Bluffing or Value Betting?

I played a hand recently in my regular $5-$5 game that I found very interesting and apparently, so did my opponent. He posted this hand on Bart Hanson’s website under the user name Chilidog. Here’s how he described it (My stack is the effective one, $490):
Preflop ($10)

Gavin raises utg to $20 (on the smaller side for this game, but i think he generally adjusts his sizing based on effective stacks), hero calls on the button with Q Q, villain 2 calls in SB.

Flop ($65)

5 4 4 SB checks, Gavin bets $30, hero calls, villain 2 in SB calls.

Turn ($155)

10

SB checks, Gavin bets $115, hero calls fairly quickly, SB calls in tempo.

River ($500)

7

SB checks, Gavin bets all in for $325, hero? (SB is still behind with a live hand)
These details are accurate as far as I remember them. I have A 10 in this hand and open to my standard sizing with this stack size. This is the worst ace I open under the gun at a full table, but that’s not particularly important other than to note that, unimproved, this and K-Q suited are going to be the bottom of my range.

I don’t continuation bet as often in three-handed pots as I do heads up, but this was a very attractive board for it. I have backdoor straight and flush draws and two overcards to the board, so I have many ways to improve on the turn. It doesn’t hit my opponents’ ranges incredibly well, and I think I will be able to bluff any king or queen on the turn as well. (Obviously this wasn’t the case!) I’m putting my opponents on hands that include a five, some fours like A-4 suited and possibly 5-4 suited from the small blind, middle pairs up to J-J for Chilidog on the button, and straight draws, especially those that have a backdoor-flush draw.

I hit probably my best turn card, as I think I can get one more street out of pocket pairs between 66-99, hands that contain a five, and some of the straight/flush draw combos. I would have folded to a jam from either opponent. In my mind I’m clearly value betting on the turn. My plan is to jam almost any river card, which I did.

Chilidog, who posted this hand, asked me on Twitter whether I was bluffing or value betting in this hand (he ended up folding after tanking for a long time). I told him that it was both. I thought that he would fold everything that he got to the river with that wasn’t quads or a full house, but I also thought that the player in the small blind could call me with worse. I know that the poster is a good player and that my line is incredibly strong. In fact, the only other hands I play this way are 10-10+. I would have given up with A J + because I really did expect to get called by the small blind quite often and having a ten in my hand blocks one of the hands I would expect button to have pretty regularly, 10-10. As such, I think he folds all but the one combination of 4-4, three combinations of 5-5, and one combination of 10-10. If he folds J-J, that’s six combinations, more than 50 percent of the time and I don’t need him to fold anywhere near that often to make my “bluff” profitable.

Every time you make a bet, it should be for value or as a bluff. In heads-up hands, it’s usually pretty clear which you’re doing to your opponents, and should always be clear to yourself which you’re doing. In fact, if you’re not sure whether you’re value betting or bluffing, you are probably making a bad bet. In three-handed pots it is possible, though very unlikely, that you can be doing both at the same time. Bluffing one opponent while value betting against another is a dangerous proposition, but it is worth a ton when it works out.

Interestingly, it usually works out the other way positionally. I bet, button calls with worse, small blind folds better because he doesn’t want to overcall. Since I had a good read on the button’s range and a less good read of the small blind’s range, I felt like I could make it work in the opposite way from usual. I did, in fact, get the button to fold Q-Q (which, by the way, means he is definitely folding too many hands that he’s getting to the river with) and the small blind to call with something we never got the chance to see. I scooped a nice pot after making a good read of the situation at hand and remaining flexible with my decisions. ♠

Gavin Griffin was the first poker player to capture a World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour title and has amassed nearly $5 million in lifetime tournament winnings. Griffin is sponsored by HeroPoker.com. You can follow him on Twitter @NHGG