Bluffing in limit hold'em....

Big Mike

...is wicked fun:

Ultimate Bet 2/4 Hold'em (3 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of Poker coaching - Get an online poker lesson - texas holdem strategy for real poker

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7[::c::], 6[::s::].
Hero raises, 1 fold, BB 3-bets, Hero calls.

Flop: (6.50 SB) T[::d::], K[::c::], 8[::h::] (2 players)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero calls.

Turn: (6.25 BB) 2[::c::] (2 players)
BB bets, Hero calls.

River: (8.25 BB) 3[::d::] (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB folds.

Final Pot: 9.25 BB

Opponent is one of the better players at that limit on the site. I imagine he had QJ and didn't have the stones to fire that third barrel (or call w Q high.)

Licentia

No offense, but I think that playing like that you are going to get burnt more often than not. What if he did make the Straight? What if he did have top pair?

ReefAquarium

Licentia;206314 wrote What if he did make the Straight?

What if a monster under the bed ties you up and whips you?

I think that's the whole point of this post.

Big Mike

Licentia;206314 wroteNo offense, but I think that playing like that you are going to get burnt more often than not. What if he did make the Straight? What if he did have top pair?

Wow, old thread.

If he had the str8 or top pair he'd have bet the river. (What straight could he have had, anyway???) Note we're playing 3 handed here and I admit I was playing a pretty high variance line vs this player, but I felt his flop 3bet meant a draw more often than top pair (which he might have waited to the turn to c/r)

I only have to win one out of 8 times on the river to make my bluff correct, I can't check behind because I lose for certain and look like an idiot against QJ.

At any rate, I think I made this post primarily to make the point that Limit Hold'em can be fun and include bluffing; as LHE gets something of a bad rap at times on this site :)

iNano78

Big Mike;207648 wroteWow, old thread.

Cool, this thread started on my birthday. :)

Hey wait... how did I join PFC before you?

Anyway... I'm curious: What was your intention with this hand? I agree that your opponent probably had QJ given his line, and you probably figured that out by his 3-bet on the flop. That means you flopped a gut-shot draw to the losing straight. Were you exclusively counting on the board missing villain's straight draws, and winning by bluffing on the river? That's a crazy risk. You can't know for certain how many times villain is going to bet (after he 3-bets the flop), but as it turned out, you put 3 more big blinds in (1 on the flop and 2 on the turn) before your bluff on the river (for another 2 big blinds). You need that to work a lot more than 1 time in 8 to be profitable.* And you're pooched if an A, Q, J, or 9 comes on the turn or river.

It worked this time, but I can't see this play (in this exact situation, where your hand can't possibly win at showdown) being profitable in the long run. In terms of outs, you were basically drawing to bottom pair... so all you had was a tiny bit of fold equity if your opponent missed his 16 "outs" (that he thought he had).

* - on the river, 1 in 8 is correct... but you had to get there - and risk several more bets - first.

Big Mike

iNano78;207675 wroteCool, this thread started on my birthday. :)

Hey wait... how did I join PFC before you?

Anyway... I'm curious: What was your intention with this hand? .... but as it turned out, you put 3 more big blinds in (1 on the flop and 2 on the turn) before your bluff on the river (for another 2 big blinds).
QUOTE]

Not sure...I only joined right before the Royal Cup that we attended in the fall '08. Had never even seen it before that.

I honestly can't really remember the actual play of this hand, or why I decided to play it this way. Because it was 3 handed I was playing very aggressively, probably somewhat recklessly. Certainly a fold on the turn would have been prudent, though if he checks/folds the river 100% of the time he misses (since I'm showing down everything here including AJ and he beats nothing) it makes it interesting.

I didn't intend this OP to be a strategy post so much as showing the excitement that is Limit Hold'Em as it seemed to me to get not much love here. It would have been better if the guy had 3 barrelled and I could have shown a bluff raise! (I would never do that [probably]) ;)

ps: As this is an LHE forum, please refer to Big Bets, not big blinds. It took me a double reading of your post to understand it :)