren’t simply bluffing.

For instance, what would you have called with on a 3-suited board except the nut flush draw? Most players just don’t call with middle or top pair on a coordinated board like this.

A set of Aces

Another “Action Killer” scenario occurs when you have Pocket Aces and flop a set. Not only does your pre-flop raise scream, “I have an Ace!” since a player’s raising range typically includes big pairs and big Aces. Now you are also in the unfortunate situation of hoping your opponent has the case Ace, and is also willing to call with his Ax hand. And if you decide to slow-play, even more alarm bells are raised in your opponent’s mind because you raised pre-flop!

The supreme action killer

The final scenario is one of the more common situations in poker: The Check-Raise! Check-raises should simply be renamed “Action Killers” because as soon as someone check-raises the whole table suddenly comes to attention. Regardless of whether your opponents believe you or not, utilizing a check-raise makes every player proceed a little more cautiously. Furthermore, if you are one of those players who never use a check-raise as a bluff -preferring to make continuation bets exclusively-you might as well just tell the dealer to shuffle the cards for the next hand anytime you check-raise.