When to bluff...?

[sui generis]

Villian is decent - in fact he's really good. He's 21/11.9/1.4 over ~750 hands. He respects me as a player.

Party Poker 3.00/6.00 Hold'em <font color="#0000FF">(6 handed)</font> link

Preflop: Hero is SB with T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">1 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP raises</font>, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, Hero calls, <font color="#666666">1 folds</font>.

Flop: (5.00 SB) 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">MP bets</font>, Hero calls.

Turn: (3.50 BB) 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">MP bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, ...


Obviously it was a big bluff, but I put him on AK/AQ or a small pocket. I figured he might fold to a check/raise. Would anyone else have done this?

-eric

[numeri]

[pet peeve]

[ QUOTE ]
I put him on AK/AQ or a small pocket

[/ QUOTE ]
After he bet at every opportunity? He can't have JT, QJ, KJ, AJ, TT, QQ, ... ?

[/pet peeve]

Your range is much too narrow. It also seems like too much to invest in this small HU pot when we may be drawing dead.

[kapw7]

fold preflop

[Redd]

I think it's pretty funny that in this recent thread you say that calling an MP raise from SB with QTs is a beginner mistake and you do it with QTo here.

[sui generis]

Hahaha, I just noticed. The difference being that the BB was going to fold (I think he had only called 12% of hands, raised 0% in over 100 hands). The other guy was OOP to the BB and UTG, who could have limp-raised or bet the flop. My pf call was probably a bad idea, but against one opponent that I had played with a lot, I thought that a call was warranted. I'm sure this is debatable.

I'm really more concerned about whether the bluff was warranted and it doesn't seem like it was.

-eric

[Leader]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm sure this is debatable.

[/ QUOTE ]

No it isn't.

I hate post flop too. He looks kinda weak some he might fold AK/AQ here or on the river if you put another BB in or maybe not. The rest of the time, which is the vast majority, you've just invested 2.5-3.5 BB in a hand that you have almost no chance of winning UI with and no real outs to speak of.

[2+2 wannabe]

it's the new shant!

[ssmallz]

[ QUOTE ]
Villian is decent - in fact he's really good. He's 21/11.9/1.4 over ~750 hands. He respects me as a player.


[/ QUOTE ]

This should be all you need to know to toss QTo pf. Who cares if the BB is tight, you're still in a tough spot HU.

Pick a better spot to bluff

[Dave G.]

PF is a clear fold. His raising range isn't near wide enough for you to take QT (suited or not) against him, particularly from MP. I'm not even sure I'd like it if he was on the button, his raising range is still pretty tight.

What are you calling with on the flop? You have one overcard with a weak kicker, a backdoor straight draw and a weak backdoor flush draw. You have nothing.

What are you trying to represent on the turn? If he respects you as a player, he isn't going to put you on 89, because he knows you wouldn't call the flop bet with just a gutshot. That's the only hand he can really be worried about here if he has any hand at all. Edit: Eh, with 89 you're double gutted, so that becomes slightly more plausible, but I still don't think he thinks you'll call a raise with it.

He might fold AK/AQ, but that's such a tiny range of hands he could have. You say he might have a small pocket pair too... how does that help your situation? 88, 99 and TT are never folding in this spot, and 55, 66 and 77 have sets. So you're basically praying he has AK/AQ or 22-44, AND that he folds those hands.

This play is basically a hail mary play, and its terrible. Bluffs have their time and place but in limit games these places are rare, AND the bluff has to represent something that your opponent fears you might have. He probably has no clue what you have when you raise the turn, and he may just make a WTF calldown.

[sui generis]

Well, this one payed off. He folded and told me that he layed down TT. It was the wrong play on my part, which is why I posted.

-eric