Bluffing - There's a Time & a Place for it
When people watch poker on TV, they think that it’s all about bluffing.
All they see is the pro’s making moves with some of the worst cards
in the deck and winning huge pots. What most people don’t realize
is that tournaments take hours, sometimes days, to complete, and a vast
majority of the footage gets cut - only the most intere
sting hands are
televised - no poker pro bluffs at every pot.
There are two kinds of bluffing:
- The bluff: where you have absolutely no hand and
you can’t win without betting.
- The semi bluff: where you don’t have a made
hand yet, but there’s a good chance that your hand will improve
on the turn or the river, so you bet.
This video will cover the basic aspects of semi bluffing.
At these early stages of your poker career, you shouldn’t be bluffing
at all. Bluffing is a great move when used properly, but it has to be
used at the right time, in the right position, with the right table image
and against the right opponents – This can get very complicated
and I’ll do a dedicated video on bluffing in the advanced player
series.
The Semi Bluff
Semi bluffing is an essential tool in any poker players arsenal. You will
find yourself semi bluffing quite a lot as you start playing more poker.
Like I mentioned earlier, a semi bluff is where you don’t
have a made hand, but there is a very good chance that you will make the
best hand on the turn or the river.
Let’s say you have a hand like J-10 suited in late
position and make a pre flop raise of 3 times the big blind, you get two
callers and the flop comes 2-6-Q. You completely missed your hand, but
you’re only 1 card away from hitting your flush, which will most
likely win you the hand. The action checks around to you. This is where
you make your semi bluff. Bet out about three quarters of the pot as you
normally would with a winning hand. If your opponents fold – great.
If you get callers, you still have a good chance to make your hand and
win an even bigger pot.
What if you miss your hand on the turn? Do you semi bluff
again on the river? Once again, that depends on a lot of things –
your position, the number of cards that can complete your hand, the number
of players, the communal cards, etc. For now, until you feel more comfortable,
only have one stab at the semi bluff. Once you’ve performed this
move a few times, you’ll start to get a feel for whether or not
you should have another go at the semi bluff on the same hand.
Hands to semi bluff with
There are only a few hands that you can successfully semi bluff with and
while we’re learning, I only want you to semi bluff with one kind
of hand – the flush draw. A flush draw is a very common hand and
happens when you only need 1 more card to complete your flush (5 cards
of the same suit). So to successfully pull off a semi bluff, you’ll
need to start with 2 cards of the same suit. The flop will need to contain
2 cards of your suit. From here, there is a decent chance you will complete
your flush.
Don’t be ridiculous – I want to bluff!
Think semi bluffing is too tame for you? Want to make moves with nothing?
Don’t worry, you still have the continuation bet in your arsenal.
You remember the continuation bet, because you were paying attention during
the “Betting” video, right? Continuation betting is where
you make a raise before the flop, but you completely miss your hand. After
the flop you make a bet anyway - half to three quarters of the pot - to
convince your opponents that you actually connected with your hand. The
continuation bet is the only time you should be straight bluffing at this
point.
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