[elindauer]

Know your opponent. First and foremost, you must know your opponent. If your opponent is the loose type that consistently calls down with ace high, forget about trying to bluff him. You beat these guys with value bets, not bluffs. If your opponent can be made to fold, say, AQ on a K73 board, then you have a player you can consider attacking with very few outs. Your ideal opponent is the tight aggressive type raising from late position. He'll have a fairly wide range of hands, can often fold ace high especially if he has only 1 overcard, and can be counted on to bet the flop almost no matter what hits.

Flops to look for. Naturally, flops where you flop a good draw that is nonetheless definitely 2nd best right now are good flops to check-raise and lead the turn. This play is widely known though, and good players are going to be suspicious that you might be drawing when you make this play, especially if you're making it with an obvious draw like a flush draw. You'll get called down more often, but since you have a good deal of equity in the pot, this play is still profitable.

The play many players miss though, is to check-raise and lead with a hand that has no outs on a board that has no draws. Say a TAG raises from late position and you call in the big blind with JTh. If you get a K73 rainbow flop, you should strongly consider attacking him by check-raising and leading the turn if need be. On this board, your opponent cannot put you on a draw, so he knows you're either on a complete bluff, or you have a pair. If he doesn't have a pair and he respects you not being a maniac, he's going to give up lots of hands. The typical late position raiser will not often have a pair on this board, but since you are defending from the big blind, he can't know the same about your hand. You'll win quite often without a showdown, easily enough to justify the expense provided you pick your opponents well. Further, sometimes you'll catch a pair and it will be good enough to win over a hand like AQ that decides to get stubborn.

In these situations, it pays to know whether your opponent is the type to give up to the flop raise directly, or tends to peel after being check-raised and then fold the turn. Most players do one or the other, and knowing where your opponent's fold point is can save you lots of wasted bluff attempts.

In general, flops that contain 1 or fewer cards in the "playing zone" A-T, and which don't afford many straight draws (J97, for example, is not a great flop to steal on), are the ones to consider making moves. Also, flops with 1 or 2 very low cards, like deuces and threes, are less likely to have made anyone a pair. Most players, even bad ones, fold hands with deuces in them.

The lower the highest card, the more inclined you should be to fire again on the turn, as it is that much more likely that your opponent has called your flop bet with just overcards and will now fold if you bet again. This assumes, of course, that the turn is not a card that hits these hand. If you check-raise a Txx flop and the turn is a K, betting now looks pretty dubious. You're unlikely to win the pot at this point, since the K just connects with way too many of the weak hands you were hoping he'd fold. KQ, KJ, QJ, AQ, AJ... all of the hands are now getting to the river at least. Check and fold if you were on a total steal. Finally, if you check-raise and lead the turn and your opponent is still in there calling, it's probably best to just give up on the river. Sure, sometimes you miss an opportunity to bluff them out of the pot, but more often than not they are just in there calling all the way and you aren't getting the right odds to bluff again.

In short-handed games and in all games as the limits get higher, defending the big blind from steals becomes more and more common. You're out of position in a small pot with a weak hand... that's a tough place to be. Mix in a few of these pure bluffs to steal just a little more than your fair share of the pie. Your wallet will thank you.