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Bluff. Deceptively simple and frighteningly complex. A reason for pride and, at the same time, the cause of bitter disappointments. Attractive and gorgeous when you were able to crank it up and pick up the pot with an empty hand, and utterly stupid and unnecessary when you were ripped open and lost most of the stack.
Bluff is an integral part of poker.
And, frankly, this is one of the things that makes poker so interesting and... profitable. Therefore, the ability to both bluff well and read other people's bluff is something worth learning. You will learn more about how to master the subtle art of bluff from the video course of the same name, which can be purchased for U-Points under the Poker University Exan13 loyalty program
In this article, we will talk about recognizing other people's bluff in poker - ketch bluff. And it's better to start doing it early, because absolutely at all limits of tournament poker - from the microlimit swamp to the shark-infested ocean of the high stacks - the number of fans of bluffing is incredibly high. Who exactly and how does bluff in poker? What should you pay attention to to understand that you are faced with a bluff? Let's look further in the article.
1. Types of opponents for profitable blefketching
It's no secret that some players bluff extremely rarely, while others, on the contrary, are very prone to bluffing actions. To determine the type of opponent, you will need a poker statistics program or some attention at the table, which will allow you to identify his inclinations.
Luzovo-passive "calling-station"
Players of this type are often referred to as “phones” and “phishes.” These are usually amateurs playing for fun. They are not very knowledgeable in poker strategy, and therefore play a lot of hands in the hope of collecting a strong hand. As a rule, lusovo-passive players play their hands passively, their style is a check and call, not bet and raise. Therefore, usually their large bet really means a strong hand, and it is better to believe in direct aggression from them. "calling-station" can occasionally bluff on trifles, but practically do not bluff on a large scale. However, it is better for you not to get carried away with bluffing against "calling-station". If they like their cards, even a large bet will rarely make them leave the pot. Counter-strategy: Wait for a hand with good equity and collect vellya with large value bets.
Attention! The only bluff that calling-station phones really love is the bluff on the river when they have an empty hand, most often if they are in a position against our check.
Calling-station phones are very fond of collecting their weak wood combinations before the river. And when it becomes clear to them that they have an empty hand and will no longer have table cards, they tend to make a bluff bet if they see a check in front of them. At this point, they have hope that the pot can still get them. Our line in the game without a position against the "calling-station" – BET FLOP – BET TURN – check river – for provoking bluff really provokes a lot of bluff, so it is better to cheat against them with medium strength and always call bluff (open bluff)
There is another kind of this bluff from "calling-station": when they are without a position, they themselves can put it on the river when they realize that nothing has grown together. This is usually a small or middle bet, but it can also be a large one. In the Chek-Kol FLOP, Chek-Kol TURN, BET RIVER line, the "calling-station" has a bluff!
Conclusion: We trust all raises from the "calling-station" on any street and bets on the flop and turn. DO not trust their bets on the river.
Loose-agressive "maniak"
Maniacs are a headache for most players. Not only do they play a large number of hands, but they also do it actively: they raise and 3-bet on preflop, and also bet and raise a lot on the following streets, trying to squeeze an opponent out of the pot with big bets. Since in no-limit hold 'em a strong hand is more of an exception than a rule, most of the maniac's bet will be a bluff.
Conclusion: Against the players of maniacs, all our equity hands increase in strength, and we are more inclined to call raises and bets on middle hands.
Also, we need to give him more to put himself, since he likes to bluff so much. Many of our standard thin and protective value betas are better taken to the check lines to provoke the maniac's bet. Very widely bluffing against such players.
Tait-passive "nit"
Players of this type play significantly fewer hands than the previous two types, and the bet or raise is made only when they really have a strong combination. Their cautious style denies bluff as such. So they're not BLUFF ing.
Conclusion: It is very profitable to bluff yourself against such opponents. Usually they play using the "fit or fold" system, i.e. immediately discard the cards if they are not in the flop. And since they will not often get into the flop, bet against them with either hand will give an excellent profit on the the long run.
But if suddenly such a player begins to raising and putting the street behind the street - we need to greatly reduce the number of bluff ketching and pot of control, prefer to just throw out everything except the value of the hands. How to distinguish the value of the hand from pot control? With the value of your hand, you also hit part of the bet value of the opponent, and not just his bluff.
Tight-aggressive (tag) villain opponent
These opponents tend to be more experienced, so their opening range is more balanced, and actions on preflop and postflop are more thoughtful and cunning. Tag players usually know the basic concepts of modern poker and can place bet both with strong hands and as a bluff. At the same time, it will not be so easy to recognize their bluff, and for this we will need the entire arsenal of the bluffcatcher referred to in this article.
Conclusion: bluff from players of this type is quite possible in suitable situations, but it is quite balanced. Therefore, we open them only on the best bluff ketch combinations. More on that later in this article.
Loose-agressive (LAG) villain opponent
This is usually the style in which poker game reg players play. More or less competent, thinking and aggressive – these оpponents play significantly more hands than tag style players. However, their arsenal of poker strategy and tactics is more versatile than that of the “maniacs”, which allows them to show aggression when appropriate and hide the strength of their vellum hand in order to maximize profits. All this makes LAG-regulators the most difficult opponents at the poker table.
Conclusion: LAG bluff over balance, it often knows many possible exploits of the field through bluff. Board and lines where you can put a lot and widely.
Playing against such players you need to learn already at higher high stakes from $33 and above, rising to the 2nd and 3rd level of thinking, understanding the principles of their unbalanced bluff in certain spots (which you also know, since you are also LAG) and playing against them a counter-bluff strategy in such spots. But be careful, there are very aggressive players who are able to apply a counter-bluff strategy against your counter-bluff strategy knowing that you are applying it against them. However, before the $215 tournaments, you will rarely meet such players.
2. Opponent range
In addition to determining the type of opponent, you also need to assess the opponent's range depending on the opponent's stack and game position, the number of players in the pot, the size of his bet and of course opening cards on the board.
Opponent stack, game position and betting street
- Rule 1
The smaller the opponent's stack, the less bluff is possible from him. That is, raise or 3-bet preflop in stacks < 25bb will include fewer bluff than in stacks > 25bband even more so >40bb. - Rule 2
The earlier the position of the game action, the less on average the player will have bluff on both preflop and postflop. - Rule 3
If a player makes continued multi-player bet (s), we trust them. Even in 2 players, we always trust in all board except for the driest ones, and in 3 players - we always trust in general. - Rule 4
The later the draw street, the less bluff remains in the opponent's range. The flop has the most bluff, on the turn there are fewer of them, but many players still have them, but on the river people bluff much less often. This applies even more to post-flop raises against our bet. The raise on the flop includes a more or less balanced number of bluff, but we ALWAYS TRUST the raise on the turn and the river.
Bet sizes (bet sizing)
Many players both underestimate the benefits of analyzing the size of the opponent's bet, and they themselves unconsciously give out the strength (or weakness) of their hand with sizing.
The general tendency of the field (especially at microlimits) is such that a large bet is very strongly inclined towards the velly on both preflop and postflop value. Also, a strong hand is indicated by an unusually large or unusually small 3bet size on the preflop.
However, in order to “read” each specific opponent at the table, you will need to be observant in order to determine the patterns in his game. Some may bet less with bluffs and more with a velly value. Others, on the contrary, use small sizing to provoke calls and bluff, and large ones to generate fold equity. But still, there are general rules regarding the field, and you will learn about them from this article. More experienced and competent players specifically balance their range and make standard bet in different situations, so as not to give out the strength of their hand. But most of the field of players almost does not do this and allows for obvious "pale" bet sizes.
- Rule 1
bet on the flop >50% of the pot is strongly biased towards the vellya value. If such a cbet is made against you, immediately begin to strain and play very carefully, all medium hands except for the top pair and good draw can be thrown out already on the flop. And even the top pairs are better to throw out on a large 2nd barrel from the opponent. Bet =50% is also much more dangerous than the bet of 30-35% of the pot, keep this in mind. - Rule 2.
bet on the river >70% of the pot is also strongly biased towards selection rather than bluff. But not as much as the bet on the flop in the first rule. - Rule 3 preflop
3-bet <5bb IP and < 5.5bb OOP, as well as > 7.5bb IP and more 8bb OOP is shifted to the side by a velly value. In other words, we see most of the bluff in the 3-beta in the standard sizing from 5.5 to 7.5bb, and everything that does not fall into these values begins to skew towards strong hands. Especially shallow sizing, except when it is done by a maniacal player with a 3-bet stat >12%.
Paylines
Reading some paylines is a must for a good player. After all, at low and even middle limits, the vast majority of players use a lot of unbalanced lines (lines that are used only for the value draw). You can easily understand that this is the case by paying attention to your game strategy and lines, which will be given below.
Line 1 - flop check-call, turn check-raise or just turn raise in position
A banal check-raise of a thorn without a position. Look behind you, how often do you bluff it as a bluff? The correct answer is no more than 10%. So against this line, you should ALWAYS BELIEVE in the good hand of the opponent. Fold over pair (A-A, K-K) and TPTK and sometimes even weak 2 pair. Variations of the line, when the player raises you in position, have a little more the long run bluff, but they are still not enough to try to catch bluff with bluff-catchers in this line.
Line 2 - Check-call flop, check-call turn, check-raise river (or check-push river) and variation with the river raise in position.
Even more rarely used by anyone line into a bluff as a bluff. Always only slouplings and nuts in the opponent's hand. Fold against such a line, you can throw a lot, not even nut flushes and straights or weak full houses, if stronger combinations are possible. Raise or Push in the position from the opponent is just as strongly skewed towards the nats.
Line 3 - check-raise flop, check-raise turn.
If a player plays a double check-raise, it is a lion playing with its prey. It is better to let him bite off as little of our stack as possible.
Line 4 - bet flop, bet turn of non-standard size, bet river
In this line, we mean a situation where the villain tries to bring you under all-in on the river and uses a non-standard bet on the turn, considering in his mind what it should be in size so that he can go to all-in on the river (SPR of the river). For example, a player puts 40% or, say, 85% turn and then goes to all-in on the river in a convenient visual size of the ratio of his stack to the pot. If you notice this, then most likely he did it on the vellya.
Parameter aggression (aggression factor)
The Aggression Factor (AF) parameter is standard for poker stats collection and output programs. It represents the ratio between the aggressive actions of the player (that is, bets and raises) and passive (calls and checks). Analyzing this indicator, you can also estimate how often we will see a bluff from our opponent: after all, the more aggressive the player's style, the more bluff will be in his range. And if passive "nits" and "calling-station" rarely go beyond a small bet on the flop, then aggressive reg players and "maniacs" bluff constantly. So if you use HUD, be sure to bring the AF score to the table.
In numerical terms, the AF will look like this:
| Numeric designation | Value |
| AF<1 | Extremely passive player. bluff is unlikely. |
| AF=1-2 | Average passive player. Possible bluff in the most suitable situations. |
| AF=2-3 | Aggression is well balanced. The player bluff in most suitable situations |
| AF>3 | High level of aggression. The player likes to bluff and does it often and a lot and not always where you expect. |
It must be remembered that for the accuracy of the AF indicator, a sample of at least 100 (and preferably 200-300) hands is required.
Plausibility, consistency and sequence of actions
Experienced players can read bluff not even according to any criteria of the size of bet or paylines. But simply, because the resulting line of the aggressor is not logical. According to the logic of the principle of narrowing the villain range, the opponent had to play his value with his hands or use some other additional bet with the hands of a thin value. This is a more complex concept and its understanding comes only with experience.
But if you still noticed some illogicality in the actions of the opponent, for example, he first cheated the turn in the position instead of the bet, and then raising your bet on the blank card, which could not help him in any way – he probably decided to bluff at the last moment. This happens, I call it emotional bluff. Bluff are not based on some strategic and mathematical concepts, but simply bluff that came to mind unexpectedly and the player decided to make them. They are most often illogical and stand out from the general concept of the draw.
Conclusion: Try to notice the illogical actions of the opponent and increase the desire to bluff in them. And also never make emotional bluff yourself!
3. Conclusion
In this article, I will give you a super simple cheat sheet, disciplined observing which you will greatly increase the quality of your game. It is called the Concept - "always believe" – this is just a list of situations in which we always put a strong hand to our opponent and throw away a lot of our hands of medium strength and even moderately strong.
The concept is "always believe"
- cbet flop >50% of opponent
- cbet in the draw board against 2 players, or in any board against 3 players
- any raise of a thorn or river against our bet
- 3-bet from opponent <5bb and >8bb. As well as 3-bet in stacks <24bb.
- believe 3 barrels in paired and tied straight flush board
- line of flop check-calls, turn check-calls and donk-bet >50% or donk-push river from the opponent
