Inviting someone to bluff

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sibird

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Raising pre-flop is an essential strategy of the game and it is mainly directed to-wards BB, so that, he may not enter the pot without paying further. It also helps to narrow down the field of play.

Now, what happens if you don’t raise pre-flop? You become vulnerable and your hand strength can be assessed. You are unconsciously inviting someone to bluff on you. Even BB can massacre your game.

Would you like to be in that situation?
 
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Stevan

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Why would anyone want to be in that situation, ofc having AA and limping thee blind helps, in that case, anyone can try to bluff or what ever, u wouldn't care.
 
Zvezda kz

Zvezda kz

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Hi, now the trend of limp-calling is very fashionable, but it is effective only in the early stages of the tournament, I can not say anything about cash games.
Usually in a normal game, limp-calling is done in small pairs for a set of mining. But many people play fools on any map. Many bluff cards are understandable in order to open up and be unreadable.
And, judging by the current games, it is very profitable.
 
honorwar

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I 'm not a fan of slow play so raising pre flop is essential. To quit future bluffs.
 
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freestocks

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Yes it is better to raise than call especially with a premium hand.
 
pescaofish

pescaofish

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As always, it depends: Raising pre-flop could be a big mistake If you don’t hold the best possible cards, many scenarios come to mind, when by raising pre-flop will end up in a disaster, as someone else will hold or hit the winning hand.
Of course it will help to narrow down the field of players, but the ones that pay will be very dangerous, so is an option that needs to be evaluated given the circumstances of the game. :call:
 
Reload

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But do you raise even with weak hands? What's the point to try to control the game with a 72 at pre-flop?
 
MishkaZL

MishkaZL

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Hello.
I rarely bluff. Usually, I can use a bluff when there are few players at the table. But I will agree with you that sometimes bluff is necessary. Frankly, I am afraid of bluffing, because I mostly can not do it well enough.
 
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Souza322

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I dont like that situation, i prefer to play aggressive
 
Trillian

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AFAIR it was Hellmuth (maybe among others), who said: "If it's good enough to call, it's good enough to raise." There are imho only two exceptions: Limp behind with pocket pairs for set mining and open limp and then re-raise with AA. Don't flat call the latter. Never ever. Always reraise. And there still is the risk of everbody folding and the BB hitting a two pair for free.
 
Joco413

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This tactic can very well work against aggressive players. So if you are sure that they are going to raise it's enough to just make a call even with a premium hand.

Now if you are playing at a passive table, you should always raise a bit when you get a decent enough hand.
 
wontmilion

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Hi. Pretty enteresting topic. You are definately could use limp pre-flop, at some spots that is a standart for strong players to limp some hands. For instance small blind vs big blind against aggressive opponent. You could limp some mediocre hands with intension to call his raise and take a flop, otherwise you would often face a 3-bet and would end up at awkward situation.
 
rafa77777

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all that you have described is the standard strategy in poker .. in such a sitzation the ascent is obligatory, otherwise it is great that 2 or more competitors will enter the game, which we would not want
 
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Goggles Pizano

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I too caution against limping top hands.

To me, the only time this is acceptable is with an aggressive player who is almost always bumping his/her button or BB. You know the type, every time they’re on the button, they look at their cards, reach down and grab the top part of their stack (without really looking of course) and throw it in. Every once in a while, I’ll try to catch these types with the move you’re suggesting. When you do this though (I repeat..rarely should you be doing it), if the player does the unexpected and just calls or checks and you go 4 or 5 way to a limped flop, unless you hit hard, you need to be prepared to let it go if the flop is like 3, 5, 10 and you get two callers with your post flop decent sized bet.

It’s embarrassing trying this move, not letting go, calling/betting off a chunk of $, then showing KK going down to 3,10 or a set of 3’s etc. Everyone will be WTF! lol.

Experienced calm players will go “I deserved that.”

Loser/a-hole/tilters will be “you donk, you fish.... blah blah blah” instead of taking ownership over their own play.

Limping with “potential” hands 10/J, 7/8, 5/5 etc and then calling a reasonable raise isn’t making a move, just standard poker. Taking those hands or worse, limping and then 3 or 4 betting betting the raiser(s) is terrible play. What’s that saying “if you don’t know who the fish/donk is at the table..... it’s you.”
 
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dregan

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I will definitely raise before the flop . I don't want a problem with trash hands. Although there are times when the player even with pocket AA enters the game limp . Such a player will obviously have problems in the game. And then they complain that their AA pair lost to the trash hand.
 
korneel

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I only limp when somebody already raised preflop.
I don't want to reraise and scare everybody off, cause there might be somebody behind me reraising and that's what gets the party starting!
 
playinggameswithu

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I like to limp a lot depending on the hand. It lowers volatility, controls the pot, lets me see my flop, doesnt fold out weaker hands that i need. pretty good in MTT. I never limp in cash.
 
ChickenArise

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Its tempting to min raise with AA/KK under the gun or first to act, but I would advise against it. You will save yourself much pain by raising larger with these premium hands.

It makes more sense to min raise with QQ/JJ- as you may want to get away from the hand when over cards hit the flop.

Limping with these hands are risky. I am seeing more limping UTG with QQ and even a TT that was trying to make it look like AA limp raising.

Late position open limps with QQ are fairly common as they are trying to keep the blinds in to win more post flop. If you raise a late position limp, they will often reraise exposing their strength and plan.

However over calling a raise while in position can work well with the premium pairs hiding the strength of the hand.
 
alfiyka

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I sometimes bluff.But it's the same as checking the lottery.I play bluff only when my bankroll is many times higher than the bankroll of other players.Bluffing is very difficult.
 
tauri103

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the only factor that could push me to find myself in this situation is my image on the table and the state my stack compared to the average. apart from this situation I prefer to defend a minimum my hands.
 
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RaydonPoker

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Honestly I just mix it up. I understand for live tournaments or higher stakes using the rule of only either raising or folding but other than that I still limp a lot.
 
Goldog

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If you’re raising often enough you shouldn’t do less with your strong hands. Hopefully they are sick of your bullying.
 
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animalitymk3

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Raise a small amount before they do to prevent them from raising you off your hand. They will be less likely to raise you if you raise them. Reverse psychology.
 
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Johnsouth

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I am more of an aggressive player so if I know someone is bluffing I call right to the end, it's a huge gamble but what's poker without a little fun?
 
alfiyka

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A pre-flop raise reduces the number of players. But the more frustrating it is to lose .Especially if your opponent with the last card comes winning.
 
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