General thoughts on Bluffs in SNG ?

[tjh]

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t40 (6 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

BB (t2125)
Hero (t3260)
MP (t975)
CO :#A500AF(Villain)/ (t2315)
Button (t2975)
SB (t3350)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q/images/graemlins/spade.gif, A/images/graemlins/club.gif.
<font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t140</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, CO :#A500AF(Villain)/ calls t140, <font color="#666666">3 folds</font>.

Flop: (t340) J/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 3/images/graemlins/club.gif, 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets t340</font>, Villain calls t340.

Turn: (t1020) 6/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">Villain bets t95</font>, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t1115

Results in white below: <font color="#FFFFFF">
No showdown. Villain wins t1115. </font>


This hand brings is a good example of post flop aggression when the board misses your hand. I guess they call this bluffing /images/graemlins/smirk.gif.

I was UTG so I did not want to show weakness when the flop missed me so I bet. My standard bet is a pot sized bet. Thoughts on this ?? Standard bet too large ?? Probably.

So post flop big bet and he calls, turn gives the board 3 diamonds. I check he bets small and I fold.

Thoughts on post flop ? I had plenty of chips, but I figured I would save my chips for a few more pot sized bluffs rather than on follow up bets to failed bluffs.

I could post some more hands but in general I seem to take the following actions.

If I am in the pot I raise, most of the time. I know this is standard no-limit play and I assume it applies to SNG tourneys also.

Assuming that I raised preflop I frequently take a stab at buying the pot post-flop. Sometimes a player will call me down and I then have a tough decision as to wether or not to continue the bluff after the flop or check to the river. I make this decision based on the texture of the board and any read I have on the player I am up against.

How aggressive are you guys when the flop misses you ?

What standards do you use to decide wether or not to bluff ?

Do you wait for the pot to be declared an orphan or do you buy it even before it is up for adoption ?

Do you only bluff with position or do you take a shot out of position ?

What percentage of your stack will you risk in a bluff ?

Board texture, obviously this comes into play. Seems like bluffs are more obviously a success or failure on boards with an A, three suited, a pair. Meaning you represent a hand and they either belive it or they actually have the hand you are representing.

I know a lot of this seems basic but I guess I am looking to start a general discussion on Bluffing after the flop.

Thanks...

--
tjh

[Apathy]

You asked a lot of good questions and the answers to almost all of them are the same as skipperbobs choice of undergarments <font color="white"> depends </font> instead I offer a helpful piece of advice of betsizing. Do not pot it on the flop first to act, your using too many chips. If you can't help clicking the bet pot button then do not play on UB.

[Freudian]

If I can find a reason to do it besides impressing myself with my fancy play, why not.

Often at 22$ there are enough opportunities where the pot screams "I'm yours if you want me" where bluffs are useful. Other than that I save it for when in the money generally and semi-bluffs before that. To be honest, this is not a very high priority for me. I have other things that I need to worry about in my game before I become a bluff master.

/edit: If you only play on UB, you will need more postflop tools than on Party.

[pokerlaw]

Lot of good questions going on here, i'll give a quick review of my thoughts:

On the hand in question - I like the way the flop looks and would likely bluff just like you did (any read on villian? general rule is that you should not bluff crappy players, since they call anything). However, pot is too high - i like to bet 3/4ths or so of the pot, large enough to make the guy think about calling, without wasting the extra chips involved in a pot bet if he calls. However, if you always bet the pot when you have something, your smaller bets might be a tell, so be careful of that.

I would also shut down once I get a call - i like the fold, even though the bet is small, he may have hit the frush and is trying to bait you for a RR, and your ace high is probably not good after his call.

As to the general questions that you have, I would highly recommend Harrinton on Holdem. He has a section that covers situations such as this and his rationale and explanations helped me a bunch.

[danger_mouse]

Wow. I've never played UB SNGs (only Pokerstars), but they seemed to have a very generous blind escalations. My advice is gauged to PS, but it still might be interesting to you.

Instead of calling this a bluff, lets use Mr. Harrington's terminology and call it a continuation bet (following up after a pre-flop raise when the board misses you).

I use continuation bets quite often at PS, live MTT and home games. Here's some general rules of thumb I use.

1. Best used against tight-weak players, or players who seem to have a lot of respect for you. Against tight tenacious or loose call-stations, use less frequently when out of position.

2. Best performed on just the kind of flop you used it on. One high card, plus rags. It's better if the flop is rainbow. Many players will call with bottom pair, plus flush draw.

3. Almost always use in late position if checked to you, unless you hit a scary board.

4. Pot-sized is too big a bet. I bet .5 pot to .75 pot. However, my normal bet on a flop (when I hit) is .5-1.0 so it doesn't seem out of place. If you can't lower you flop betting, then I don't think continuation bets will be profitable except in ideal circumstances. You are investing too much. If you must bet the pot, I would limit your continuation bets to perfect flops, with position, against a weak-tight player. (There is one exception to my less than pot-sized continuation bets. If I'm against a player who only bets pot-sized, then I know where he's coming from and I know what books he's read. If he is fairly predicatable, then I will bet pot-sized 40% of the time if he checks to me. This is usually a play you have to set him up for in an earlier round though by not betting on the flop after a pre-flop raise.)

5. Generally, if I am called, I consider myself beat.

I think I would have been tempted to take one more card against his measely bet. If I like the river card, then I'll call a reasonable bet on the end. (But this really depends on my opponent. He would have to be very weak).