Value Bluffing. Poker Player

CardRunners pro Corwin ‘[vital]Myth’ Cole explains how ?some of your multi-street bluffs can be played for value…

In the past I’ve written about value-bluffing, whereby the first one or two bets you make after the flop are designed to get called, while the last one is designed to take the pot down. When you successfully pull off this move, it builds up a big pot that you can take away without having a hand to back it up. To do this you need a strong, specific read on your opponent. If I know pretty much what an opponent has and he can’t take much heat with it, then I’ll bait him for as much money as I can before I drop the hammer.

In a recent $0.25/$0.50 NLHE six-max game, the cutoff opened for $1.50, the button called and I reraised to $5.50 from the big blind with Ks-Qd. The original raiser called and the button folded. I estimated that my opponent most likely held a small or medium pair, premium high cards, or good suited connectors. When the flop came Ac-Ts-3h, I knew I was going to make a value-bluff. My opponent might have a set of tens or threes, but otherwise he couldn’t have a big hand.

Occasionally he would have A-Q or A-T suited, and if he had any of those hands there was no way I was going to win the pot without getting lucky and hitting my gutshot. However, if he had any of the hands that totally missed – 5-5, J-Ts, 9-8s, and many others – I might be able to get him to call one bet by laying a good price, and then getting him to fold so I win a larger pot.

The pot was $12.15 on the flop. I made a very small continuation bet of just $3, hoping he would call out of curiosity or a desire not to feel weak and fold when I gave him such a good price. He did call, making the pot $17.85. The turn was the 3d. For the same reasons as I did on the flop, I made another small bet of $5, just under one-third of the pot. This time he folded immediately, but if he had called I would have bet just over two-thirds pot ($20) on the river.

I have found this move highly effective on boards where you can represent a big pair or big trips readily: an Ace-high board, a King-high board, or one with a pair of either Aces or Kings. When the board is very dry, say something like 9-2-2, it doesn’t work very well, because people call the whole way with hands like pocket sixes.

Exercise Caution

You must take caution, however, to continue using your best hand-reading abilities throughout the hand, regardless of your initial plan, as you will sometimes find yourself firing three barrels into somebody who has top pair and is unwilling to fold.

There are two exercises that are important for keeping this move from getting out of hand and becoming a misapplication of a strong play. First, you must pay attention to the timing of your opponent’s call on the flop. If you make a small bet and he raises immediately, you are looking at a big hand and should give up. Even if he calls immediately, this will often be a sign of strength and an indication for you to give up on the bluff.

In addition to timing, consider whether your opponent would really call one bet with a weak hand, or whether he would just fold a weak hand straight away despite getting a cheap price to see the turn. For example, if you make a small bluff on a board like Ac-Ts-3h, and you know your opponent is the kind of ‘scared money’ player who would just fold 9-9 straight away, then you probably won’t be in good shape if you continue bluffing when he does call on the flop. Once again, this is a spot where you should give up.