Do you induce bluffs in NL?

[thejameser]

Hey guys,

I posted another hand in Medium Stakes and they said it goes here so lets have at it. I am normally a limit player, but as there were no limit games available i buyin for $100 at $200max table. $1/$2 blinds. Live.

villain is UTG+1 and has ~$85 in front of him from this buyin.
other stacks are nonconsequential in this hand but here they are: SB-$200, Me in the BB-$140, UTG-$140, UTG+2-$180, MP-$80, CO-$220, Button-$200

i am in the BB with AKo. I used to raise this every time but now i mix limping and raising with my big non-pair hands. i don't know if it is right, but it keeps them guessing and i am having success with it.

6 limpers, sb completes, i check.

Flop- A 4 2 rainbow

sb checks, i bet $20, one call, all fold.

Turn- 9 completing the rainbow

i bet $20, villain calls

River- 6

i check to induce a bluff ready to call any bet. villain obliges me and moves allin for $45 or so more, i call. this guy was really stupid and i had observed him bluff at a couple pots before. i had made some pretty good laydowns so i think he thought i was a little weak/tight(this is the major factor in what i did; what he thought of me). he may have two pair, or the river could have completed his draw, but i figured my best shot for the money was to check and let him take a stab at it. thoughts?

[Godfather80]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey guys,

I posted another hand in Medium Stakes and they said it goes here so lets have at it. I am normally a limit player, but as there were no limit games available i buyin for $100 at $200max table. $1/$2 blinds. Live.

villain is UTG+1 and has ~$85 in front of him from this buyin.
other stacks are nonconsequential in this hand but here they are: SB-$200, Me in the BB-$140, UTG-$140, UTG+2-$180, MP-$80, CO-$220, Button-$200

i am in the BB with AKo. I used to raise this every time but now i mix limping and raising with my big non-pair hands. i don't know if it is right, but it keeps them guessing and i am having success with it.

6 limpers, sb completes, i check.

Flop- A 4 2 rainbow

sb checks, i bet $20, one call, all fold.

Turn- 9 completing the rainbow

i bet $20, villain calls

River- 6

i check to induce a bluff ready to call any bet. villain obliges me and moves allin for $45 or so more, i call. this guy was really stupid and i had observed him bluff at a couple pots before. i had made some pretty good laydowns so i think he thought i was a little weak/tight(this is the major factor in what i did; what he thought of me). he may have two pair, or the river could have completed his draw, but i figured my best shot for the money was to check and let him take a stab at it. thoughts?

[/ QUOTE ]

I like it, especially given your read. If he has you beat, then a river lead from you will just result in a call from him. If he doesn't have you beat, then a river lead probably just results in a fold. With your line, you make the most when you are ahead.

[nietzreznor]

If you think this guy is a complete idiot and will bluff randomly when you check, then fine.
Otherwise, I don't really understand why one would bluff here--you've bet two streets on a relatively draw free board. With no flush draw, there's very few missed draws that he could have where he would fold if you bet but might bluff at the pot.
In this sopt, I put him all-in on the river and expect to get called by worse aces or whatever fairly often.

[thejameser]

[ QUOTE ]
If you think this guy is a complete idiot and will bluff randomly when you check, then fine.
Otherwise, I don't really understand why one would bluff here--you've bet two streets on a relatively draw free board. With no flush draw, there's very few missed draws that he could have where he would fold if you bet but might bluff at the pot.
In this sopt, I put him all-in on the river and expect to get called by worse aces or whatever fairly often.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is not a traditional "induce a bluff" situation because of the texture of the board(i.e. busted flush draw, straight draw, etc.). it is almost purely opponent- dependent. he views me as a player that can be pushed off of a hand because he has seen me fold to some sizeable reraises in multiway pots that outpriced my draws. i know he knew this, and i think that he was not smart enough to know that i knew he knew what he thought he knew about me. i could straightforwardly bet his stack size which would scare him into a fold because he knows me to be a tightish player. or i could continue to valuebet $20 and he may call because he is pot committed or whatever, he may even move in at that point, but i doubt it. i may have missed value if he checked it through, but in this scenario i figured it was much more than say, at least twice as likely for him to bet. i thought i showed some weakness when i checked on the river, i thought he would pick up on it and categorize it in his little thought processes to mean what he thought it meant before, but this time it did not.

1. You let everything in cheap by not raising. In the blind 3,5 is entirely possible. However, I'd expect him to raise on the turn.
2. fortunately his all in is a small relative amount. 3:1 odds on your call. He needs a set, or straight, or two pair. I'd call.

[poboy]

I'm all for mixing it up but not when the entire table limps in and I have horrible position. Raise this pf at least 6-8BBs. As for inducing a bluff , I don't see him calling off 1/2 his stack and then folding the river. A value bet would be the better play here, don't give villian a chance to check beind his worse A. JMO

[thejameser]

yeah, he would have reraised me or something if he was certain he had me beat. he was very straightforward like that. and like i originally said, sometimes i raise this and sometimes i don't. i don't mind keeping the pot smallish at this point to perpetuate errors in my opponents postflop. there is always that psychological tie people have when they originally call a bet, they put their money in so unless it is a significantly larger bet they are calling anyway, but in a raised pot now they have something to fight over. remember, AKo has to hit the flop; out of position i thought it would be 1)easier to play if an A or K came by putting in a potsized bet and 2)i'm putting my money in as MORE of a favorite most of the time. don't get me wrong, most of the time from a bunch of limpers AKo is marginally the best hand and you should get your money in as a favorite. but i will forego some of the preflop equity to be a larger favorite after the flop, which is when hand values change the most anyway.

[thejameser]

[ QUOTE ]
6-8BBs

[/ QUOTE ]

this raise would drive out NO ONE in this particular game. if i could limit the field with a bet of 10 BB or less i would have most certainly done so. i still have alot to learn about NL so i appreciate your comments. i have very mixed feelings on missing value on the river there.

[Hoopster81]

I like to use this play when the flop comes two-tone, and it seems likely villain is on the draw. When it misses on the river, check and hope he bluffs at it.

In this case, I think c/c the river is fine because villain is so short-stacked. If you put him all-in there he is probably only calling if you are beat. If you check you are most likely priced in to call his all-in.

However, if you both had regular 100BB stacks, I would block this river.

[poboy]

Even better, then raise more. Thinning the field is only one of the functions of a raise. If you're at a table where the other players routinely call raises w Ax and worse it is criminal not to raise AK. JMO