Double Semi-Bluff

Hello,Players,

How effective is the Double Semi-Bluff against observant players who are "good" card readers?

************************************************** ************************************************** ****************************** Definition: Double Semi-Bluff-- A bet or raise when one has a backdoor str. draw with 2 consecutive ranks showing or a backdoor flush draw with two of the same suit showing followed by a bet or raise if one improves to an opened-ended str. or a 4-flush on 5th or 6th St.


Sitting Bull

Larry,


This is a powerful tool if used properly and sparingly in a structured game ( assuming your hand can improve in multiple ways ) as it can get you a free big bet card. In a small peread-limit game I can't see much use in it unless you can get better hands to fold which is very rare.


You left alot out in your post, but the 'better' hand readers are the ones you can often fool with this play. Notice I said 'better' not 'expert'.


This is a play I wouldn't emphasize too much in your arsenal unless you are playing $10-20 and up. Read 7CSFAP. There is some info in there about using plays such as this.


Later,


CJ

I take it the question you are trying to ask is whether betting with a hand like (Th Td) Ad 6d 3c on fifth street will cause a superior card reader to be more likely to put you on a diamond flush if you bag, say, a Jd on 6th, than if you had just called or checked on fifth street.


Well, no, as a rule it won't. It's usually wrong to bet a draw on fifth unless you have a big pair to back it up, so if you bet on 5th then bet again on 6th the opponent might put you on two pair but probably not on a diamond flush. If you want to make the good player think you have a draw, play it like a draw - call on 5th, then bet on 6th.


You're even less likely to be convincing with a straight draw, or with a hand like (Td Ad) Tc 6d 3d where your door card isn't a flush card.


Flushes and straights don't get there in six cards all that often anyway, and much less often still in five cards, and good players know this. So unless all four of your open cards are contributors, you're not going to scare off a strong hand. You might chase out marginal hands, but you might have beaten them anyway in a showdown, since it's hard to see how you would get into this situation unless you started with a decent pair hand or big overcards.

Hello,Lin,

Thanks for your response.


Sitting Bull

Hello, CJ,

You and Lin seems to be speaking in two different languages. The jury seems to be "deadlocked"


Sitting Bull

We might not be as deadlocked as it seems. CJ says to use this play "sparingly" against "better" as opposed to "expert" players. That's fair advice. I think I was assuming a better class of opponent than CJ was.


Against experts, I don't think this play has much value. It might fool them once in a great while but not often enough to be profitable in the long run. Against merely above-average players, however, it is more likely to work because they tend to read cards rather literally, and they also tend to overestimate the likelihood of someone having a straight or flush and are therefore more easily bluffed off a hand in these situations.

Hello, Lin,

After reading your post,I agree that you and CJ are in agreement.

Although I've played over 10000 hrs of 1-5 stud,2-10 stud,5-10 stud,1-5,10 and 1-5,10,10 stud and 5-25 stud and 2-10,20 stud

I never played with any expert.

Most of my opponents are below average to average players;a few of them are above average players,and none of them are good players,including myself. I'm one of the above average players.

I'm still working on becoming a good player.


Happy pokering


Sitting Bull