I need to get better at bluffing. I think that the main reason that I’m not great at bluffing is because I don’t get much practice at it. I don’t get much practice because at these low stakes, bluffing all these call stations isn’t very profitable, at least not nearly as profitable as value betting all my made hands.
I made a couple of successful bluffs today and I’d like some advice.
T8s
Pre ~ I recently took tournament chip lead from the guy on my left. I limp from SB because the pot odds (7-handed) made it worth it to mix one in. Pot is 420. (heh)
Flop ~ Middle pair, 2 backdoors. I check because hey, there are 6 Villains. CO leads for 2bb (30%). I call and there are 3 folds, so 4-handed.
Turn ~ 7sp kills my flush draw but gives me a gut draw. CO leads again for half-pot. I call because I know this Villain (he’s decent) and I know that he will bet boards that he doesn’t hit when the table is weak.
River ~ 5ht busts my draw but puts a 1-liner on the board. I bet half-pot. Everyone folds and I take down 45bb. (yes! fist pump!)
Should I have re-raised the turn? I think that I would have if I was heads-up, but being 4-handed made me cautious.
Should I have bet bigger on the river? I think I should have bet pot, although that may have made it look more like a bluff than value. Maybe 3/4-pot?
How much did my calls of the previous streets make my river bet look like value?
My reasoning for picking the spot was that the board was straighty and the CO is the kind of player that will easily recognize that. I find that weak players will always be afraid of suited boards because they are easy to see but straights aren’t as easy for untrained eyes to see so they often miss them (fishy players are often blind to 679 say, so you can’t bluff it). We were still 4-handed. I felt that CO was one of the few players that I regularly see who has a sensible fold button. The other 2 Villains really just had small stacks and this was the river. They seemed like most of the players that I face that will call so long as there is still another card to come. Once the board is full and the hand is made they’re ready to fold, and if they do call, I only stand to lose 10-20% of my stack.
22
Pre ~ It’s another limp. Honest, I don’t do this very often at all, especially from MP. BB raises 2x and we all call, 5-handed (I’m actually wondering why the hell I did that). Only the CO is behind me.
Flop ~ I whiff but with an A and 2 clubs the board is bluffable. It checks to me (including the PFR in BB). I lead for 30%-pot. Everyone folds except the BB.
Turn ~ K (non-club). BB checks. I bet about 45%-pot. Villain folds and I take 17bb.
Before you say anything. Agree. I should not have limped. I should have just opened standard, but I want to talk about the bluff.
How is my bet sizing (on both streets)?
I think that this turn goes sideways if I don’t lead that flop. Agree?
How much do you think my stack helps me here? Like how intimidating is that large number just on its own to these Villains? I guess that depends on what they have. : P
Why I liked the turn: CO folded and I had position heads-up. BB had checked BOTH streets. He was probably drawing. Or he had a medium pocket pair and checked flop because of the A, so when the K turned that scared him even more. I don’t know this guy at all though.
This is not really a bottom-of-my range bluff. My cards are effectively total napkins. I have air here because I lose to anything that he could possibly call me with. I only beat Q high (which he would not call with). I think that this one was better played than T8s (other than the pre). Am I right?