[CrisBrown]

Hi Tim,

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Seems to me this idea of a bluff catcher only works when playing against people who are misplaying their hands.

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I don't think this is entirely true. BTW, this was a real hand from a recent $215 two-table SNG. I was not in the hand, and I think both of these players are better than I am, so I'm a bit reluctant to criticize them too much.

I think the button's (KQs) pre-flop call was fine, given the table dynamics. It was a tight table, and there was a lot of stealing. Reraising with KQs would have been risky, especially early on with deep money, but flat-calling from the button isn't a bad idea.

I suspect his eyes lit up at that straight-flush draw flop. Still, he realized that while his hand would be gorgeous if the J [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] landed, right now he had a naked drawing hand, vs. an Ace on board and a pre-flop raiser. I can't fault the feeler- and pot-building bet on the flop. He knew (or I knew, anyway, and I assume he's as observant as I am) that his opponent would not pay off any bets once the third heart hit. So if he wanted a pot to go with his flush, he had to build it. But he didn't want to bet so much that he'd hate laying it down to a reraise.

I'm less thrilled with his bet at the turn. The turn gave him nothing, and actually lessened his chances of winning the hand. He may have put his opponent on a bluff-catcher and figured himself to have 15 outs (any K, J, or heart). If that was his read and his logic, then with the money already in the pot he had good odds to bet for value at drawing a winner on the river. He obviously wasn't going to put any more money into the pot if he missed, and knew his opponent wouldn't bet or call if a K, J, or heart hit, so I can't criticize his turn bet all that much.

I'm not saying this was the best possible way for KQs to play this situation. I'm just saying I can see a logic in how he played it, given his likely knowledge of his opponent, and the situation.

I've had good success with bluff-catcher hands. I don't always play them, and sometimes I misplay them. And there are times when your opponent isn't bluffing; he may have a marginal hand, but it's better than yours. E.g.: what if the button had held A7s instead of KQs? He might then have played it exactly the same way, fearing a bigger Ace, but still have won the pot. In that situation, both would have been playing their hands as bluff-catchers, something that happens quite often.

All in all, I think the concept of the bluff-catcher is a useful tool to have in your bag, but it's not something you can or should use every time you catch some piece of a flop, and especially not on a weak starting hand. I think the general rule against calling your money off with a second-best hand is solid advice, and you should only go against it if the situation is right -- if you can afford to lose a small pot -- and you feel very sure of your reads.

Cris