BluffTHIS!
08-21-2005, 08:40 PM
OK, since I gave in my other thread why I won't discuss what I feel is advanced high limit plo strategy, I thought of something that is an advanced tactic but will likely only ever work at lower limits for reasons I will give at the end. Maybe this will seem obvious to some of you, but I have seen players fail to use it many times while I made lots of money with it on 100 or lower tables. Since I don't play that low anymore, I thought I would share it.
Often times you will be involved in a pot with a shorter stack. Say in this situation you have something like QJ97ss in middle position usually in a raised pot which will escalate the postflop bet sizes. So 4 of you see a flop on a $100max table in which there was a raise and the pot has about $10 preflop. The flop comes down T82 no suits. A shorter, but not extremely short, stack checks and you bet your draw in front of two other players who now fold fearing a set, and the shorter stack who started with maybe only $50 now calls and the pot is $30. The turn brings a 3 maybe putting a 2 flush on the board or not and he checks again and since you have a good draw and position you bet again hoping he will lay down a very weak draw or top pair only, all this assuming he is not an habitual slowplayer/checkraiser with sets. So you bet $30 and he calls and the pot now has $90. River brings a K which didn't complete any draws (or better yet the 2 or 3 pairs) and he checks again having only $8 left. Now what you do, not having even a pair to show down is to slightly overbet the pot like $15. You are getting huge odds on this bluff in the hopes he will not call you with a pair less than top pair or even A high. Very often he had a similar drawing hand like yours either with or without a pair made, but I have seen players check behind on the river when they miss because they think there is no way the short stack won't call for less than $10, often with the result that A high or middle flop pair won for that player, which is a ridiculous result for the odds you can get on a bluff.
I don't claim this is rocket science and the only reason I call it advanced is because I have seen so very many situations where it could have been made by the bigger stack with position but they choked and checked instead. Now obviously as well this play could and often should be used against even a bigger stack that checks to you, but you will have to bet more, usually 1/2+ the pot and don't get nearly as large an overlay on the play.
The reason this most likely wouldn't work on a short stack on the higher limit tables is that everyone there including them are more aggressive, which includes betting and checkraising even with very weak draws. Also they are more likely to adopt the appropriate counter strategy which of course is to bet allin themselves that last small money when the river bricks, giving themselves the odds on a no pair bluff in the hopes that the other player was himself just being aggressive with a draw and doesn't have even a pair in which case he probably won't call or even with A high.
Often times you will be involved in a pot with a shorter stack. Say in this situation you have something like QJ97ss in middle position usually in a raised pot which will escalate the postflop bet sizes. So 4 of you see a flop on a $100max table in which there was a raise and the pot has about $10 preflop. The flop comes down T82 no suits. A shorter, but not extremely short, stack checks and you bet your draw in front of two other players who now fold fearing a set, and the shorter stack who started with maybe only $50 now calls and the pot is $30. The turn brings a 3 maybe putting a 2 flush on the board or not and he checks again and since you have a good draw and position you bet again hoping he will lay down a very weak draw or top pair only, all this assuming he is not an habitual slowplayer/checkraiser with sets. So you bet $30 and he calls and the pot now has $90. River brings a K which didn't complete any draws (or better yet the 2 or 3 pairs) and he checks again having only $8 left. Now what you do, not having even a pair to show down is to slightly overbet the pot like $15. You are getting huge odds on this bluff in the hopes he will not call you with a pair less than top pair or even A high. Very often he had a similar drawing hand like yours either with or without a pair made, but I have seen players check behind on the river when they miss because they think there is no way the short stack won't call for less than $10, often with the result that A high or middle flop pair won for that player, which is a ridiculous result for the odds you can get on a bluff.
I don't claim this is rocket science and the only reason I call it advanced is because I have seen so very many situations where it could have been made by the bigger stack with position but they choked and checked instead. Now obviously as well this play could and often should be used against even a bigger stack that checks to you, but you will have to bet more, usually 1/2+ the pot and don't get nearly as large an overlay on the play.
The reason this most likely wouldn't work on a short stack on the higher limit tables is that everyone there including them are more aggressive, which includes betting and checkraising even with very weak draws. Also they are more likely to adopt the appropriate counter strategy which of course is to bet allin themselves that last small money when the river bricks, giving themselves the odds on a no pair bluff in the hopes that the other player was himself just being aggressive with a draw and doesn't have even a pair in which case he probably won't call or even with A high.