stopping bluffs online

[spickard83]

I've been playing hold'em for about 2 years now. I've consistently made money playing $2 big blind NL hold'em on party poker by playing tight, waiting 'til i hit my hand, and then getting as much money into the pot as i can. But being a tight player also means i'm a prime target for other players to attempt a bluff, and i can't help but wonder if i'm folding too many big pots when i have the best hand.

In casinos and home games it isn't as much of a problem because I can observe tells that will tip me off that my opponent's hand might not be as strong as he is pretending. But in online games I don't have that advantage. My only clue as to what they're holding is to watch their play and try to read their hand. In the chapter in the theory of poker on reading hands Sklanksy says, "When a good player makes a play, there is a sensible reason for it, and your job is to find the reason and put that player on a hand." But this is no help for reading bluffs. Reading a bluffer's hand this way will only lead me to believe he actually has the hand he's representing.

So how do you stop a bluff?

I realize this is a very general question, and probably a difficult one to answer, but i feel like this could be a major leak in my game that i need to address.

I'm not worried so much about stopping habitual bluffers because their play is predictable. My real concern is solid players that notice my tight play and might try to push me off a good hand.

I mentioned that I play in the $2 big blind NL hold'em games on party so if anyone plays these as well and can make any observations that would be helpful i would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer.

InbredHick

p.s. if you would like to see some specific examples of hands i thought i might have been bluffed, i might be able to find one to post.

[umdpoker]

i was thinking about this recently, and tried to pick off some bluffs. the problem is, after i successfully picked off some bluffs, i got no action. those damn bluffers no longer did stupid moves against me. at the higher levels, picking off bluffs is probably worth a lot of money. its probably worth it just to get the maniacs off your ass when you wanna draw cheap, or just don't particularly like your hand. however, at nl25, where i currently play, i don't think there is much value. i would much rather have the action from the bluffers on my good hands.

[sailor]

im the solid player pushing tight players off hands. I figure out your "folding price" and it costs me X amount of money to "see your cards" every time. You don't have to pick off my bluffs. You just have to let me know that you'll try. If your opponents are aware of the games texture, advertise. Tell me that you'll play back with nothing because you think your nothing might beat my nothing. I also think it would be a good idea to bluff players who have styles similar to your own. People will bluff you less and call you more. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[gomberg]

I've been using an interesting approach lately. I think I noticed a lot of better players in the higher limit games do this, and I started doing it too with pretty good results so far...

Since you're tight and it's more likely you will be bluffed in the first place (by a solid player), you should encourage them to bluff more. This means that after betting into them on the turn, check to them on the river "knowing" you are going to call at least some of the time. Especially induce bluffs when you think they missed an obvious draw. Also try to notice the size of that player's bets on the end in hands against other players and what they flip over. Some players bluff by pushing all-in, or just betting enough to put you all-in (if they have you covered). I've started picking off HUGE bluffs recently by inducing them. Yeah - sometimes they have the hand, but if I think they're aggressive and willing to bluff in certain situations, I'll encourage them to by playing weak on the river, or in position play weak on the turn and call a decent bet on the river.

I still haven't figured out how to do trapping bluff plays like betting weakly and coming over the top of an aggressive player. I'm more the type to bet out big when I get a hand and play back at any raise on the flop if I think I have the best hand (or good draw and they might fold).

Just my 2 cents...

[theriverwild]

bluffing online is such a joke. A couple of my friends and i rarely can run just about anyone out of the pot without the nuts. Good players will bluff a lot and not 5 dollar bluffs pot bets. There's a lot on party some more than others. A couple of the guys i play poker with will make it so hard on u to call it's almost impossible without the nuts and they always bet about the pot so u never know. I mean it's pretty hard to call 15 on the flop 40 on the turn then another 80 or 100 on the river, strangely most of them pay off on the flop and turn but fold on the river after investing a lot they say. I won't tell u but it's pretty obvious if someone is gonna call down and when they can be run off even top pair best kicker or two pair it's actually funny watching. But if u do start making some multiple shell big bluffs i recommend u show a couple 5 highs taking down 100 dollar pots then they will actually call u down with 10 high no joke I've seen it so often.

[Shaun]

If you want to stop people from bluffing you, bet into the them on the flop and turn with a strong hand on a drawing type board. If the draw does not hit, check to the potential bluffer. If he bluffs, you raise. If he checks, he still sees that you wanted him to bluff at you, and he'll remember that. If your gut says so, make ridiculous calls on occassion. I won a 175$ pot with king high because I figured my opponent was bluffing a straight draw. On the river his last 30 or so went in and I thought, "if I call and win this pot, he is going to be on TILT". I did and he was.

To be honest, as long as you are willing to make tough calls, having players think they can push you around is not a bad image to have as long as you've got the right opponents.

You might also want to try to push back at times by re-raising with nothing. This can be expensive, as you will inevitably run into hands on occassion, but if opponents know you're willing to do it they will take less shots at you and will pay your real hands off more.