River bluff raise strategy??

[heyverne]

I was playing an online $10-$20 loose aggressive game last night. I saw three different players raise heads up on the river with only a pair of 7's or worse. Each time they lost. I then was in a hand with unimproved Queens, bet out, and got raised. I decided to call the raise and my Queens won against an unimproved pair of nines.

I have read to be careful against opponents who are capable of this kind of raise, but all of the above hands took place in a 45 minute time span, by four separate players. I normally play 5-10 stud, so I am wondering if this river bluff raise is a common strategy for higher stakes, or did I just get lucky to find a weak and very beatable game?

Thanks in advance for the responses.

[Andy B]

Not a common strategy, and probably not all that lucky for you either. It is, in fact, very rare to find someone who is capable of raising on the end as a bluff. For one thing, it rarely works, as the pot is usually big enough that the other guy "has" to call.

FWIW, with unimproved Queens, I will almost always check and hope to induce a bluff. When the other guy raised, how much did you like calling that raise? A river raiser is usually going to have Queens beaten handily. I would think that the other guy would be less inclined to bluff raise, since he had already seen it not work a few times on recent hands. Calling that raise was probably -EV, alhtough probably not by much.

[heyverne]

The reasons I bet the river were:
1 - I didn't want him to call
2 - My read on the other player was an impossible draw to a straight.

My reasons for calling the raise:
1 - I have played with this person before, and he/she seems to want to play over aggressive constantly. Against most opponents I would have folded, but not this one. My read happened to be right.
2 - After seeing the bluff raise three times, I had to think that there was a better than normal chance this opponent would try it.

BTW - this particular opponent was why I stepped up limits.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

You shouldn't be betting the river if you are going to fold to a raise. The only exception might be if you really think you can get a better hand to fold. However, in stud, two pair heads up will virtually never fold to a bet. By the time you get that far, the pot will simply be too big to push people off that way. I don't use the bluff-raise on the river in stud because it so seldom works. However, I often check-call one pair on the end, giving my opponent a chance to bluff at it. You'd be surprised how many pots I win this way. If you show strength the whole way, then check the river, many opponents will take a stab at it with one pair. So I call them. If I've been the aggressor, chances are my pair is bigger than theirs anyway.

I think you should take notes on all the players who made those moves. I'd be more inclined to call them with two pair when they raise the river, and more inclined to check one pair to them on the end. Sounds like you found a juicy 10-20 game.

al