Bluffing Frequency
I have a question for all the cash game micro limiters. At the 5/10 cent level how often are you bluffing? Is there a certain frequency? It obviously depends on the situation and the table (tight/loose) but is there a certain number of hands you think to yourself ok, I want to outright bluff say 3 hands in the next hour? And just set them up before hand? (triple barrelling no matter the flop, or coming over the top of a pf raiser, etc.)
Any tips/thoughts appreciated.
Any tips/thoughts appreciated.
Comments
at the 5 /10 cent level in order to be profitable, bluffing is not really a part of the game. So many times even up to and above the 25/50 cent level people will call with any two cards. I do agree with graham that it is situational, and sometimes will work. I guess the simplest way to look at it is what are u bluffing. In a 2000/4000 no limit cash game you may be bluffing a house, a car, enough money to make or break someone. In a 5 and 10 cent game however, it may cost u a whopping quarter to see if your middle pair is good, or if your straight or flush draw will hit. In my opinion, and from experience losing many of buy ins to donks who call with ATC bluffing is not a wise choice is such games.
Yea I'm a student so it may not be a house or a car....but it is all the money i have left till next summer. lol
To tell you the truth I never actually thought of it that way, it probably sounds strange to hear that, but I always think of my money as well MINE. And I don't like losing it, which is probably why I get bluffed more often than the averge joe. Sometimes I will call down if I suspect it but more often than not if they start throwing big bets at me, and I'm holding tptk i'm outta there faster than a recently ejaculated sperm.
You and I seem to be slooooowly learning what more profitable players on here keep telling us....'process, process, process' as opposed to more results oriented play. Keep the play simple and don't get too fancy. In the long run, you'll win more than you lose. Hopefully. Don't lose your head!
If you have been showing down winning hands what you ideally want to do is mimic your betting pattern when you showed down a winner if you are planning to bluff. You also have to look at the texture of the board. Does that fit your range, how has your opponent played there hand.
It's not hard to bluff at the lower levels but at the sametime you have to make it plausable based on your past plays. I mean if you have only been playing AK/AQ and you raise preflop and the flop comes 6810, you lead out, guess what no one is believing that fits your range so you are going to get re-raised or called down.
Keep that in mind when setting up a bluff.
There are legions of $25NL'rs lurking and posting forums just like this one. The advice they are all getting is to "play tight!" "don't bluff" "bet for value!"
You can sit at the tables and consistently find TAGfish who open nearly every single button and will check behind half of the flops. Guess what?? These guys are very exploitable because they bet with the goods and they bet with really strong draws and they tell you every time they miss because they don't fire bullets with air.
1. Low limit players usually play their hands face up.
2. Low limit players players aren't thinking about what you hold. They are thinking about their own hand.
3. Don't try and pull elaborate multi-street bluffs at low-limits. Your opponent will not understand the story you are trying tell anyway.
What works is to be very aggressive at passive tables and pound your opponents with aggression pre-flop and on the flop. 3 Bet liberally until they start to stand up to you then tighten it up a bit. Pound cbets into every good flop. Donk bet on occasion with air (and with the nuts obv.) Ck/raise some flops on occasion too.
Basically, be a royal pain in the ass with aggression on early streets. Bluff and semi-bluff lots when the betting is cheap it does many good things for you:
- Makes you money when you gobble up lots of small uncontested pots.
- Builds a bit of an image for you at the table
- Gets you paid when you actually have a hand
If someone bets on the flop and I missed it - I'm done with the hand. It costed me 25 cents but no problem - If I win this type of hands 1 time out of 3 the play will be profitable anyway!
If someone of the limpers has shown tendencies to be more aggressive post-flop I would be more careful. But most of the aggresive players are also aggresive pre-flop and raise more often than they just limp. I very, very seldom try to bluff a raiser. Sometimes I might put in a re-raise on the flop tough if someone opens but do it weakly (say 1/3 of the pot or even smaller).