Good or bad bluff

[codybennett14]

Ive been playing poker for about 4 years and ive really wanted to improve by bluff/exploit game recently. I realize that you need specific situations to optimize in this area and I would like to know if this line I took is optimal. Game 1/2 blinds 5 to limp call . Hero (710 effective) Villian (1600 effective UTG) opens to standard 15. Folds to me in the cutoff i call with king C/ jack S. Small blind calls 3 way to flop. Flop is Jack S, 10 S, and 6 C. SB checks villian bets 25 i call, small blind calls. Im putting villain on (QQ) now. Turn is ace of clubs. SB checks villain bets 65 i raise to 170 to fold kings and queens out. SB folds He pauses and calls. River 8 of diamonds. He pauses and checks i know my pair of jacks is no good but i do have the King so i could rep king queen. I go all in for 500 he tanks... for 4 minutes grabs his chips twice and folds. What do you think of this line? He said he had ace/queen.

 

[blueskies]

Depends on your table image. If you have been playing competently, that line would most likely work against a decent player.

Dunno what read you have that would just narrow him down to QQ though. If I had QQ on that wet board with an overpair, I'd be cbetting larger to make'em pay to chase a draw.

And if the it's 200NL, why does a limp cost $5? What kind of variation is this?

 

[mervin88]

i will take my showdown

most of the time you will get called but it worked for you this time

 

[codybennett14]

Depends on your table image. If you have been playing competently, that line would most likely work against a decent player.

Dunno what read you have that would just narrow him down to QQ though. If I had QQ on that wet board with an overpair, I'd be cbetting larger to make'em pay to chase a draw.

And if the it's 200NL, why does a limp cost $5? What kind of variation is this?

Its a decent home game 2 tables so the 1/2 blinds 5 to call is a preference opted by the players. And to your point if he did have QQ with spade he would of had decent blockers. But in general he is probably proceeding for 35 or larger on the flop with that hand.

 

[codybennett14]

i will take my showdown

most of the time you will get called but it worked for you this time

Agreed need to look for better spots

 

[Hermus]

Good answers on the line already, but I'm interested in the phrasing you used here.

Ive been playing poker for about 4 years and ive really wanted to improve by bluff/exploit game recently.

Especially bluff/exploit. I don't know if you intended it this way, but it seems that you think that you need some exploitable read to commit on a bluff. In fact, the exact opposite is true. bluffing is part of every equilibrium strategy, and not bluffing enough can be is a huge leak.

For me, it helps to identify the value and bluff combo's in my range when doing hand analysis in an attempt to construct an equilibrium strategy, then test my solution with solver output, and then make exploitative adjustments. Against some players that means you indeed almost never bluff or bluff more for exploitative reasons. First identifying some equilibrium baseline is important though in my experience. It allows you to be flexible against all types of opponents and fundamentally sound against other regs.

EDIT: starting to go through this process during hand analysis later allows you to do it (or estimate it) in real time at the table.

So what I'm trying to say is, bluffing is part of an unexploitable strategy, and not pulling the trigger on a bluff because you don't have a read is almost always bad.

 

[skalibur]

bluff

Ive been playing poker for about 4 years and ive really wanted to improve by bluff/exploit game recently. I realize that you need specific situations to optimize in this area and I would like to know if this line I took is optimal. Game 1/2 blinds 5 to limp call . Hero (710 effective) Villian (1600 effective UTG) opens to standard 15. Folds to me in the cutoff i call with king C/ jack S. Small blind calls 3 way to flop. Flop is Jack S, 10 S, and 6 C. SB checks villian bets 25 i call, small blind calls. Im putting villain on (QQ) now. Turn is ace of clubs. SB checks villain bets 65 i raise to 170 to fold kings and queens out. SB folds He pauses and calls. River 8 of diamonds. He pauses and checks i know my pair of jacks is no good but i do have the King so i could rep king queen. I go all in for 500 he tanks... for 4 minutes grabs his chips twice and folds. What do you think of this line? He said he had ace/queen.

I'm also new to talk about bluffing but I don't usually bluff much more if it's bluffing use an amount you know the villain won't pay because if he pays and you win other players will be able to see your bluff and then it's hard for you to apply more times at the same table...

 

[gambit1983]

Problem with some of these spots where ppl bluff is you gotta stick in your whole stack to get the guy to fold. Is it worth it risking your whole stack here?

 

[samersv]

For me, this is mostly a negative action because the problem is some people have a strong hand and will check to entice you to bet or bluff

 

[ChubbySin]

In 15 years playing poker I noticed the better way to bluff is playing bluff as you would play the hand for value, notice is important to re-analyse if the villain still showing resistance after your first bluff attempt.

 

[Lucky_Shark]

I think it's worth bluffing when you're left with a 1x1 opponent, but not in a multipot. The fact is that if we started bluffing the flop or the turn, then we should bluff the river as well.

 

[HTML]

constantly bluffing is bad. you also need to be able to bluff. there are some dumb players in the game who are constantly blocking. as a result, he himself cannot play and others are not allowed to play

 

[codybennett14]

For me, this is mostly a negative action because the problem is some people have a strong hand and will check to entice you to bet or bluff

I totally agree but at some point in a game you have to pull the trigger on a bluff. The best players in the world do it and im looking for spots to where i can do it profitably.