01-10-05, LearnTexasHoldem:
Bluffing And Semi-Bluffing Tips In Limit Holdem
any teaching instruction would be much helpful to me.
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What is bluffing and semi-bluffing? What's the difference?
- A bluff is when you make someone else fold a better hand by raising or betting. You put in money and it makes the other guy get scared and muck. A semi-bluff is similar to the bluff in that you may not have the best hand now but unlike the pure bluff, the semi-bluff has a chance to catch a card or two and win.
For example, to raise all-in on the river with a broken flush draw would be a complete bluff. To raise your flush draw on the flop would be a semi-bluff. The raise on the river can only win if someone doesn't call while the raise on the flop has chances to improve to the best hand or to make the person fold.
Why bluff?
- Bluffing is sensationalized in popular culture. The fact is that in any holdem game, big or small, no limit or limit, most of your money will come from showing down the best hand. You won't make much of a go at cards if you think you can just bluff everyone out. So why would anyone ever bluff? The problem is that if you only bet when you have something, your opponents (if smart enough) can play too well against you: they can fold when you bet/raise and then bet when you check.
By bluffing now and then, you can mix up your play and force them into harder decisions because they can't assume you always have the nuts if you bet. That's important and it is called "getting value" for your hands. Nothing is worse than raising AA and flopping and Ace and getting no action. That can't be helped all the time but if even the low limit players are able to sniff out your good hands and dodge them, you need to mix up your play. That brings us to the next question, if I need to bluff now and then, how much?
How often should you bluff?
- A pure bluff is inherently dangerous. If you try to bluff at a small pot, if you win you don't get much in return. On the other hand if you bluff at a large pot, you stand to profit more but since the pot already has lots of money in it, it would be reasonable to assume someone else in the hand has something decent to call you with. This is especially true in limit holdem because the most potent bluff you can make usually only is a couple big bets.
Because bluffs are so hard to pull off in limit holdem, you have to use them sparingly. I can go for sessions without ever bluffing once. Does that mean I always have a hand when I bet? No. But to pure bluff someone who I already know has something good enough to call with the entire way is really hard in limit holdem.
Instead of thinking about how often you should bluff in terms of numbers, like 5% of the time, think of it in terms of getting value on your good hands. If you have been getting so few cards that day that no one calls you when you raise preflop, consider bluffing a few times in good spots. Getting called down on one isn't the end of the world either because you'll get some more action on later hands. Likewise, if the people you are against are so bad they call too much anyway, you would be giving up money by bluffing.
There is no reason to mix up your game if everyone is happy as can be to call your raises. That last point can't be over emphasized. To beat bad players, you show them good hands. Tricky play isn't something you should incorporate in your game unless forced to. In bigger games I have to play more aggressively and I have to raise with weaker hands or I would never get any action on my legitimate hands. To do that in a low limit game would be suicide. I would be giving my money away. To beat those guys I would just wait for good hands and bet them normally.
What makes for a successful bluff?
- If you are going to bluff, some of the factors that will decide if it works or not are as follows. First of all, your table image is a key factor. Your table image is how other players view your play and your skills. If they are attentive enough to notice that you haven't played anything but good hands all day, they are much more likely to believe you if you raise on the river when a flush hits. On the other hand if you have been bluffing more than once already, expect them to call with anything. Bluffing of course loses potency the more you do it.
Secondly, bluffing works much better if you are going along with what the other person already thinks. For example, if you raise preflop and then just call on the flop when someone bets only to raise them on the turn, it would be going along with what they might expect you to do if you had a big pair like KK or AA. The opposite is also true, people are less likely to fold in weird situations when they don't know what you might have.
People are very rigid in their view of the game, players and hands. It is hard to move them one way or another but if you play into what they already think, you can still manipulate them. So to make a successful bluff you would need to know what the other guy assumes you already have. Thirdly, bluffing works better if you are up against a person who can lay down a hand, for whatever reason. Sometimes you'll find a tight player, or what I call a "believer" that will let go of any hand he thinks he is behind in. You can use that against him.
Sometimes you'll find someone who is having a really bad day and cussing. You can also bluff them more successfully because they assume you have the hand. Next, bluffing is done more successfully against better players. Better players take your hand into account and pride themselves on laying cards down when they think they are beat. Bad players more often just decide to pay off the hand. You are just throwing your money away if you try to put moves on bad players.
Lastly, becareful about bluffing someone who doesn't have much money left and has lots invested in the pot. Obviously a bluff will work better if the person has less of a hand than more. If the guy already most of his chips in the middle, expect him to call.
Let me give two examples of bluffs before we move on to semi-bluffing:
1. This was actually the last bluff I did. I remember it pretty well. This was a $15/30 game.
Everyone folded to me and I was one off from the button with Ad8d. I raised. The big blind, who was pissed off, reraised me. I called and the flop was Js - 8s - 7s. Not a great flop for me at all but my poker sense told me that I wasn't done with the hand yet. The turn brought another spade, a 5s I think. He bet again. Instead of folding, I raised. He thought for a bit and folded and said, "un$%#ing real!". Why did that work?
First of all, he was already upset and assumed that everyone either already had him beat or would call him and catch something lucky to beat him. All I did was to basically give him the signs he was already looking for. Against someone else this would have been much riskier but I figured I was about 50/50. If he called I would have just checked the river. Secondly, I hadn't bluffed at the table yet and everytime I was in I had a strong hand and this player remembered that.
2. Here is another fairly common bluff in limit holdem.
I raise from late position with 77 and the blinds call. The flop misses me with 8d - 4h - 3d. The big blind bets and I call, the small blind folds. The turn brings an Ace. The big blind again bets, this time I raise. This could be considered a semi-bluff but I consider it a bluff because with 2 outs I'm next to nil to win if he has an 8.
This bluff has a decent chance of working because the person assumes I raised with an Ace already. Again notice that we are just going along with what they are already thinking. If the guy doesn't have an Ace himself, he will be hard pressed to call the rest of the way.
Now let's get to the semi-bluffing...
Why semi-bluff?
- The reason one semi-bluffs is similar to bluffing but it has the added value of making more money on the immediate hands. Semi-bluffing is a way to mix up your game and make you a tougher opponent. Semi-bluffing is far less dangerous than bluffing is because you put in less money with a semi and you have the added bonus of being able to catch a card to improve to the best hand. By semi-bluffing you can make more money on the hands you win and lose less money on the hands you lose.
You can also get free cards and force your opponents to play in bad spots. By semi-bluffing you also take back the initiative from the other players and by doing so you give them an opportunity to fold if they miss their hands. If you were to only call, then you would have to show the best hand to win but if you bet they can fold first.
How often should you semi-bluff?
- Semi-bluffing is an essential part of limit holdem and you use it liberally. It would be easier to first list the times when it isn't prudent to semi-bluff. The first time it isn't a good idea is when you think the other person will reraise you. For example, if you raise a flush draw on the flop, you don't want to be heads up and get reraised. You end up paying too much money for a draw and in the long run that's a leak.
Next, you don't want to semi-bluff your draws in holdem if it is going to cut off players behind you. If you have the nut flush draw, you want everyone in behind you to call. Sometimes though you'll do the opposite and raise to try to increase your chances to win if your overcards hit. An example of that might be if you have T9s and the flop is 8 high and you have the flush draw. I would raise there to try and cut off people behind me in case a Ten or Nine hits -- I want those cards to be good in addition to my spade draw. On the other hand if I had the A5s, I might just call in hopes that I can trap people into the pot behind me with weaker hands if I hit my flush.
So position plays into how you play your semi-bluff draws in holdem. Sometimes you raise trying to make a bigger pot, sometimes you want to raise to limit the players. Semi-bluffing can also be useless if you are up against weak players. For example, if you are in late position with a flush draw, you may raise there on the flop or you may wait until the turn to raise if you hit it. By just calling the flop you give yourself the chance to raise the turn if the guy bets when you hit.
I would also consider the bet you make on the flop after raising preflop to be a semi-bluff. For example, if you raise with AQ and the flop doesn't help you, when you bet that is a semi-bluff. You may have the best hand now and by betting you increase your chances of winning. You don't want someone with 86 when the board is K - J - 8 to get a free ride. You bet once and see what happens.
What makes for a successful semi-bluff?
- To answer this question, let's repeat what a semi-bluff is. A semi-bluff is when you bet or raise with a hand that might not be the winner now, but could improve to be the winner by the end of the hand or it could make the person fold. So if the person never folds, semi-bluffs aren't going to be as useful. If you have no outs (cards to come that can help your hand), then obviously you are also in trouble.
The most typical semi-bluff situations are flush draws and open-ended straight draws on the flop. Raising there is fine. The more people in the hand, the less likely you are to win by them folding so when you raise it is purely for value. Likewise, you don't want to cap it with a draw then if there aren't that many people in the hand because it will be too costly for the draw to be profitable. Other less common semi-bluffs are when you raise on the turn with a flush draw and overcards.
For example, you have AsKh and the flop/turn is Js - 9s - 5h - Qs. You might sometimes just raise on the flop with overcards alone if you are heads up or against 2 people. For example, you have AK an the fop is 8-6-4. You might also raise a gutshot draw and overcards, or middle pair, or second pair, etc. The point is that you can use semi-bluffs much more liberally than you can regular bluffs. They add spice to your game and make you a harder opponent to read.
Here are a couple semi-bluffs from recent games I was in:
1. I had QsJs. It was a kill game, $30/60 limit holdem. I hadn't been in a hand in a while and the killer was fairly tight. I figured I would take a shot at this pot. I raised and on other person called in the middle and the killer reraised. I wasn't sure exactly what that meant. It could mean he had a big pair or AK, but who knew. I called and the flop brought back Ks - Td - 4d. That was a good flop for me and it gave me some leverage. What went through my head at that time was, "I don't want to have to show down the winning hand here to take this pot.
He could have AQ, AJ, QQ, JJ, 99, 88, etc and I'm not going to let him think those hands are good. I'm going check-raise and see if I can take it from him." So I checked. The middle player checked and the preflop raiser bet. I check-raised and the middle player folded. Now the preflop raiser reraised me. I thought, "great that didn't work." I called. The turn was a blank card (2 or 3 or something). He bet and I called.
The river was an Ace. I checked, he bet and check-raised. He reraised and I capped it. Needless to say he was a bit upset when his set of Aces lost to my nut straight. Everyone at the table looked at me kind of strangely when I was pushed the pot and at that point I felt pretty comfortable because if they didn't get what just happened there, they weren't going to put up much of a fight against me. Before I go on, let me point out that raising with QJs preflop isn't something you should do often.
Again, reserve that "mixing up of your play" only for when you have to because other people aren't calling your good hands. The reason this was a great play in my opinion is because I wasn't going to allow him to win with a hand like QQ or JJ or even AQ. If he did have those hands and I check-raised the flop and bet it down the rest of the way, he would be hard pressed to not put me at least on AK or KQ. That's the beauty of the semi-bluff -- he has no idea what I have.
I could make him lay down a better hand, or I could catch one of my outs and win. Who knows, maybe he even had a hand like JJ and my 3 queens were good if I caught one. By taking the reigns and betting, I put him in a much worse spot.
2. I had AdTd. It was a $30/60 limit holdem game. I raised from late position to get called by the big blind. The flop came back: Jd - Ts - 4s. He checked, I bet. He now raised. I called. The turn card was a Qc making the board: Jd - Ts - 4s - Qc. He came out firing again, this time I raised. He thought for a second and called. The river was a third Ten: Jd - Ts - 4s - Qc - Tc. He checked, I bet, he called and I won. He complained about bad beats and showed me J8. Notice the beauty of a semi-bluff with position on the turn when you only have one opponent.
If I had missed all my cards on the river, after he checked I would have just checked. It would have cost me the same amount of money as calling both the turn and river but with this way I make an extra big bet if I hit. That's to say nothing of the fact that I may have the best hand already or make him fold. Also, notice that there is nothing he can do to prevent me from dominating him like this. What is he going to do, reraise me when the queen hits? That would be too dangerous. His other option is to fold which also works in my favor.
All right, my fingers hurt from typing right now -- not bad for an hours work. Hope this is a help. To finish up, use bluffs sparingly, use semi-bluffs liberally. The ability to use semi-bluffing can definitely take you too the next level in your games.
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