ITH Poker Forum

[emmapeel]

Hi, I've read NLHTP 3 or 4 times and think it's great because it allows you to think for yourself. My question is about No-limit hold-em and the definition of the word "Bluff".

The Theory of poker has the word "Bluff" down as: "A bet or raise with a hand you do not think is the best hand". However, there are a lot of plays I've seen which are much the same as a bluff. Some of these plays are made even with the likely best hand.

The plays I'm talking about usually occur on the flop and you usually have a hand which is likely to be best but you are not quite sure. You then bet, raise or check-raise with the hand to: find out where you are and/or protect your hand. The idea being that if your opponent calls you know that your marginal hand is beat and you can give up the pot with an easy conscience. To me this sort of idea is the same as a bluff as the only chance you have of winning is if your opponent folds. In other words the play that you've made has turned a likely better hand into a bluff that could have been made with any two cards.

First of all I would like to ask if the above makes sense? Secondly, if the above does have some weight, do you think that some poker definitions need to be clarified to make it clear as to exactly what you are trying to achieve?

thanks

Emmapeel

[Ed Miller]

I think what you say has a lot of merit. I've long thought that the "definitions" of bluffing don't really tell the whole story.

Betting for information is a double-edged thing. Obviously, the more information you can gather, the better. But sometimes it does come at the cost of turning perfectly good hands into bluffs, which can cost you money.

The bigger the pot gets, the more valuable information becomes. If you want to play for your 200BB stack, then you better have a pretty good idea of "where you're at." But if you keep the pot small, then being unsure of where you stand isn't such a big deal. Indeed, sometimes with a marginal hand, you're better off checking once or twice to keep the pot small, then making a modest value bet. You don't know where you're at, but you know that the underlying probability distribution makes you a favorite, and your early checks may induce calls from hands that simply would have folded on the flop. If you happen to be beat, oh well.

Though, again, if you're contemplating playing a big pot with a hand that's on the edge, then it might be a good thing to make a bold play early if your opponent's reaction will tell you more about where you stand.

In no-limit, there is a much-maligned in-between play that can give you the best of both wolds in the right circumstances. Minraising (or otherwise making a small raise) will sometimes elicit a call from weaker hands and a raise from better ones, which is naturally what you want.

Bluffing and value betting aren't easily defined. In fact, I see them on a sort of continuum... a bet can take on characteristics of one, of the other, or of both to some degree. It all depends on the strength of your hand, and how your opponent will play various hands against your bet.