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.
If there is one thing that is certain in poker, it is that television and Online Poker have changed the complexion of the game forever. Going back as little as ten years ago, ABC poker players were very successful. As TV started showing horrible river suck-outs time and time again, the younger generation of poker player learned the game thinking that this was the way to go. If there is a draw, they feel as though they have to chase it down.
One thing that the televisions don’t show is the amount of money or chips that these players lose by not folding when they should. There are always times to head in for the chase, but you cannot do it every time if you want to end up profitable at the end of the year. By knowing the odds and the proper way to play them, you will increase your chances tenfold over the average player.
If you are a Limit Hold’em player, you are going to be making a lot of calls based on the odds. In a multi-player hand, you are pretty much getting priced in on just about every draw that you will be chasing. There are even times that you are going to call on the river because of the amount of money that is in the pot. It may sound like you are going against everything you have been told about poker, but I assure you that this decision will pay off in the long run.
Say you are playing in a $10/$20 limit 6 handed game. You get dealt QQ and pre-flop raise and have two callers with the SB folding. You now have $65 in the pot. The flop comes out with a board of 10s-6s-4h. It gets checked to you and you bet again and both players call you, $95 are now in the pot. The turn card is dealt and it is a Jh. You bet out on the hand and are immediately raised; the third player folds and you call so there is now a total of $175 in the pot. The other player could be on a draw, maybe he had 10J in his hand, or maybe he had AJ and caught on the turn. Regardless, you still feel as though you are ahead in the hand and your call on the turn means you are absolutely going to call on the river regardless of the card.
Now the river card is dealt and it is a Ks. You check and your opponent fired out another $20 bet and before you make the call, there is a total of $195 in the pot. If you think the move is to fold because you are afraid of the straight, high card or flush, you need to smack yourself in the head. You are getting 10:1 odds to see what your opponent has at that point. This means that all you have to do is catch him bluffing one out of ten times and this move pays you off. If you can catch them twice, you are up a ton of money.
You cannot always assume that everyone hits their hand when they raise. In this scenario, your opponent very well may have been chasing the flush, but he also could have just as easily gone it with AJ and hit the turn. Just because he bet on the river does not mean that he chased down the flush. Make that call every time and remember that you can lose 90% of your hands like this and you are still even. Win 20% of them and you are on easy street!
