Heads Up With Andy Bloch

Semibluffing
Andy Bloch has won more than $4 million in tournaments and has gained the respect of his fellow poker players over the years with his mathematical approach to the game of poker. His list of accomplishments includes second-place finishes in the 2006 World Series of Poker $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and the 2008 WSOP pot-limit hold’em world championship. The Full Tilt pro recently sat down with Card Player TV to discuss bluffing with outs.

Kristy Arnett: In a “Full Tilt Tip From the Pros,” you talk about semibluffing. First of all, for those who don’t know, can you explain exactly what semibluffing is?

Andy Bloch: Well, from the name, you can tell that it has something to do with bluffing. It’s bluffing, but when you get called, you still may end up winning the hand. Let’s say that you move all in on the flop with a flush draw. If your opponent calls, you still might hit your flush or even a pair that might end up being good. That’s what semibluffing is; it’s half a bluff, but you still might win when you get called.

KA: Why is semibluffing an important weapon to have in your arsenal?

AB: There are a lot of reasons to semibluff. Sometimes you might be a favorite on the flop without actually having a hand. If you wait until the turn and miss, then you’re a big underdog. So sometimes you just want to get the money in. Also, it gives you two ways of winning the hand. You can win if your opponent folds, or you can win if he calls and you suck out on him [laughing]. And occasionally, you semibluff and your opponent has a worse hand than yours, so you can win that way, too.

KA: It’s also important to know the strength of your draw before semibluffing, right?

AB: Right. If you have two overcards and a flush draw, you’re a favorite over most pairs. If you have only a straight draw with no overcards, you have only eight outs, and you might be only a 2-to-1 underdog. You may be only 25 percent, or maybe even less, to win the hand if your opponent flopped a set, or even worse if your opponent flopped a flush draw and all you have is a straight draw.

KA: It’s also important that you are able to semibluff to balance your range; that way, when you do move all in, opponents won’t always think you have a made hand.

AB: Right. It’s usually better — not always, but usually — to bluff when you have some chance of winning if someone calls you, because then it’s sort of like you are getting a discount for how much you’re paying for the bluff. That’s one way to look at it. If you’re betting 100,000 into a 100,000 pot, and you’re going to win the hand 30 percent of the time when your opponent calls you anyway, it’s really costing you like only a third of that. That’s really what it’s going to end up costing you if your opponent does call. You’re really risking a lot less to win the whole pot, so it’s effectively much better pot odds, because you have the extra draws.