Semi-Bluffing
Semi-bluffing is an absolute must-have part of poker in general, and much more so when it comes to Texas Hold’em. However, whereas a pure bluff can only win if the opponent folds – or nets the player’s cards in an effort to prove that both hands are equally bad – a semi-bluff is less binary as it is actually betting/raising with subpar holdings but which you hope will improve in later streets.
Here is the situation: You’re at middle position holding 6♠ 7♠. The flop is 8♠ 9♠ K♦, hitting you with an open-ended straight flush draw. You still do not have the made hand right now, but you definitely have 15 outs (9 spade for a flush draw and 3 ten as well as 3 five as straight draw).
Positional Semi-Bluff: Semi-bluffs are more powerful as betting mechanisms in later positions. It makes it easier to read your opponents’ reactions and bet sizes on the flop so you can semi-bluff more effectively. Now if you do get last action, then you have a lot of information on the flop and can make an informed decision at the poker table.
Opponents: Keep an eye on your opponents. When it is tight and only betting with solid hands, it will make your semi-bluff much more likely to work. Loose players, on the other hand, get in touch too soon with more hands than a rock and roll and therefore are frequently harder to generate them really riding the advantage of your semi-bluff. If you find a player that folds to continuation bets 70% of the time, semi-bluffing all your draws into this opponent is ideal.
Bet Sizing: Your bet size must be something that you would bet the same way with a strong hand. For example, if you usually pot the flop with a made hand, you should pot it with your semi-bluff. This adds a level of confusion in your opponents because it makes it harder for them to read exactly what you have. To face, betting $75 on a semi-bluff in a $100 pot makes it appear as though the well of power is quite deep.
Example Hand Analysis:
Hand: 6♠ 7♠
Position: Middle
Flop: 8♠ 9♠ K♦
You make a continuation bet of 75% of the pot and a player calls. The turn brings the 2♦. Now, you have outs and it tells a story of your own.
Turn: 2♦
Here, aggression is a great option to keep on making his life difficult. Betting again is a sign of strength too and if your opponent was on a draw or has a weak King they might decide to fold. This time you make a bet 50% the size of the pot and they fold. You take the pot down whether you hit your draw or not.
As Doyle Brunson once said, “Aggressiveness wins pots.” Semi-bluffing is the Apotheosis of an aggressive poker.
PokerTracker data has shown players who utilize semi-bluffs in their game will realize a 10-15% higher win rate.
An example of this would be a hand such as 5♣ 6♣ suited connectors. The flop comes 4♣ 7♠ Q♦. Open-ended straight draw, your opponent checks. This is a great place to semi-bluff. You half-pot bet, making it very difficult for your opponent to call without a very strong hand. Then, even if they call, you still have a total of 8 outs any 3 or any 8.
On the turn, a 2♦ appears. The board has not helped with your hand, but it has also likely not helped your opponent either. Another bet, this time for 40% of the pot, should scare away A♠ 7♣ or K♠ 6♠ which called on the flop but will fold under additional betting.
Semi-Bluffing is All About Psychology: When you bet, semi-bluffing, you are essentially saying a story. You are repping a monster-flopped hand. The fact that your opponent can fold better or call with a worse hand you apply pressure else to opponent to make wrong decisions. The important point is to stick with it and the story has to be consistent enough that skilled players believe in it.
Slow Playing
Slow playing, or sandbagging, is the act of underplaying a very strong hand in an attempt to induce other players to believe that one of them actually holds a weak hand to bet more. It is a type of move that hoodwinks your opponents into believing they do have the better hand.
The Right Hands to Slow Play: Obviously, slow playing is most effective with monster hands that are very unlikely to be outdrawn. Consider holding pocket aces on a dry board like A♠ 7♣ 2♦, for example. Given that it is partial, the chances of your opponent catching up on you with a better hand are slim, so slow playing is essentially safe.
Board Reading: The texture of the board is important when deciding to slow play. A board where few draws are possible (a dry board). Say you have J♠ J♥ and the flop comes J♦ 4♣ 8♠ — that’s a perfect spot in which to slow play. In this case, it would seem intelligent to slow play your hand and let an opponent make a move with them overplaying what in reality is the second-best hand. However, if the board is wet (J♠ 10♠ 9♠), slow playing can backfire on you as your opponents may catch up or have gutshots/sick draws post-flop which means they would be getting these beautiful turn odds for free.
Example Hand Analysis:
Hand: A♠ A♣
Position: Early
Flop: A♦ 7♣ 2♦
A set of aces are your holding in an example where the board is dry. Instead of taking a very large bet, you might check or end with a small bet, so that your opponents believe that their hands are strong.
Turn: 4♠
Mainly safe on the board. If your opponent bets, you can flat which keeps the pot smaller -> disguising your range sizes and betting river with a stronger guarantee of getting called. Both of these tactics can lead to hoping for a larger bet on the turn and river, as they will believe that their hand is likely best.
River: 9♣
If the board misses any obvious draws, now is when you stick the knife in. At this point, the pot has gotten so big that your opponent (most players) may feel like they are already invested. A check from you might prompt a big bluff or cause them to bet large, presuming they are in the lead with a strong hand.
Slow playing – it’s not just about checking or calling. Attention to Betting Patterns! The advice but could sometimes backfire is: Sometimes it can be a trap, you think small win, wrong. An example would be betting a quarter of the pot on a blank turn, making it easier for opponents to call with thin value hands or turn their air into a semi-bluff.
Opponent Types: Against aggressive enemies that try to give you money with their lower hands or bluffs and often want to bet big. Slow playing However, against passive players who only bet with strong hands, slow-playing will result in missed opportunities to build the pot.
As Doyle Brunson famously said, “Don’t seek out opportunities to slow play. Take what the game gives you and choose your moments carefully.”
PokerTracker data tells us that in the right situations this can increase your win rate by up to 20% – simply because some players take advantageous spots and stick a big pot size into it.
Psychological Aspect:
The secret to slow insurance betting is understanding what your opponent believes. You are able to exploit their presumed overestimation of their hands when you underplay your very strong one.
You have pocket queens (Q♠ Q♦), for example, and the flop is Q♥ 5♣ 2♠. This might be a good slow-play situation. You check the flop and they bet, and you flat-call. The turn adds a medium diamond – 7♦ You fire another bet and get called again. Then, on the river, when a 3♠ boards, you bet strong for the first time in the hand and your opponent calls and gets super sick.
Check-Raising
One of the most powerful techniques in Texas Hold’em is check-raising. Check-raising is performed when you initially check direct then raise if another gamer stakes. Done correctly, it can help to increase the pot when you have a healthy hand or also be used as a bluff to get better holdings from opponents’ ranges.
Setting a Trap: It should be expected that good players would often check-raise with the intent of trapping aggressive players. For example, if you hold Q♠ Q♦ on the Q♣ 7♠ 2♠ flop while in middle position in a full-ring game, killing your fellow cover boy with top set?! If you check, it enables an aggressive opponent in a late position to bet and attempt to steal the pot. When you do raise after them, it forces them to make a decision which causes them to fold the weaker hands they only bet with.
Example Hand Analysis:
Hand: Q♠ Q♦
Position: Middle
Flop: Q♣ 7♠ 2♠
In this spot, you can induce a bluff or a bet from an opponent with a drawing hand or a lower pair. You raise when your opponents bet, forcing them to make a decision and creating a large pot.
Turn: 4♣
If he calls your check-raise on the flop, the turn is a harmless non-card that really doesn’t change anything. This is where a continuation bet can apply extra pressure, but if you think your opponent will try to bluff or value bet a weaker hand through betting then checking behind might be best.
River: 9♦
When the board stays mostly safe, you often will actually get these hands to fold a portion of their range by requisite but continue with a pot-sized bet, still calling with many of their rivers.
Board Texture: Check-raising is a powerful enough tool for the right type of player, but even those check-raises will be most effective when your hidden monster hands are on what appears to be a dry board. Check-raising can be dangerous on wet boards with a lot of possible draws because they could justify bigger bets from drawing hands.
Do Your Homework – Opponent Tendencies: Check-raising is effective against aggressive opponents that will bet when checked to. It is less effective against passive players who may simply check behind with marginal hands.
Inflating the Pot: Since you are check-raising, the pot stands a good chance to balloon. Do not put too many of your chips into play unless you are sure that your hand is superior.
Example Two: Check-Raise Bluff
Hand: 8♠ 7♠
Position: Middle
Flop: K♣ 6♠ 2♦
The AG raises, you check. You now raise, which is telling us you have at least a hand capable of a top pair or better. Winning the pot when your opponent folds without having to make a better hand.
Turn: J♦
The turn, which will be another chance to continue betting if he may fold under pressure.
As stated eloquently regarding poker by Mike Caro, the “Mad Genius of Poker,” “Aggression is your friend in poker and check-raising is the best way to be truly aggressive.”
For those who make check-raises part of their strategy, the data shows that you can gain as much as +2 to your aggression factor.
Let us assume, you have A♣ 5♣ and the flop comes 5♦ 5♠ K♦ The Ace comes, you check and your opponent bets with K♥ 10♠. While they’re likely planning on calling more bets afterward, a raise shows you have a strong hand and is forcing them to either go for broke with the likely inferior dominated range or just fold out.
Timing and Frequency:
The key to check-raising effectively is the timing of it and not to double up on it too often. This is a play everyone knows, but well-timed check-raises really put your opponents in the bind.
Overbetting
Overbetting is a Texas Hold’em betting strategy where you bet more than the size of the pot on a certain hand. You should be using this move to put opponents under maximum pressure, which in turn will force them into making tough decisions, and more often than not – mistakes.
Pushing Pressure: Overbetting for Pressure and Getting your opponents out of the zone. Let’s say you are in late position holding A♦ K♦ and the flop comes K♠ 9♦ 4♠ giving you top pair with a good kicker.
Example Hand Analysis:
Hand: A♦ K♦
Position: Late
Flop: K♠ 9♦ 4♠
In this case, you have a pot size bet of 150%. Overbetting here is the most difficult call one with a drawing hand like Q♠ J♠, or lone king may have to make. They are put in situations where they must determine whether to make a costly call or laydown, and often take the safe route.
Turn: 3♣
If raised, you can bet big again and put the pressure back on your opponents. Despite the temptation to bet more on the turn, an overbet gets a lot of hands that would have called a smaller turn bet to fold.
River: 2♠
Furthermore, whether it completes your opponent’s hand completely or misses the runner, assume they have followed a draw on the flop. We can finally also overbet the river for our final bet which can prey on a lot of preflop overpairs and hands that have made it this far without getting all-in or we can easily put them in a tough decision with many of their gutshots and busted flush draws.
Fundamental Concepts for Overbetting Successfully:
Board Texture: Because your opponents can have drawing hands on these boards, an overbetting strategy will often be highly successful. You keep combinations like 6,7 off of continuing when you overbet on J♥ 8♠ 5♣ and force straight or flush draws to gamble for their ‘whole stack’ instead of enticing them in.
Overbetting could be great against players who like to fold. On the flip side, against TAG’s or nit regs it generally has less value, and might even hurt you against straight-up loose calling stations who never under any circumstance put in 75bb when they have worse than top pair equivalent.
Hand Strength: Overbet as both value with strong hands and as a bluff. Overbetting can also be used for value, such as in a hand like 10♠ 10♦ on a board of 10♥ 7♠ 2♣.
Overbet – Example 2: Bluffing
Hand: J♠ 10♠
Position: Late
Flop: Q♠ 9♠ 4♦
You flop an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw. You would be by all in or overbetting the pot on the river and you probably have some strong hand type of like a set or two pair. This puts opponents that have one pair hands or weaker draws in difficult spots.
Turn: 5♥
When a turn doesn’t improve your hand and at the same time it is unlikely to help your opponent too if he hasn’t been lucky to hit something on the river as well. Here, using a second overbet keeps on the pressure and frequently gets folds from hands that are not equipped to deal with all this aggression.
As noted by ever-aggressive player Tom Dwan, ‘Overbetting is a way to profit when your opponents are scared.’
PT4 says that players that overbet effectively increase their win rate on average by 12%-18% according to PokerTracker data!
For example: you have 7♣ 6♣ and the flop is 8♦ 5♦ 2♣. You have an open-ended straight draw. Overbetting the pot puts these sorts of hands in a tough spot elsewhere classes, such as A♠ 8♠ or K♦ 5♦.
Timing and Balance:
The best time to overbet is when your opponents are a high percentage of bluff-catchers. The frequent use makes it possible to be easily read by a competent opponent, but if resorted smartly with strong hands and bluff you obviously become a nightmare for anyone. For example, you should overbet on the river when you have the nuts to extract as much value as possible, while a bluffing overbet can force out marginal calling ranges.
Squeeze Play
The squeeze play is an advanced poker move made after one player has raised, another has called, and you re-raise (or 3-bet). The idea is that your opponents likely have weaker hands and you can get them to fold so you win the pot without having to go through a flop.
Key Indicators for Squeeze Play Opportunities: The best squeeze play situation arises when the original raiser is loose-aggressive and likely to be raising with a broad range of hands. The caller by definition – almost always a passive/calling-station type of player, and hence unable to hold the nuts having made only a call:
Example Hand Analysis:
Hand: A♠ Q♣
Position: Button
The Initial Raiser was a loose player from UTG + 1.
3: Middle-Position (passive)
Your Play: 5-bet (squeeze) to 5x the Open
In that case, the original raiser might fold hands like KJs or T9s, which they raised with but don’t love facing a 3-bet. The caller is also likely folding some 8♠7♠ or J♦10♦ hands as you take it down pre-flop.
Real Squeeze Play Bet Sizing: When using the squeeze play, you have to re-raise a lot of money so that it makes an impression but not too much to commit yourself completely into the pot. A common figure for this reraise is 4x to 5x the amount of the initial raise. In this example, if the raise is $10 and the call is $10, a squeeze to $45-$50 can take down both.
Example #2: Squeeze Play + Bluff
Hand: 7♠ 6♠
Position: Cutoff
Hijack (Aggressive) Preflop raiser
Button opens and can be calling with a wide range
Your Action: 5-bet Squeeze to 5x the open
So while your hand may seem weak here, the squeeze play takes advantage of both the aggressiveness of the initial raiser and the caller’s wide calling range. This is usually enough to take it down i.e., both opponents are probably folding unless they have you in a bad spot.
What Makes For A Good Squeeze Play
Opponent Profiles: It is imperative to know your opponents. The squeeze play is most effective against players who are raising a large % of the time (loose), and callers who do not 3-bet that often. Squeezing becomes less effective against call stations who never fold.
Table Dynamics: If you act after the initial raiser, a squeeze play is very effective if the table dynamics are right. A tight conservative table can be particularly well-suited to a squeeze play. It would be more of a risk on a loose-aggressive table.
Observing More of Your Opponents Actions: The later you are by the time the squeeze play is executed, the more you will know about your opponent’s actions and thus better read his likely holdings.
As Phil Ivey once said, ‘Poker is about making your opponents make hard choices. The best example of this principle is the squeeze play.’
Using PokerTracker info, players who attack and employ a sound squeeze play strategy can boost their winning rate up to 15%, especially in the mid-stakes where the players make some looser decisions preflop.
Example 3: Squeeze Play with Value Hand
Hand: K♠ K♦
Position: Big Blind
Raiser: Cutoff: Naturally Loose
Caller: Small Blind, a calling station
Your Move: 4x the initial raise – Re-raise (squeeze)
The squeeze play does two things: it both builds the pot and isolates you against one opponent – the original raiser, if possible – who raises your money with a premium hand such as pocket kings. If both opponents fold then your hands are for sure a winner and you immediately steal the pot. If checked, you get to continue post-flop with a strong hand.
Balancing Your Range:
Balancing your squeeze play range is key to not becoming predictable. This entails a blend of value hands, strong draws, and outright bluffs.
Floating
Floating is an advanced poker move in which you call a bet on the flop with a weak or marginal hand, planning to bluff later down the street. The main thing being that when it’s your turn to raise, you want to play into forward players IE LAGs who c-bet then will check-fold most turns that don’t help them. To be successful with a float you need to have a good insight into your opponent’s range and the image he gives off as well as being able to read the board accurately.
Figuring Out Float Opportunities: You are in a decent spot to float when you’re up against an exploitable player who c-bets a lot but then gives up if he misses and checks turn very often. Let’s say we have 9♠ 8♠ on the button and the flop comes Q♣ 6♠ 2♦. The original raiser c-bets. This is a great untapped potential floating spot that we can plan a play on the Turn/River in case they start being weak with their checking.
Example Hand Analysis:
Hand: 9♠ 8♠
Position: Button
Flop: Q♣ 6♠ 2♦
Initial Raiser: Boot 2, c-bets a lot
And here you call again on the flop bet. The turn, you think, seeing what your opponent will do. You can bet when they check and you take down the pot betting a queen or better. At this point, you can reconsider your hand strength based on the bet-size and your read on their range.
Turn: 4♦
On low cards turns like 4♦, and your opponent checks the hand you should continue betting. You immediately put pressure on your opponent and he will be forced to fold better Aces (A♠ K♣), draws (J♠ 10♠), or some lower pairs (7s for example).
Bet Sizing: If you decide to float here, it is important that your bet sizing on the turn is strong enough to take it down, but not overly large. Now, betting 60-70% of the pot is normally a good amount. If the pot total is $100, this pressure can be reached by betting anywhere from $60-$70 without putting too many of your chips on the line.
Profloater 2: Bluff Floater
Hand: A♠ 5♠
Position: Cutoff
Flop: K♣ 7♠ 3♦
Opened hijack, as loose and c-bets aggressively
You call the c-bet, with a float in mind. The flop does not improve your hand, but you are aware that your opponent c-bets a lot of hands.
Turn: 9♥
When the turn is a rag that presumably has not connected with your opponent’s hand, and they check back to you, you pounce.
3 Tips for Good Floating
Floating is most effective when you are in position. This means you can see what your opponent does on the turn and river before determining your play.
Board Texture: Chooses boards that are less likely to have smashed your opponent’s range. For instance, a board such as Jd 6h 2s is frequently floating-friendly against an opponent who has raised with high cards pre-flop and has missed.
Opponent Profiling: The best typicall opponents to float this type of board against are loose-aggressive players who are aggressive preflop and flop, but shut down on turn if they don’t hit.
Example 3: Floating (with equity)
Hand: 5♠ 6♠
Position: Button
Flop: J♠ 7♣ 4♣
You had a gutshot and flush backdoor. If your opponent c-bets, you opt to float.
Turn: 8♠
The turn adds a few more outs with a straight draw. If your opponent checks, you can then bet; it makes it look as if you have a strong hand. Even if they call, you have some extra outs on the river to draw to and improve your hand.
As former poker pro Daniel Negreanu put it, ‘Poker is just an excuse to win money from less competent players.’ One of the best examples of this technique is called floating.
A good floater can add up to +10% to their win rate, according to stats gathered by PokerTracker.
Balancing Your Range:
Balancing your floating range is key to maintain and not become exploitable. This in general means floating with not just junk but also strong hands. For example: floating with top pair on the flop and firing a continuation bet as an example not only protects our floating range but also ensures we make money in the times when we actually had something to begin with!
Reverse Tells
A tell in poker means giving away information about the strength or weakness of your hand by betting, talking, or body language to help your opponents make their decision – so reverse tells are a counter tactic in which you send misinformation instead. The idea is to get your opponents in the hand to believe you have a better hand than them or a worse hand than you do.
Reverse Tells: Reverse tells are when you make a conscious effort to act like your hand is the opposite of what it actually is. For example, if you have a very strong hand, you may actually act weak in order to get some more money from your opponents. If you have a strong hand, you would only show confidence to induce calls from worse hands and if you had a clear tell that did not mean you had a made hand. Conversely, if you are weak, then create folds.
Example Hand Analysis:
Hand: A♠ A♣
Position: Middle
Flop: 7♦ 3♠ 2♣
You hold the nuts and you want to charge the pot. You are going to have a reverse tell here and you make a slight sigh, shaking your head before you check as if you are disgusted with the flop. So you may use check to make the opp bet, as they expect you are weak.
Turn: 9♥
Then the villain bets and you call, the charade goes on. So now, after building a pot and setting it up based on your fake weakness you can bet or raise with full confidence on the river.
Play with Reverse Tells: Example 2
Hand: 10♠ 9♠
Position: Button
Flop: K♦ 8♦ 3♠
You have air and missed the flop completely but go with a reverse tell. You look at your stack of chips pretending you have a lot and check, the hope is that with a strong hand like this maybe you are even setting up a trap. Your opponent might take this as a sign of weakness and check behind or else fold to a turn bet.
Factors for Solid Reverse Tells:
Your reverse: Your tells about your usual behavior are consistent. The time you check just feels awkward to opponents if you’ve been always betting good hands fast.
Knowledge is Your Best Weapon: Know how your opponents play by watching how they react when either running a bluff… Other players may be more prone to reverse tells.
Its timing: The timing of your reverse tells is SUPER important. They can be a weapon that you use too often rendering them expected, but when timed correctly they take your trickery to another level.
Example 3: Live Example Reverse Tells
Hand: Q♠ Q♦
Position: Early
Flop: Q♣ 5♥ 2♠
You flop a set and you want to get the biggest pot. You pull a reverse tell, going instantly from fidgeting with your chips back to small betting. It gives the impression of a marginal hand you are trying to extract value from or a draw that may induce your opponent to call or even raise with an inferior hand.
“Strong means weak, and weak means strong” – Mike Caro, “Mad Genius of Poker. To sum it up, watch is the base of reverse tells.
As PokerTracker data points out, players leveraging the power of reverse tells could add 5-10% to their win rate.