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The
Everyday Bluff |
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In no-limit tournaments, players in late position
will often raise with fragile holdings. The hope is that the
blinds are too weak to call a raise, and the aggression will
be enough to pick up the blinds and antes. Even if one of
the blinds is strong enough to call, there’s a good chance
the hand will not be able to handle any action post-flop.
For example, say you’re in the cutoff (one position to the right
of the button) with Kd Jd. You’d often want to raise in this
spot and try to pick up the blinds and antes. So you raise,
and to your disappointment the big blind calls. |
The flop comes Ad-4s-6h. You missed this flop, and that’s unfortunate.
But if the big blind checks to you, it’s often wise to bet at
the pot, as it’s likely the blind is as unhappy about the ace
as you are. You were the pre-flop aggressor, so you can bet,
representing an ace .This sort of bluff is common at all stages
of tournaments. It’s not an especially fancy move, and it doesn’t
put a lot at risk. But executing this small bluff skillfully
allows you to add valuable chips to your stack.
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 The Pro’s Take
Andy Bloch on Balance
“If you’re bluffing too frequently, your opponents are going
to realize it and they’ll start calling you with more hands.
You’ll end up going broke pretty quickly. If you don’t bluff
enough, you’re not going to get called with big hands. In heads-up
play, when I realize someone’s not going to bluff enough, I’m
almost never going to lose against him. Because when both of
us have nothing, I’m going to win all of those pots. I’m going
to take well-informed stabs at pots. When someone checks, I’ll
be pretty certain I can bluff at the pot.” |
When the Pieces Don’t Add Up
What exactly is your bluff trying to say? With a pre-flop
bluff raise, you’re representing a big pair like aces or kings.
On a suited flop, a bluff might represent a made flush. But
no matter what street or what board you’re betting at, your
bluff should be an attempt to falsely represent a hand that
makes sense in the situation. If you arbitrarily throw big bets
at the pot, your opponents are likely to look you up. |
Say you’re in a $1/$2 no-limit cash game, and you raise to $7
in middle position with a pair of 9s. You’re called by the big
blind, who you know likes to bluff at pots. |
The flop is pretty nasty for pocket 9s: Kd-Js-4c. The blind
checks, and you check behind. The turn is the 2h—which can’t
help either of you a whole lot. Again, you both check. The river
pairs the king, leaving a board of Kd-Js-4c-2h-Ks. Suddenly
the blind comes alive and bets $20. Now you have to ask yourself:
Does this make any sense? If he had a king, wouldn’t he have
bet on the flop? And if not the flop, surely he would have bet
the turn if he had a king or a jack. Right? Finally, you’ve
got this very strange bet on the river. This guy has overbet
the pot. If he had a monster, say, kings full of 4s, why wouldn’t
he have bet a bit smaller with the hopes of getting you to call?
You need to be a detective at the table, and in this hand, the
clues don’t quite add up. At the very least, you need to suspect
that your opponent is bluffing. In this spot, you may need to
make a call. (Note: a tricky, skilled player could have a monster,
say kings full of jacks, that he slowplayed and is now hoping
to get a call off a strange bet on the river.)
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