Calling a Bluff?

chava85 · Dec 28, 2010

I recently played this hand which left me thinking a lot. I was on the button and I got

this was at the .02/.05 table (building my bankroll from 10 bucks and when this happened it was around 22)... just so you know how I play and how I was playing I have a VP$IP of around 20% so im no wild donk. UTG made a raise to .20 (his stack was 5.57 mine was at 3.59). I called since I had position and I put her on AK, AQ, KQ or maybe a small pocket pair and I figured I had a decent hand for the cards I was putting her on. The flop comes

. I really liked the flop since I was pretty certain he missed and I have a gut shot. He bets .35 and I read that as a C-Bet so I call and also I could get my gut shot, plus I wanted to see what she would do at the turn. Turn comes

and she bets out .80... the pot is only about 1.17 (minus rake) and what im thinking is why would she be putting out such a big bet if she really has a hand, unless she was putting me on a draw and wanted me to fold, but also she could be semi-bluffing now that she has a gut shot with her ACE, so that made me stick even more to my initial hand I put her on. I called, which I also thought that that would make him think I have a pair or something, specially since I was pretty tight at that table... so I call (remember I am calling based on what I thought he had not to get my gut shot, since I am sure someone will call me a donkey here because they will think I was chasing a gut shot). The river comes

, this card scared me because I had put her around AK, but she checked the river so it made me think that she was actually the one that got scared, or maybe also that she was bluffing the whole time and she gave up. The pot is about 2.50 I think so I bet 1.15 just a little under half the pot, I thought she was bluffing and at the same time my story made sense, from his point of view I thought that he could easily put me on a pocker pair or maybe even a 9 connected. Well to my surprise he called showing

. I was so confused

, I didnt know if he read my bluff or if he just made a donkey call. What do you think?

Mortis · Dec 28, 2010

chava85 said:
I recently played this hand which left me thinking a lot. I was on the button and I got this was at the .02/.05 table (building my bankroll from 10 bucks and when this happened it was around 22)... just so you know how I play and how I was playing I have a VP$IP of around 20% so im no wild donk. UTG made a raise to .20 (his stack was 5.57 mine was at 3.59). I called since I had position and I put her on AK, AQ, KQ or maybe a small pocket pair and I figured I had a decent hand for the cards I was putting her on. The flop comes . I really liked the flop since I was pretty certain he missed and I have a gut shot. He bets .35 and I read that as a C-Bet so I call and also I could get my gut shot, plus I wanted to see what she would do at the turn. Turn comes and she bets out .80... the pot is only about 1.17 (minus rake) and what im thinking is why would she be putting out such a big bet if she really has a hand, unless she was putting me on a draw and wanted me to fold, but also she could be semi-bluffing now that she has a gut shot with her ACE, so that made me stick even more to my initial hand I put her on. I called, which I also thought that that would make him think I have a pair or something, specially since I was pretty tight at that table... so I call (remember I am calling based on what I thought he had not to get my gut shot, since I am sure someone will call me a donkey here because they will think I was chasing a gut shot). The river comes , this card scared me because I had put her around AK, but she checked the river so it made me think that she was actually the one that got scared, or maybe also that she was bluffing the whole time and she gave up. The pot is about 2.50 I think so I bet 1.15 just a little under half the pot, I thought she was bluffing and at the same time my story made sense, from his point of view I thought that he could easily put me on a pocker pair or maybe even a 9 connected. Well to my surprise he called showing . I was so confused , I didnt know if he read my bluff or if he just made a donkey call. What do you think?

Your big mistake was just calling after the flop. If you think that they flopped air, which you were right, you should have reraised them to take that pot down ( I would have reraised 2 1/2 times their raise in that situation if I were to try to attempt to steal when I flopped air as well). Never flat call when you think someone else is bluffing and you're hoping to catch a gutshot. You're just chasing at that point. After the flop, it's either reraise or fold in that situation, imo.

The villain obviously missed all his (hers?.. I got confused since you kept changing he and she around, lol) cards, which is why they checked the river, trying to push you out after the flop and turn. The villain probably figured that you were on a draw after just flat calling the flop and turn and thought their Ace high was good, and they were right.

Man of straw · Dec 28, 2010

You called the flop
You called the turn
The river king does not compleate any draws
You give him/her only 1/3 odds
A call is big possibility!

My advice is not to give so much respect to the people at this stakes. Even if you 'think' you know 'em well.

liguolong · Dec 28, 2010

you probably shouldn't call at flop. Your cards were much worse at that time. Normally, I don't call bets to hope that I can bluff my opponent out at a later stage. Moreover, I had made much worse bluffs than you on micro stakes. I used to lose against hands like 10 high a few times after making 2/3 pot bluff on river.

FatCatBamboo · Dec 29, 2010

Yes, you should have folded on the flop or been more aggressive with the bets from the beginning. Your play was too uncertain and you were never pot committed. The other player probably picked up on it. When I bluff, I am aggressive: I raise pre-flop and then continue betting and raising through the rest of the hands. Everyone usually folds and then there are times where some go along for the ride and I end up winning on the turn or river or lose.

noteluv · Dec 30, 2010

To Mortis - I must really Thank you for your reply - although you were answering someone else's query - I was reading this post while playing .10|.25NL myself & decided to Re-Raise every time I thought my Opp had AIR and I had AIR - fantastically it worked every time. Your advice to never flat call when both me & my opp have AIR was great - I had never thought of it from this perspective. Thank you...

2huskys · Jan 1, 2011

I thought you played the hand shite and she/he played it well and set you up for a bluff on the river. If you thought it was a c bet why didnt you raise the flop or turn?makes you look like you are drawing by flat calling or with a small pair.If you raise u rep more, what was your actual story? you were repping nothing. utg she raised you flat call = small pairs qt suited connectors etc. you just flat call on the flop and turn instead of raising to rep any kind of hand better than hers.the only thing you are really repping is small pairs or a gutter, ace high, or maybe even a 9. she checks to you on the river because a king hits and you bet?repping what?ak? you repped a bluff.you probly woulda raised preflop and she mite thought it was unlikely you called her two streets cold with ak. If you had a 9 or small pocket pair you shoulda checked because there was no value in betting especially if you put her on kq ak aq she could have had a higher pair than yours also. and why are you playing 2cents 5cents with a 22$ roll?

chava85 · Jan 2, 2011

I thank all of you for your replyes. From reading all of that I believe what the biggest mistake was, was to just flat all instead of re-aise him. I took that into consideration and eversince I have been raising when I think they hit air and so far i've had better results.

Thanks

chava85 · Jan 2, 2011

2huskys said:
I thought you played the hand shite and she/he played it well and set you up for a bluff on the river. If you thought it was a c bet why didnt you raise the flop or turn?makes you look like you are drawing by flat calling or with a small pair.If you raise u rep more, what was your actual story? you were repping nothing. utg she raised you flat call = small pairs qt suited connectors etc. you just flat call on the flop and turn instead of raising to rep any kind of hand better than hers.the only thing you are really repping is small pairs or a gutter, ace high, or maybe even a 9. she checks to you on the river because a king hits and you bet?repping what?ak? you repped a bluff.you probly woulda raised preflop and she mite thought it was unlikely you called her two streets cold with ak. If you had a 9 or small pocket pair you shoulda checked because there was no value in betting especially if you put her on kq ak aq she could have had a higher pair than yours also. and why are you playing 2cents 5cents with a 22$ roll?

I dont understand your question about why am I playing .01/.02 with 22? well including whats on the table it was around $25 so I sat down with 10% of my bankroll... standard.

2huskys · Jan 2, 2011

sorry i thought it said in your post that you were playing 02.05. normal brm rules say that you should never buy in to a cash game for more than 5% of your roll. A buyin for a 2cents 5cents game should be 5$ so your bankroll should be 100$ at a minimum.

DetroitJimmy · Jan 2, 2011

Off topic but I'm having hard time telling people apart here without paying much attention. Is this avatar the only one available to new members or something? If not could we get some variety in here?

TheKAAHK · Jan 2, 2011

DetroitJimmy said:
Off topic but I'm having hard time telling people apart here without paying much attention. Is this avatar the only one available to new members or something? If not could we get some variety in here?

You get this too? I thought I was going nuts.

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Calling a Bluff?

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