I try to improve my loose aggressive game. But every time I try to bluff I get caught. In another post droqqa described a bluff he made. I thought it was a great bluff; Palman didn’t agree. And I’m confused.
This hand is an example of a failed bluff I made. Preflop I put MP (he is aggressive and not bad) on a steal and I would bet the flop if it didn’t contain big cards. When the ace flopped I decided to checkraise instead. Needless to say that I got lucky

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $4 BB (7 handed)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 ($150)
MP2 ($400)
CO ($80)
Button ($143.20)
Hero ($396)
BB ($157.20)
UTG ($459.80)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , . MP2 posts a blind of $4. CO posts a blind of $4.
2 folds, MP2 (poster) raises to $24, 2 folds, Hero calls $22, 1 fold.

Flop: ($56) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $40, Hero raises to $100, MP2 calls $60.

Turn: ($256) (2 players)
Hero bets $150, MP2 raises to $276, Hero calls $122 (All-In).

River: ($804) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $804

Results in white below:
Hero has 8s 8d (full house, eights full of aces).
MP2 has Kc Ac (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins $800. MP2 wins $4.

My question is: I know there are some good loose aggressive players here. I would like to know when you think it’s a good idea to bluff and when it’s not.

These situations are the ones were bluffing works best for me. You a.) have position b.) have shown aggression c.) no one wants that pot anyways d.) are not playing a tight passive yahoo e.) only special opponents will I bluff check raise f.) they are overly weak tight

Having position on the original aggressor is very helpful in that if he checks you can fire, if he makes a weak continuation bet or blocking bet you can raise. Check raising is usually futile and expensive against most people when they hold a big pair or top pair top kicker, a big pair to some of these guys is TT and they are willing to really over play it, you are also going to have to follow it up when the turn likely misses you as well. I just don't bluff them they have a gaping hole waiting to be exploited given the time.

I also try not to bluff in a pot that someone else raised, again especially with out position. They have shown an interest both preflop and on the flop, if you are attempting to push them off a hand, unless they do something silly like vary the preflop raise size preflop based on hand strength and you have a fairly accurate idea of their holdings it is useless. If I am going to attempt to bluff them, I lead at the flop take my stab, if they minimum raise, I may pay and fold on the turn, if they really raise I wait like i'm trying to figure out what they have and fold. If they go nuts and I have reason to suspect that they would never value bet like that, I might 20% of the time take your 88 much further than I should and still only be right half the time.

I have about three people that I can think of that I frequently attempt to bluff check raise outplay them when they raise in late position. I know they raise any small pair, two overs, and am willing to check raise under card flops especially if I'm in the blind. I generally let go after some thinking if they reraise and may check fold a smooth call at the turn if my hand doesn't improve to something that can beat a one pair hand. Again this is against a good loose aggressive player that is trying to raise the pot, hit a hand or push me off a hand. I haven't got to sit with either of these people in 5 months and my hourly rate has dropped

The pots I'm most likely to bluff at are three handed similiar to this situaton between me the SB and button in an unraised pot. SB checks, I lead with a pot sized bet, hopefully every one folds. I then make up my mind about who ever called and what they are likely to have and fire again at the turn or check fold. I bluff frequently if I limped in first position and only the button SB and BB are in the pot, especially if some high cards are on the flop. I happily attempt to steal small pots with any two from the button and cutoff when it isn't raised preflop and they check to me. I'm likely to bluff if I raised preflop and am the aggressor especially no more than three handed, I sometimes bluff raise junk hands out of position if I'm opening preflop, then continue on the flop. I pick spots where either I'm in control, or am not having to spend much to make the bluff profitable.

Bluffing is fun! Getting carried away with it is pretty easy though, and picking your bluffing opportunities and opponents is fairly critical to making it work fairly frequently. If you have a tight as a drum table image, you are more likely to succeed than if you are percieved as loose aggressive. After all who do you give credit to actually holding a hand, the guy that appears solid or the guy that makes all sorts of curious plays?

Ugh... I have to quit posting when I'm tired and rambling, but I am rarely motivated to put some effort into a response except right before bed.

Thats not a failed bluff. Thats a an opponent who will play for his stack with TPTK. There are a lot of them. You cant make that move agaisnt them. Against THAT guy and others like him, you make that same move with a set in a raised pot. Dont try min raising the flop or waiting for the turn to raise.....just raise big on the flop.

Ive tried that exact same play plenty of times when I miss my set in a raised pot. It rarely works for the same reason that a set is gold in a raised pot.

lol. it's difficult to bluff when you don't know exactly what a bluff is...
Iceman5, when do you think you would have folded this hand if you were MP? on flop?

I really hate that checkraise, especially because you were out of position. MP raised preflop and bet out when that ace hit. There is no reason for you to think he didn't hit that ace, unless you have a great read on him. Most players with AK/AQ there will call your checkraise, and then you are forced to either continue bluffing huge in hopes of getting him to lay down his better hand, or check-fold and have wasted over $100. When you are bluffing, I would usually pick hands where you have position, you have been the aggressor most of the hand, and where the board would have likely missed the opponent (either some rag board or when the draws don't hit on turn and river, etc.)

MG, most guys would raise preflop and bet that same amount on the flop with KK or QQ

I agree. However, there is absolutely no indication whether villian has AK/AQ/AA or KK/QQ/JJ, right? So hero is basically stabbing in the dark, hoping that villian has an underpair as opposed to TP. It would be like betting $100 on a coinflip. Why do that when hero is better than most of the players at the table? Not to mention, we don't know if villian would even fold to the checkraise with Kk/QQ. I've seen people get far too carried away with big pairs and my guess is a good number of online players would call that small of a checkraise holding KK/QQ.

Very nice post Palman.

Furthermore... who said that bluff didn't work. You still had your check-raise on the turn to drive him out

You like this one better? ok, i dont expect to get ten responses telling me how great a play it was (or how horrible it was). But I think i remembered most of the advices given in this thread.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (8 handed)

MP1 ($182.20)
MP2 ($487.45)
CO ($57.95)
Hero ($204.60)
SB ($109.60)
BB ($334)
UTG ($750.25)
UTG+1 ($263.15)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
UTG calls $2, 2 folds, MP2 calls $2, 1 fold, Hero calls $2, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($10) , , (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets $6, MP2 calls $6, Hero calls $6, SB folds, BB folds.

Turn: ($28) (3 players)
UTG bets $8, MP2 calls $8, Hero raises to $30, UTG calls $22, MP2 folds.

River: ($96) (2 players)
UTG bets $22, Hero raises to $66, UTG folds.

Final Pot: $184

I agree that the river raise shouldve been higher, but I wouldve put him on 55 , not 2 pair.
UTG is a fool no matter what he had.