Here is a good hero call of mine, fairly recent.
BTN: 29.2 BB (VPIP: 14.29, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00,
hands: 75)
SB: 38.68 BB (VPIP: 10.53, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 149)
BB: 17.65 BB (VPIP: 26.32, PFR: 15.79, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 192)
UTG: 52.6 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 625)
UTG+1: 115.85 BB (VPIP: 23.53, PFR: 11.76, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 134)
MP: 40.33 BB (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 22.22, 3Bet Preflop: 18.18, Hands: 1258)
Hero (MP+1): 76.12 BB
CO: 64.25 BB (VPIP: 15.79, PFR: 5.56, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 19)
8 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB
Pre Flop: (pot: 2.3 BB) Hero has Ac Th
fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.18 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.18 BB
Flop : (5.65 BB, 2 players) 5s 8c 4s
BB checks, Hero checks
Turn : (5.65 BB, 2 players) 5c
BB bets 2.83 BB, Hero calls 2.83 BB
River : (11.3 BB, 2 players) 3s
BB bets 12.55 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 12.55 BB
Hero shows Ac Th (One Pair, Fives)
(Pre 71%, Flop 66%, Turn 77%)
BB shows 6s Ad (One Pair, Fives)
(Pre 29%, Flop 34%, Turn 23%)
Hero wins 36.39 BB
With Ace high, I beat only bluffs.
It wasn't for my tournament life, but it was for his.
Here's why I justified a call:
What hands is he doing this with would he shove a 5 to basically get no value, I've seen this player play his super strong hands, and all of which were bet pretty small on the river to get value.
I he going to shove a any 8 X or 4 X ?? Would he play a set this way on the flop? Would he play a draw this way? If the story doesnt make sense, you call ~sometimes~ and fold sometimes to play GTO. Because a lot of times in this situation, unless your facing a very good reg, people dont shove the river without at least a very good hand?
Here is a MUCH better example of a good
bluff catch.
I had another one (I cannot find) where somebody check raised on Js Ts 3h flop. And I had AJ. Turn comes Brick (no spade) he leads smaller than his check raise, a lot of the times meaning he may be drawing. I call, River another Brick , no possible flushes got the and no straights got there (basically none of the draws got there. He goes all in for just over the pot, putting me nearly all in.
So I have to think, what is he doing this with for value and what is he doing this with as a bluff... Value hands: TT, JJ he probably would have 3 bet, especially at our stack depth ( 25-30ish BB). So that leaves 33 and JT and ocasionally hands that were bluffs that may have turned to 2 pair on the turn or river. Which is only a small combination of hands.
What about his bluffs on the river? KQ, Q9, 98 (sometimes) and possiblyQ8, K9 etc.., A lot of 2 spade cards (some with combo draws), and finally some worse hands he may be turning into bluffs like J9, T9, 99, QT. Also, some STONE COLD BLUFFS (but you wont see that too too often).
So lets see, how many of these hands are we losing to, and how many hands are we beating out of the amount that makes sense. Lets say hypothetically we beat his hand 80% of the time in this scenario, and if you play game theory optimal, you should probably call this shove 80% of the time and fold the other 20%. It may seem weird, but that is what I would characterize as a good bluff catch. I dont think a good bluff catch ever means getting Q X to showdown on a A K Q 9 8 board.
I hope this helps