How to Bluff in Limit Poker
There are those that will tell you that it is impossible to bluff in limit poker, but all you need is the right opponent. Jennifer Harman is one of the best limit players in the world and in her chapter on Limit Hold’em in Super System 2, she is very specific about the exact type of player that you can catch on a bluff in limit.
The player you are looking for is the “Genius” of the table. It will take some time on the table to catch him and then you are going to need the perfect board in order to do so, but you can definitely take down some chips and stroke his ego at the same time allowing for another bluff later in the game.
“Mr. Genius” is going to pride himself in making big laydowns on the river and will make sure everyone knows that he is folding a big hand. He will more than likely do this when an obvious straight or flush hits the board and regardless of his hand, he will let it go to prove how great of a poker player he is. We love these kinds of guys as they almost take pride in losing money the ‘smart’ way.
In order to convince him you are on the draw, you will need to play the hand that way from the very beginning. For this move, you should be acting behind him for the best effect. When he makes his preflop raise, you are simply going to call him down. If the flop hits and presents an open ended straight for flush draw, you have your bluffing hand.
More than likely, he will fire off a continuation bet and you need to come right over the top. This is a pretty common move in limit and no limit as you are building the pot for when the big hand hits. The key to the whole hand lies in the next card. The best situation would be for the turn to come up blank. He will more than likely respect your raise on the flop and check it down to you. In order to get him in your sites, you are going to have to check it also.
The reason you do this is because of the raise on the flop. When you are on a draw, you will raise in position to get the free card on the turn. If the raiser is on a draw, they will check the turn if they don’t hit and get to see the river for free. Playing the hand this way against the ‘Genius’ sets it up perfectly for the river bluff.
Your check is going to put him on alert that you are on a draw. When that river card pops the draw, you can be assured that as long as he does not have the hand, you are going to be able to take this one down. If he bets, you raise, if he checks, you bet. Again, as long as he did not hit the hand, there should be some deliberation followed by a nice speech about how he figured you had it, but had to take a shot anyway or a shake of the head as he says he can’t believe you sucked out. Tell him “nice fold” and take down your pot.
