Bluff #1 (FR, live, 10-25)

[Post-Oak]

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I'd actually like to talk about the flop action first if I may. I would have preferred a call on the flop for a few reasons. First and foremost is the fact that you described one of your opponents as a station (albeit more so preflop). Needless to say, this greatly reduces your fold equity (I'm sure you know this, just thinking out loud).


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He is a calling station, but he is not horrible. Most of the people who responded seems to think he is likely to call any river bet with any Ten in his hand. I said he is a station, not the worst player in the history of poker. So while he is a calling station, I thought I had a lot of fold equity here on the flop given that my image was of being tight, and he was caught in the middle. Also, the hands where I described him thinking of calling river bets with middle pair always ended in him folding (after showing), and all occurred against one aggressive player who had over $200K (yes, yellow 20K chips in a 10-25) in front of him. They were going to war because neither would fold preflop. So my description that he is not completely horrible post flop still stands.

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You also have the type of hand that you don't really want to isolate with here.


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I don't mind taking this pot down right here. I also don't mind inflating the pot at this point, since I have a nut draw.

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Add to this the fact that if one of your opponents actually had a big hand, they would likely come back over the top and move you off a good draw when you could have hit for cheap and won a big pot.


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This is a good point, and there is always a chance the semi-bluff raise will backfire here.

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Anyway, as played, I think you have to give up. Your flop raise did get you a free card on the turn (I like the turn check here as your opponents are probably not folding unless they are that special type of horrible player builds a big pot only to fold to a brick on the subsequent street). Once you check the turn though you have to give up on the river barring withheld information, as both players would have to fold more that half the time, and as described, I doubt they will.

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My plan was to give up completely, until the Queen hit the river. Then I realized that while I missed my straight draw, they couldn't know which straight draw I had. So it was Queen hitting the river (a Seven would have done also) which made me bet. I agree with you that the line would look too fishy if I just bet any river, and I would not have bet if the 9-J draw had not got there.