10 Great Poker Bluffs

 

 

Plays and Bluffs Discussed Here

The Delayed Semi-bluff

The Stop and Go Bluff

The Float

New Button Raise

The Limp Re-raise

Stopper Bets

Naked 3-betting

The Squeeze Bluff

In-Position Delayed Bluff

Out of position float

The Delayed Semi-bluff

Many players like to semi-bluff on the flop when they have some kind of drawing hand. Rather than try to win the pot on the flop with your drawing hands, in some scenarios it is best to wait until the turn before you take over the betting and start to represent a strong hand. This is much more convincing than if you were to do this on the flop. If you are going to semi-bluff, it's actually best to do this on the flop in most cases.

The reason I'm writing about delaying the semi-bluff is because players don't fall for the semi-bluff on the flop anymore. It's common for a player to just assume you are raising on the draw if there is a draw-heavy board. If you want to add to the value of your drawing hand against a skilled player, you might be best if you wait until the turn to do a semi-bluff.

This bluff is somewhat risky. It's always possible your opponent will have the nuts and he will put in the third bet on the turn, thus pricing you out of your draw and really screwing things up for you because then you can't even draw out.

The Stop and Go

This is a bluff that is usually used when your stack has between 12-20 big blinds in a tournament. It's best to have some kind of a hand when you do this, but mediocre is sometimes good enough. Here is how the stop and go play works; When a player makes a pre-flop raise and you are in one of the blinds, you would just call the raise with the intention of moving all in on the flop almost regardless of which cards come.

The premise behind this move is that your opponent would likely call your raise with any 2 cards if you moved all-in before the flop. This gives you a better chance at winning the pot without having to make the best hand. If your opponent has some kind of A-X hand, he might fold his hand whereas he would not have folded to a pre-flop raise. If your opponent was holding something like 6-6 or 7-7, he also probably would have called your pre-flop raise and you would be forced to make the best hand. There is a chance your opponent might lay down a hand like 7-7 when you do this on the flop. Don't forget, there is also the chance you will make the best hand as well.

This play isn't something that is really as effective as it used to be. Greg Raymer discussed this play a lot after his WSOP victory several years ago and for a limited time it was very useful. Players have gotten used to this now and many players will call your bet on the flop just as if it was a pre-flop raise. I still see him do this on occasion at the online poker tables. You can watch Greg play online at Pokerstars.

The Float

Floating basically means that you will call a bet (usually in position and on the flop) with the intention of setting yourself up to make a convincing bluff later on in the hand.

If a player has smooth called on the flop and raised on the turn, this is usually the sign of a strong hand. However, since players have gotten used to this it is not uncommon to see them floating their opponents on the flop in shorthanded games. This is a bluffing move that is getting very popular in the modern poker world and it's almost impossible to be a good player without having this move in your arsenal. It's alot like the semi-bluff in it's appearance, the big difference is that floating usually means that you don't even have a drawing hand.

The New Button Raise

It used to be the case that if a player raised from under the gun, they probably had a super strong hand. Now some players have caught onto this and raising under the gun is starting to become popular. Hence, I've heard it called "The new button" a few times.

I don't mind discussing this bluff here because the gig is just about up anyway, but for about 2 years this move was one of the bigger reasons for my success in poker tournaments.

Late in poker tournaments, and even sometimes early on or in the cash games, I would raise from under the gun and represent a really strong hand. It was always a pretty easy bluff to sell and I would just try not to run into the nuts. You won't get a lot of action playing like this, especially with short stacks, so it's a good move to use on occasion when you are getting deep into a poker tournament and need to steal some blinds. Just don't run into a big hand and you'll be fine.

The Limp Re-raise Bluff

All you have to do is limp in from early position before the flop and hope that someone raises. When the action gets back to you, put in a huge re-raise. If there are callers behind the initial raiser then that's fine, you'll be representing a monster hand so just be sure to bet strong when you do this so you don't need to worry about firing another bluff into a big crowd of players. If you get 1 or 2 callers, you should still have a good chance to bluff them on the flop and turn, but you need to isolate your opponents.

This whole idea behind this move is that people sometimes do this with pocket aces or pocket kings; especially amateur players.

I will usually do use this move to overplay a small pocket pair, or just to try and bluff with any random hand. This move is also starting to lose its effectiveness, but among certain crowds it will still work most of the time. Quite often it will even work amongst good players under the right circumstances.

The Stopper Bet

This means placing a very small bet into a large pot, sort of taking the lead away from an opponent who might have made a continuation bet. This used to be done strictly by players who wanted to see another card cheaply, either with a weak hand or a drawing hand. Since players have caught onto this recently, it has become a savvy play to use if you want your opponent to make a raise.

Here is how I am using this play most often now; When I flop the nuts I make what appears to be a stopper bet on the flop. Common practice by many players at this point is to raise me... or in some cases try to slow play their hand and then bet the turn. If they decide to raise... then I will just smooth call and they usually put me on a drawing hand. This will make them fire a huge bet on the turn if I check to them again, and this usually works out pretty well.

The Naked 3-bet Bluff

This is typically a move seen in limit games. It's risk goes up in no-limit games, but so does it's effectiveness. The principle behind this bluff is relatively simple. By making the third bet (the third raise is actually the 4th bet pre-flop depending on who's counting) You have represented a hand strong enough to beat 2 raisers, which is usually a very strong hand.

A common place where you might see this bluff used is on a flop of K-8-8, in which case you are trying to sell your opponents on the idea that you flopped 3 8's. The only issue with doing this in a limit game is that your opponent can sometimes afford to call you down with a pair of kings, despite the strength you are showing.

This EV of a move like this is highly debatable, because in general it entails re-raising someone who has just re-raised someone else... so there is certainly the possibility you will run into a huge hand. It takes great timing and a certain kind of table image to pull this off.

In my opinion, the true value in making plays like this comes from the lasting effect it will have on your opponents. If you are a known player, perhaps just among the folks you are playing against at your table... the knowledge that you might do this with a bluff can earn you more money with your monster hands. Your opponents might have to call you just because of your table image. Sometimes you only have to get caught in a bluff like this once and your opponents will not forget it for the rest of the tournament. If you play with the same people repeatedly, this kind of table image can be used for your own benefit down the road too.

If you know who you are betting against, this move can be pretty effective. Just keep in mind that at some tables this kind of move would be a waste of time and money for you because you will be barking up the wrong tree.

The Squeeze

The squeeze is basically the no-limit Hold 'em version of the naked 3-bet bluff. The main difference is that in no-limit this tends to be done before the flop more often than it is done on the flop. When there is a bet and a call in front of you, you are going to be representing a monstor hand by putting in the next raise. You can apply more pressure in NL, so deep in a touranament when the stack sizes are short, this bluff can be used to push players off of some very strong hands. If you did this in a deep stacked situation, its possible an opponent could come back over the top of you with another re-raise and there would be nothing that you could do about it. You also would not have the added pressure on your opponent of ending their tournament life with their next decision. This will tend to work more often on some of the softest poker sites where the players are not as savvy.

In-Position Delayed Bluff

This means that when you have raised a hand pre-flop with some mediocre cards and your opponent checks the flop to you, rather than bluffing on the flop, you check behind him and hope he leads out on the turn. Then you put in a raise and try to win the pot after he has bet. It's very similar to the delayed semi-bluff in the fact that you appear to be more genuine with your strength.

This bluff relies on the basic premise that only a sicko would be bluffing in this spot. A typical bluffer who had raised before the flop would have done a continuation bet on the flop or just simply give up. The only reason that they wouldn't make a continuation bet would be if they thought that their opponent had connected, in which case they would just be giving up, or they have made a strong hand on the flop themself.

To your opponent, it will often appear as though you had hit a huge hand on the flop, and were trying to set a trap by checking behind them. In other words, you passed on the obvious opportunity to bluff on the flop, so it wouldnt make sense to pass on that opportunity and then start bluffing when the other player finally does show some strength on the turn.

The biggest risk you run in my opinion is that your opponent is only semi-weak, so he will check the flop, and then just check the turn as well... because it looks as though you might be willing to check it down, perhaps if he has a small pair and you look like you have a naked ace-high. If he does this, now he is almost in a position where he can check-call all the way down with a medium-strength hand.

If he checks twice, this won't really fit into your plan. There is a good chance that it will look like a bluff if you bet now, so you have really missed your best opportunity to win the pot as I already stated. The whole object is to raise on the turn because that represents a monster. Simply betting into an opponent who has checked twice does not have the same effect.

One of the reasons I'v resorted to this play is because I know that some players will not just check fold an ace high against me. To bluff this player, it takes a little bit more effort and risk.

One of the worst things you can do is revert to a plan-B type of bluff, because this usually means your opponent does not have what you thought he had and you are getting desperate. If things don't go as planned, sometimes it is better to just give up than try some sort of bluff that doesn't make a lot of sense.

You can always just hope that an ace hits on the river, because then you will have something that you can represent convincingly.

The Out of Position Float

This move is for the sickos, and I think it's best to only use this in the cash games, and to do so sparingly if at all. I almost didn't write about this here because for most people it will never have a positive expected value. It takes really good timing, really deep stacks, an opponent who will be willing to fold etc. I think it's actually a stronger bluff with a higher success rate in tournaments, but it's just too risky to be doing this in a tournament. To pull this bluff off successfully, you are going to have to out-think your opponents on many levels.

As players are becoming more advanced, there are 2 big changes I've noticed. The first is that you have to be a little bit sicker when it comes to your bluffs if you want to be successful. The second, is that players are a little bit easier to bluff in many cases, because as a whole they have learned to recognize what type of hand their opponent is representing. Thus, if you can properly represent a hand, your bluffing success rate will go up.

Here is where this move might come into play. You check the flop and there is a bet and a call. It's a bit strange for you to call when the action comes back to you in a no-limit game in this spot. This is usually a tell-tale sign of a few possible things. You are drawing strong, you flopped the nuts, or you are just completely lost in the hand. It's usually one of the first two options. Anyways, for whatever reason you decide to smooth call here.

There are a few ways to pull this off once you have smooth called from out of position. You can either put lots of pressure on when scare cards come and represent that you have completed your draw, or just check-raise everyone on the turn and represent that you had flopped monster hand. The reason this move can be successful is that it's extremely rare for an opponent to bluff via smooth calling over the top of several opponents from out of position. This means it can be an easy sell to your opponents on whatever you are trying to represent.

It gets pretty dicey when you are dealing with 3+ opponents and that's why most players can't pull this off with much success.

Keep in mind, this move is risky. You are usually trying to run over at least 1 person with a made hand, and it's possible that someone else is drawing to the same hand that you are representing, or they have already flopped the nuts. One of the keys to this move is that you are doing it against opponents who understand the game and understand that you are representing a monster hand.

Keep in mind that there is probably nothing on this page that couldn't have some sort of "if", "and" or "but" statement after it. This stuff is all very circumstantial and I should warn you all; Your results may vary.