Check-raising HU as a bluff

[TJD]

I have played HE full ring games for 9 months or so and have developed into a steady winner.

Recently, I have started playing some tournaments and in the later stages now find myself frequently in the position where I am HU with one of the remaining opponents.

I had a thought yesterday (careful!).

I was HU against a player who did not bet enough at the pot in these situations and so was doomed to eventual extinction. The hand that triggered this thought was where he was SB, I was BB, blinds were big and we were on the bubble.

A K high ragged flop came and he checked. If he had bet, I would have had to fold and give him the pot with my 2 undercards. In fact I bet and he folded.

He was almost certainly wrong not to bet into that flop against a random BB.

Now if this guy HAD bet I would have folded because he NEVER takes a shot at a pot. However, what if he was a player who DOES take shots? Is a raise a possibility by me on random cards? Is this sensible HU play?

Reversing the situation. Let's say I raise from the SB (you never know he might fold) but the BB calls. Given the same ragged flop, I could bet at it, but, another possibility is to check raise with garbage if the BB is a player who WILL take a shot.

Are these realistic possibilities for HU play or just wild gambles.

Cheers

Trevor

[doormat]

These are all legitimate plays if not overdone, although I would generally like to have some possible out instead of complete garbage. For example, the flop comes AK6 and I have 78 and am 3-suited. While it is nice if you win the pot with a check-raise here, it serves a more useful long-term purpose of letting him know you might play with garbage so you will be paid off more frequently with extra bets when you have a good hand.

doormat

[Dov]

Being on the bubble in the tournament changes the whole situation. Why risk going broke on garbage? What do you do when he bluff re-raises you?

Unless you raise him a substantial size of his stack, he probably won't believe you anyway. If he does have a hand, you will get called. (you didn't give the stack sizes)

IMHO - In a touney, wait for a better time, like when you have some piece of the flop or a decent draw or two. In a cash game, you can try it once, b/c if you get caught, it's not so bad.

Good Luck.

Dov [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]