A Bluff That Suits Your Style

Last time out, we looked at a couple of templates, or scripts, that you can use for running bluffs. This time, we’ll look at a couple more, but first let’s remind ourselves why we bluff in the first place. It’s not just to win pots that we’d otherwise not capture. It’s also (mostly, really) to destabilize our foes and keep them from getting too comfortable against us. Poker players, after all, crave opponents who are consistent and predictable. Against such enemies, winning is only a matter of figuring out what works, and then doing that thing over and over again. To avoid being such an enemy, we must make ourselves inconsistent and unpredictable, and that’s why we bluff.

If you’re afraid of getting caught, don’t be. Sometimes, getting caught is the best thing that can happen to you. Yes, it’s true, you lost some chips. So what? Now your foes know that they can’t count on you having a hand when you bet. They have to try to figure out how to beat you when you have a hand, and also when you don’t. From that point of view, you could say that bluffing makes you exactly twice as tough to beat. If that math doesn’t hold up for you, just consider the measured words of Annie Duke, who says, “If you don’t get caught with your hand in the cookie jar every now and then, you’re just not playing right.”

In the name of playing right, then, let’s look at two more bluffs that we can regularly run.

Name of Bluff: Slick Rick and the Orphan Flop

Your Image: You’re in control of the game. For whatever reason — savvy bets, native intelligence, or chiseled good looks — you have become Slick Rick, the straw that stirs the drink. From this power position, you can lay claim to pots that others will willingly surrender.

Your Target: The fearful; those against whom you’ve already had some demonstrated success. Maybe you’ve shown down some winners. Maybe you’ve raised them off some pots. For whatever reason, they’ve made it clear that they don’t want to go to war with you.

The Situation: Having proven both a willingness to bet aggressively and an understanding of when and how to make your power moves, you’ve gotten most of the rest of the table looking to avoid trouble from you. Someone holding a dominant chip position at a tournament table often finds himself in such boss command.

The Bluff: On certain flops, you just know that no one has a piece of them. Something like 7-7-3 rainbow is not only hard for sensible players to have hit (because who’d play those cards preflop?), it’s also virtually impossible to draw to. With no straight, flush, or high-card value, this is a textbook orphan flop that’s just looking for someone to adopt it. Go ahead and be the one. Even if your opponents don’t credit you with having a real hand, they do credit you with a willingness to keep on betting, and they’ll decide that discretion is the better part of valor. You’ll even hear them say, as they fold, “I know you don’t have anything, but …” Sublime!

Nuance: It’s not impossible, of course, for someone to hit an orphan flop. If you encounter an opponent who’s too willing to call, just shut down. The last thing that you want to do is bluff off your stack into a made hand. And remember, we’re not running this bluff against players who are savvy enough to bluff back. To quote the sage, “Don’t challenge strong players, challenge weak ones. That’s what they’re there for.”

What Next: Keep your eyes peeled for other such “flopportunities.” Especially in weak, timid, low buy-in no-limit hold’em games, the pot often goes to the first player to lay claim to it.

Caveat: Sharp players will get wise to your tricks. Should someone check-raise you over an orphan flop, it’s best to surrender, take note of the player who made that quality move, and avoid future confrontations. See the note above about not challenging strong players.

Name of Bluff: Caught Stealing — and Stealing Again

Your Image: You’ve been caught bluffing in the recent past. Now that the flush of embarrassment has faded, you’re turning your attention to the salient question of how to use your larcenous table image against your foes.

Your Target: Prideful, arrogant, ego-driven players who recently have enjoyed the satisfaction of catching you with your hand in the cookie jar. They wouldn’t mind snapping you off again, because thieves like you need to be kept in their place.
The Situation: You were caught bluffing. It felt like the end of the world. It wasn’t. It was the end of your old, tight image, and the beginning of your new image: chastened by defeat, and capable of almost any eccentricity.

The Bluff: Should you be fortunate enough to pick up a real hand right after you’ve been caught stealing, you have the opportunity to essay what looks like a tilt-motivated drive. Your opponents won’t credit you with having good cards. They’ll assume that you’re stung by your recent setback and, like so many of them, are now trying to ease your psychic pain by pushing the next hand too far, too fast. In this instance, you’re actually bluffing that you don’t have a hand. It’s called “bluffing with the best of it,” and it’s a consummation devoutly to be wished.

Nuance: Your foes know that you just got caught, and may suspect that you’re now on tilt. (Reinforce this suspicion by making tilt-like noises.) Even so, they won’t expect you to drive-bluff again right away, because they know that you know you’re likely to get called. When you bet, then, they ought to credit you with having a real hand, and fold. But they’re damned if they’ll let you steal again so soon, and without a fight. Using your tilt-like behavior to justify their bad call, they’ll go ahead and pay you off. Remember, these are ego-driven players, and their egos will take them places their wallets shouldn’t go.

What Next: Settle down. Circum-stances have enabled you to steal some chips by temporarily masquerading as a maniac. You were lucky to have caught a real hand when you needed it, but don’t push your luck too far. Let the cards and the character of the table determine where your image goes next.

Caveat: The trouble with too far is that you never know you’re going until you’ve gone. If you think you’re faking tilt but really are on tilt, you’ll try to push second-rate hands as if they were first-rate hands, and will end up losing your chips. In all instances, know your own mind, and don’t let emotion rule — or ruin — your game.
OK, that’s an overview of some of my favorite templates for bluffing. I welcome you to use them, but encourage you to evolve templates of your own. Your purpose-built bluffs will be more in harmony with your image, and more directly relevant to the types of games that you generally find yourself playing.

Have fun bluffing, and don’t be afraid to get caught!

John Vorhaus is the author of the Killer Poker book series and the poker novel Under the Gun. He resides in cyberspace at radarenterprizes.com. Photo: Gerard Brewer.