For most poker players, nothing is as satisfying as a well executed
and successful bluff. Sure, it can be a big thrill to win with a pair
of aces, a set or the nut flush, but made hands seldom require the
skill and/or courage that a gutsy bluff does. And that's exactly why
the rush that comes from bluffing is so much greater: because even
though it's your money in the middle, what's really on the line is
your pride.
Of course there's also a huge downside to the pride that comes from
bluffing: not knowing when to stop. Many players get so addicted to
bluffing that they often forget why they started doing it in the first
place: to take down the pot. Without a reasonable chance of
accomplishing this goal bluffing is nothing more than pointless
posturing and brain dead self-sabotage.
THE DEAD POT BLUFF
We begin our overview with what many consider to be not only the
stupidest of all bluffs, but the stupidest of all poker moves: the
Dead Pot Bluff. In order for this idiocy to occur three more players
have to be involved, with at least one all in preflop and no sizable
side pots.
For our purposes here we'll say that there are five players in the
hand - two all in preflop - and you're holding 99.
The flop comes T74. One of our your active opponents goes all in and
after considerable thought you elect to fold, as does the other player
with chips left. The two preflop all ins flip over their hands,
revealing AK and KQ, and the flop bettor flips his hand, revealing -
not 77, AT or QQ - but QJ.
That's right. QJ.
The turn comes a five and the river a two. AK wins with A high.
Now of course you're pissed at the fool with QJ. I mean what was he
thinking when he moved all in on the flop with nothing, pushing you
off the best hand?
The answer is simple: he wasn't thinking anything at all.
With two hands already all in and two players behind him left to act,
the odds of him winning by bluffing at the pot were ridiculously low.
Instead of isolating an inferior hand, this idiot isolated his own
inferior hand and kept one of the short stacks in the game.
And the worst part is he snickered to himself when you folded,
completely forgetting he still had to beat the two all ins before he
could win.
THE DEAD HAND BLUFF
A close runner up to the Dead Pot Bluff is what I like to call the
Dead Hand Bluff. This happens when a player with nothing in his hand
keeps bluffing at the pot despite the fact that his opponent isn't
going anywhere. It could look something like this:
Your cards: KQ
The flop: Q94
Your opponent minimum bets the flop. You call.
The turn comes a jack, and he minimum bets again. Again you call.
The river comes a 5, and one last time your opponent bets the minimum.
You call and flip over your hand, expecting to look across the table
at AQ, QJ, maybe Q9. But no, your opponent has 22.
22.
Again we find ourselves asking, "what was this idiot thinking?" And
again the answer is simple: nothing. He was betting purely for the
sake of betting, with no hope of getting you to fold and almost no
chance of winning the hand.
THE DEAD END BLUFF
The last category of brain dead bluffs is perhaps the most common:
bluffing out of position. Most often this takes the form of a
continuation bet, with the preflop raiser attempting to take down the
pot despite having missed the flop. But in order for it to be a true
Dead End Bluff, two more conditions must be in place: the board has to
be dangerous (paired, two or three to a flush and/or draw, etc.), and
several players must have to act.
Let's say our preflop raiser has AcKc, five players have called, and
the flop comes 9d8d7h. Being the aggressive fool that he is, and
thinking that he's obligated to bet simply because he raised preflop,
our dimwitted hero bets $400 into a $600 pot. But what are the odds
that the four remaining players will fold? I'd suggest almost zero.
Why zero?
Well let's stop and think about what kinds of hands might call that
bet, or even raise.
Hands that have you beat:
77, 88, 99, TT, JJ, QQ
56, 67, 78, 89, 9T, TJ
A9, K9, Q9, J9, T9
Drawing hands:
AT, KT, QT, QJ
any two diamonds
any ten
any six
As you can see there's practically no end to the hands that might have
caught a piece of this flop. The only hand likely to fold here is
another strong ace or king, but it would be extremely rare for ALL of
your opponents to be holding unpaired high cards.
So knowing that you're likely to be called, what is the point of
putting in a continuation bet (bluff) here? There isn't one. Better to
check and hope to hit an ace or king on the turn, which even then
might not give you the best hand.
The bottom line with bluffing is to make sure you know what you're
trying to accomplish and that there's a good chance of accomplishing
it. If either of these is in question it's always better to keep your
chips and pride in check.
By J.P Stimpson |
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