Required Reading
DOYLE BRUNSON’S SUPER SYSTEM 2
If you graduate from limit hold ‘em to no-limit, you might find yourself doing many things, in addition to drawing to inside straights, that simply won’t work when all it can cost your opponent is another bet.
A good example of a bluff that has a lot of power to it in nolimit, but will rarely work at limit, comes when the board is one card off a straight on fourth street. Let’s say there’s an A-K-Q-J out there and your opponent bets. You’ve got a 10 in the hole, and since there’s no flush possible, you’ve got the nuts. Your opponent bets, you raise, and he plays back. Now, there’s no question he’s also got a straight.
An unsophisticated player would move in on him right there because he knows he can’t lose. But what good is that? He’s only going to get a split.
However, adding some drama and a little acting to your play gives you a chance to win it all. You know you’re going to call his reraise but you don’t have to do it instantaneously. Take your time. Just stall around. Study the board real hard and shake your head several times making it appear as though you overlooked the possible straight. You could even pick up your cards slightly and make him think you’re going to throw them away. Then put them back down and say, “Okay, I’ll call it”.
With all your agonizing, he’s got to give you credit for a set. You’ve made him think you’re gambling the board will pair so you’ll make a full. If the board does pair on the end, you bet him all your money. There’s almost no risk to that play. You represent a full and many a time your opponent will throw his hand away. Of course, it’s almost impossible to do in limit because all the guy has to do is call one bet.
PLAY POKER LIKE JOHNNY CHAN
Knowing when to bluff has a number of advantages. First of all, the player who never bluffs gives away too much information. If a player never bluffs, his opponent can safely fold all marginal and many moderately strong hands when he bets. In addition, it is much easier for them to read his hand because a bet means he either has a good piece of the board or an overpair. A player who never bluffs also has a hard time getting paid off his winning hands. If you learn how and when to bluff you become a much more difficult person to read. And getting caught bluffing once in a while works to your advantage because it puts pressure on your opponents to call you the many times you have them beat.
I do a lot of bluffing in tournaments because many players are afraid to call if losing the hand will knock them out of the tournament. I also raise the blinds frequently in an attempt to pick up the antes. I am able to pick up so much free money in the form of blinds, antes, and bluffs, I gain a significant edge over those that play a more conservative style.
Sometimes I talk about players who have no value for money and I say that they are very tough to beat. What I mean is that they have no fear, so it is very difficult to bluff them. In poker getting the nuts is very hard to do. That means that you have to bluff. Any time I play poker, if I don’t bluff I’m not going to win. It doesn’t matter what the size of the game, small or big, I need to bluff to win. Another advantage to learning to bluff well is that it “takes a thief to catch a thief,” meaning that if you bluff a lot you will be able to tell when your opponents are bluffing. When you start playing the higher limits, if you don’t bluff you aren’t going to get paid off on your good hands.
I find it much easier to bluff tight players than players for whom money has no value. This is because when I make a big bet against tight players, they start to think about how much money it is and they often lay down their mediocre hands. A player who isn’t afraid of money won’t do that. I should let you know where I fit in here. I have value for money, but if I think I have the best hand I’m going to put the money in no matter how much it is. So I guess you could call me fearless when it comes to poker. That makes me a very tough player to bluff and it puts my opponents on the defensive, which gives me a license to steal.
PHIL GORDON’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK
If I never get bluffed out of a pot, I know I am calling too much. Conversely, if I never get caught bluffing I know I’m not bluffing enough.
Early in a particular tournament or session, I will often test an opponent by making a bluff. An opponent who will call a reasonable pot-size bet with a marginal holding is not likely to be “bluffable” in the future.
There are bluffs, and there are BIG bluffs. The little bluffs – stealing blinds, antes, and small pots with well-timed bets – are just part of the game. The big bluff is a work of art. Before I’ll consider risking a huge portion of my stack on a hand I’m almost certain is second-best, I’ll run through the following checklist in my head:
•My opponent believes I am playing tight.
•My opponent has not recently witnessed a bluff from me.
•My opponent has not recently been the target of a big bluff from another player. Players who have not been bluffed off a hand (and had their noses rubbed in it) or have caught another player bluffing are more apt to call.
•My opponent is very likely on a weak or medium-strength hand.
•The tournament situation makes it very hard for my opponent to call: We’re on the bubble, he has a big stack and can only get busted by me, or we’re in the money and there are many short stacks that will likely be broke soon.
•The pot is very large.
•I am very sure that my hand is losing and cannot win without a bet.
•My opponent is unlikely to have a very good draw. •My opponent isn’t anywhere near pot committed.
•My bet will severely cripple my opponent’s stack if he calls and I actually have the hand I’m representing.
•I have represented strength throughout the hand, or it is very plausible in the context of the betting that I have been helped enormously by the last card dealt.
