Is it correct to bluff the river when...

C

CactusCat

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Oct 7, 2014
Total posts
140
Chips
0
You're sitting to the right of someone and the river brings in a 4-flush board. The opponent is someone who is a good hand-reader and is capable of making big laydowns. Your own image is that of a tight-player. He makes a healthy bet.

He is almost certainly value-betting with a Queen-high up to Ace-high flush. Sometimes he'll check-call the Queen or Jack of the suit to bluffcatch since it's hard to imagine getting action from worse.

What if you raise the river? Conventionally, can even a king-high flush call if you deny him the proper odds? It seems like suicide to make this raise, but at the same time this raise at the micro to low stakes is almost 100% of the time the stone cold nuts. This is something I've learned the hard way holding the king-high flush myself. So you're betting that he doesn't have the one hand that can call. And he has 2 other hands (the queen and king) that he'd lead the river with that he can find a tank-fold with.

Would it be the correct play to go for the hero bluff? I've read a lot on when it's correct to call and the like, but knowing when to pull the trigger on a bluff is a lot hazier to me.
 
Bob23bk

Bob23bk

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Mar 24, 2015
Total posts
653
Chips
0
You're sitting to the right of someone
'To the right of someone' could be in position or out of position depending on if you are OTB or SB.

He is almost certainly value-betting with a Queen-high up to Ace-high flush. Sometimes he'll check-call the Queen or Jack of the suit to bluffcatch since it's hard to imagine getting action from worse.

He can't check-call if you are OOP so I'm assuming that you are in control here.

the river brings in a 4-flush board. The opponent is someone who is a good hand-reader and is capable of making big laydowns. Your own image is that of a tight-player. He makes a healthy bet.

What's your hand? Obviously you don't want to be getting involved in a large pot if any diamond beats you...

What if you raise the river? Conventionally, can even a king-high flush call if you deny him the proper odds? It seems like suicide to make this raise, but at the same time this raise at the micro to low stakes is almost 100% of the time the stone cold nuts. This is something I've learned the hard way holding the king-high flush myself. So you're betting that he doesn't have the one hand that can call. And he has 2 other hands (the queen and king) that he'd lead the river with that he can find a tank-fold with.

Would it be the correct play to go for the hero bluff? I've read a lot on when it's correct to call and the like, but knowing when to pull the trigger on a bluff is a lot hazier to me.

Given the fact that villain is a 'good hand-reader' this is an iffy line if he has you pinned.. Villain's read obviously depends on previous action, has he been aggressive up to this point or were you in control until the 4-flush hit when he suddenly changed gears? Does he often bet scare-cards? You said he made a 'healthy bet' so it would seem he has more value to bank on than Q high. K flush vs A flush is an unfortunate situation, but I don't think you can push him off the K high flush regardless (heads-up anyways) because there's only one better card, and that's a ~4% chance (you may have had a hard time with K high flush previously but you did get your money in on a ~96% situation). On the other hand, he's 'capable of big laydowns' so taking your TAG image into consideration you may be able to push him off the pot by catching him off-guard. If you know he's going to value bet a queen high I'd go for the re-raise in hopes that he doesn't hold a diamond (with 4 on the board, 9 are left in the deck so it's basically 2-1 that he doesn't have a flush at all, much less a high flush or the nuts). If you're obviously dominated your only shot at the pot is a bluff. This doesn't mean that it's the right move however! In regards to when to pull the trigger, you need to be outplaying villain in mental game (here the cards don't matter cause there will be no SD! As a TAG player it shouldn't be hard to convince him you hold the lucky A) and accept that he may have gotten lucky enough as well as a good enough read to look you up with :jd4: (since he's such a good hand-reader). Try to bluff against a player who has seen you SD a very strong hand, as they will take you seriously compared to someone who recently went to SD with Q high like your example. It's also worth mentioning that you should target weak players specifically and try to avoid such questionable situations (although it's inevitable when grinding out thousands of hands). Hope it helps, cheers :)
 
Thinker_145

Thinker_145

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 26, 2013
Total posts
848
Awards
1
Chips
1
No I really don't agree with this at all. Most regs won't bet a 4 to a flush river OOP if the pot is significant without the Ace.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk
 
the_wonk

the_wonk

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Dec 4, 2014
Total posts
73
Chips
0
I've considered the same o.p. Against the right opponent and with the right image (good to include this in your analysis) most certainly. Against the general population in your game? I really don't know.
 
Top