What is a blocking bet?

[dw9619]

appologize for my ignorance, new to this site, fairly new to the game.

[DcifrThs]

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appologize for my ignorance, new to this site, fairly new to the game.

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a bet with a hand you would like to show down out of position against an opponent who possibly has a better hand and will possibly bet more than you want to call on the river.

so to prevent him from betting an amount more than what you want to call, you block him from doing so by placing an amount you think is correct given your hand & action in the pot as a blocking bet. thus, if he raises, you can eaisly fold and if he calls, you accomplish the same showdown for less...

further, you also may get called by a aworse hand that may have made you fold had you checked and the villian bet.

-Barron

[dw9619]

much appreciated

[Yeti]

Very nicely put.

Plus you may also get called by mediocre hands which would have checked behind on the river.

[Usagi_yo]

When you have a good hand that you want to show down, but your opponant may have a superior hand (but still very beatable) -- You try and find a bet of a minimum amount that they will just call with, or fold to -- depending upon the strenght of their hand. When faced with a raise, you can dump.

An example might be:

You hold AQo, The board is Qs Tc 9d Qd 8d. Pot size is $450 and you and your opponant have $1000 left in front. You suspect your opponant may have AA because of pre-flop action, but you're unsure. A bet of about $175 might get a call from a weaker hand, but the flush or the straight is unlikely to raise you. While a check might give them the opportunity and desire to bet say $300 to the pot size.

It's basicaly the NL version of a value bet.

[Huskiez]

One of the greatest tools in NL.

[BluffTHIS!]

This is really a bluff stopping technique covered by Sklansky in TOP. I always wondered where this particular term, i.e. blocking bet, originated. Although I would agree that it is a valuable NL tactic, the fact that it is considered a standard technique can lead to an infinite progression of the 'he knows that I know that he knows . . .' reasoning and lead to bluff raises. Thus you also have to make your value bets when betting in front of a similar size so as not to be easily read by better players who are capable of bluff raising, with the added benefit that an opponent will occasionally interpret such a move as a blocking bet and raise you when you have the nuts.

[Kovner]

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Thus you also have to make your value bets when betting in front of a similar size so as not to be easily read by better players who are capable of bluff raising, with the added benefit that an opponent will occasionally interpret such a move as a blocking bet and raise you when you have the nuts.

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In other words, you gotta occasionally say "BluffTHIS!"

[kagame]

the hard part about this is making a bet that looks like a blocking bet when you want to induce a bluff...

also making sure not to bluff players who make blocking/value bets and then "pay off" big raises...uggh