Ariston – The Art of Bluffing

I am going to run through a few different ways of bluffing your opponents in this article. Many of these plays you will find in most books on poker theory, but I can promise that you will find at least one you have never come across before. Before we list the plays here is the dictionary definition of bluff:

Bluff ~ Deception by a false show of confidence in the strength of your cards. Pretence that your position is stronger than it really is. Deceive an opponent by a bold bet on an inferior hand which leads to him passing what would have been the winning hand.

Now the dictionary seems to make it black and white and says it is all about deception, I prefer to think of it as massaging the truth. Online you can’t act confident in any other way than how you bet your hand (and maybe the odd bit of speech play in the chat box). The way in which you bet your hand will tell the good players what you hold. Why not manipulate your betting to give them false information?

Before I list some specific bluffs, please do not try these on the fish - they will not know what you are trying to say to them, they are only interested in the 2 cards they hold and no amount of manipulation will convince them they are beat. There is a very basic rule about bluffing poor players - don’t! Most of these plays are to be used to accumulate chips in tournaments when the blinds and antes make every pot worth having. Don't bother using these plays early on as they will just be wasted

Stop’n’Go

This is a very basic one which everyone now knows about thanks to TV poker. When someone is attacking your blind constantly, you simply call their raise and move in whatever the flop comes down. This is a good move if you have the chips to move people off the hand (especially if they have to call all-in and their tournament life is at risk). Occasionally you will find they flop a real hand but that’s the risk in most of these plays. Because most people now know this play you may find the better players calling you with an under pair to the board or even ace high.

Stop’n’Go variation

This is my variation on the Stop’n’Go play which I have used successfully for quite a while. You will need a big stack vs. big stack scenario to run this play. Call the pre-flop raise and check in the dark (or check instantly online) when the flop comes down. If you are against a "player" he will follow it through with a bet on the flop then simply check raise him. This play works well live as you have checked before the flop comes down you could have anything; also the check raise scares the hell out of most players as they fear they have been trapped. Online it works just as well because what else could you be check raising with if not a monster? You will have to be extremely unlucky to get called with this move.

Positional bluff

This is where someone round the back has raised and you smooth call on the button with anything. You can win this pot by out flopping your opponent but as you have position on him you can also take it away from him. Remember, if he has raised round the back he doesn't necessarily have a strong hand - he may be just taking a stab at the blinds. If the flop is checked to you, you should almost always take a stab at it. If he bets you can either re-raise or flat call again to bet the turn. This play takes serious guts and is used by the likes of Lawrence Gosney all the time (he used it to send me packing from the Blackpool main event with his monster 2, 6). If you use this play correctly you never need to steal blinds as you are getting the equivalent of 4 or more blind steals every time you run it.

Semi-bluff

I am not a big fan of this style of bluffing because although it can be effective it can also send you broke. Many players check raise all-in with a nut flush draw, they are hoping to take the pot there but they know if they called they at least have outs to win the pot. I prefer to lead with my draws and get myself pot stuck, if someone wants to re-raise me then fair enough, I may well gamble with the nut flush draw but I am not allowing someone else to get themselves involved with 2nd pair type hands. Sometimes, when you check raise with a semi-bluff you have given your opponent the correct pot odds to make the call on you. Semi-bluffs can also be a big re-raise when you have a monster draw which makes you favourite in the hand versus any holding (e.g. KQ clubs on a board of TcJc3h- the only hand you are a dog to is Ac3c and even then you aren't that far behind).

The Set-up

Late in a game when somebody limps under the gun and you raise round the back with a pair of tens and they go all-in, you feel stupid. Why weren't you watching properly? The only hand they could possibly limp with in this situation then go all-in with is AA or maybe KK - wrong. Good players have taken to using this misconception and will limp to go all-in with many hands.

This is a very risky play as although you are representing AA or KK the only hand likely to call you is the hand you are pretending you have.

The Re-steal

This is one of the greatest chip gathering tools in poker. If you have a "live" one on your table who is constantly raising before it is your turn to act, simply re-raise him with any two cards. You can’t wait forever and let him keep gathering chips, so re-raise him every so often. This is better than simply going for the blinds as you are winning the blinds AND his raise (usually the equivalent of 3 blind steals).

Re-re-steal

The re-re-steal is a play you can also use but you have to be sure that a) the original raiser is an "at it" merchant (someone who is at it all the time and doesn’t need to have a hand to raise) and b) the re-raiser is someone who is capable of running a re-steal. When you see players getting caught with a re-steal attempt put it in your notes for future reference - you never know when you can use that information. The thing about the re-re-steal is that because it is the 3rd raise you will usually be all in. Any players still to act will know that the 3rd raise is obviously aces so they will usually lay down monster hands behind you.

Bluffing the change

This is when you find yourself in a pot with a basic player who bets the same all the time. When the board changes and they check to you its time to represent whatever has come. This is most successful with flushes that arrive. Maybe you are drawing to a straight but the flush

comes - tell the person you have the flush by how you bet. Obviously be careful you don't represent the hand he has - your notes should tell you how your opponent normally plays flush draws and the like.

The weak lead

This is actually a reverse bluff in the fact that you are pretending you don’t have a hand that you actually do. Say you’re on the BB in a pot with multiple limpers and the flop comes 336. You have 36 so how are you going to get any action? If you check raise or check call you have told anybody with any poker knowledge you have at least the 3. Why not just lead into the pot?

With a bit of luck you may find at least one over pair or maybe even a player who will try and bluff you - you can’t have the boat, why would you bet and risk losing everybody if you have flopped a monster (is usually the thought process). I have even flopped quads and got action after I have bet - most people will think you are running the stop n go play as everyone is aware of it. The best exponent of this art is Daniel Negreanu who runs this play all the time, so much so the other players are now wary whenever he leads at a pot with a small pair on it.

Summary

That’s a few standard plays for you to think about but probably the most important thing about bluffing is how much you bet. Most people now know the weak means strong / strong means weak theory- Use this to run successful bluffs. Someone going all-in on the river when you think they have missed a draw is far easier to call with top pair than someone who looks like they are value betting you. Some of the best bluffs I have witnessed over the last few months have been for tiny amounts, almost an amount that you can’t pass for. This type of bet looks like it is begging to be called so the good players don’t call it. If somebody wants me to call I am going to disappoint them. I have even used comments like "you can’t pass for a thousand, there’s too much in the pot"- this makes people think you actually want them to call. To reverse this is also very common now - you have the stone cold nuts and are pretty sure your opponent has a reasonable hand, over betting the pot makes it look like you are bluffing and will usually get called.

Everybody who reads this article will obviously be able to read me very easily now by how I bet and you should all be able to pick off my bluffs quickly in competitions. Remember these plays are not trade secrets and many of you will know most of them already, that has never stopped me winning comps and the fact I've shared these will not prohibit me running them again. Knowing I may well be bluffing and calling all-in with a non-nut hand is 2 different things. You may know that I am at it but the only thing I can suggest is you clench, hold your breathe and hit the call button. If you catch me, then good luck to you - if you are wrong then it will be probably be good luck to you! But maybe, just maybe this whole article is a bluff!!

See you at the tables to find out.

Ariston