ITH Poker Forum

[redman7027]

Blinds 200/100

UTG +2 with stack 9K bets 500
Hero BB with 6K AJh Calls

Flop Kh 8h 6x

UTG bets 600
Hero Calls

Turn 7x

Check Check

River Qx

You missed your flush draw and villain checked after the turn after a C-Bet on the flop with a flush draw on the board. You can’t win unless you bet. The pot is $2,300

Can you lead out with a bluff bet? My read on primary villain was not that good but he seemed a reasonable player.

[Radford]

I think i just check-raise the flop and call a shove.

[Zenjo]

Check raise the flop. You're not only semi bluffing a draw, but are also representing a king.

You don't know that you can't win the river unless you bet. You have the nut no pair.

You can bluff at the river if you think he has a pocket pair. You'd nead quite a decent sized bet to get him off 99-JJ, at least 1600 I'd think.

[philhux]

Well if you want to decide if you are going to bluff - then you need to put him on a range of hands!

I'm not sure it's a good bluff spot - but yeah you should have check raised the flop and shoved turn for surez

[redman7027]

I like the idea of check raising the flop and do this sometimes as a semi bluff but with a draw that is sort of hidden I chose to draw for it.

On the river I was thinking why he would check the turn if he had a K or Q. He raised from early position this usual mean a good A or good pair.

I bet the river $1,700 I put him on an under pair and did not think he could call. I do not bluff that much but I figured it had to work only ½ the time to pay off. I thought the board was scary for him facing a big blind hand.

To my surprise he flipped over AK.

Thoughts? Bad bluff?

[philhux]

Seems like he played the AK pretty well there - pot controlled on the turn and induced a river bluff from you.

Nicely played

As an aside - all draws are hidden on Holdem aren't they?

[Foux Du Fafa]

Check-raising the flop is good to try to get QQ or worse to fold and to define your hand, but calling is fine too. Especially when you consider that he let you draw to the river for free. Unfortunately, you threw away this advantage by bluffing at the river. The reason he checked the turn was for pot control (he doesn't want to invest too much with only a pair) and for deception (he's hoping you may see his check as weakness and bluff the river). My range for the typical TAG in early position would be something like: 55/66+, AJs+, AQo+, KQ. You're generally getting at least a call from every single one of these hands (except for AJ and maybe 55) so you can't bluff.

[philhux]

The question is what are you repping yourself here.

What are we trying to make the villain thing we have so he folds a better hand? Your play in the hand doesn't seem to make any sense and add up to anything except something like KQ.

When I'm confused, I usually call - As it turns out, with tptk there was no thought needed at all.

It's unfortunate but I think you need to try and hand read a bit more and also think about how your opponent is hand reading you.

[chrisjp]

I like the idea of check raising the flop and do this sometimes as a semi bluff but with a draw that is sort of hidden I chose to draw for it.

I don't like this approach. While you don't have a made hand on the flop you have a strong hand. You might have 15 or 12 outs, or at worse 9 outs probably. But if you wait to the turn, well either a scare card came when you made your hand, or it didn't and now your holding has weakened considerably.

Yes, you got a free card on the turn but that was no sure thing.

You start the hand with 30BBs. Perfect size stack to c/r the flop and then push the turn. With the perfect stack you shouldn't pass up this line IMO.

Regarding bluffing: This hand has it all backwards. It checked through on the turn and then no scare card came on the river. You can bluff when you don't have a heart draw and the heart comes on the river. At least you can think about it. No overcard came on the river either (although in this instance you would have rivered top pair but let's say you didn't have an ace), so you just have to let it go.

Chris

[redman7027]

Thanks for all the comments.

I think I learned quite a bit on this hand or relearned it not only about not making a bad bluff but about how to induce a bluff and also pick one off.