Punish those damn bluff callers

Kinda dangerous to give a free card with only one pair, but at the right time, this can punish those 100nl opponents we know so well...

I saw H@££INGGOL do this at UB so I gave it a try too.


Hand History:
View Previous hand for this table.

Texas Hold'em $1-$1 NL (real money), #1,130,311,519
Table Harare, 2 Aug 2005 2:06 PM ET
Seat 2: loppettte ($72.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Truman82 ($52.25 in chips)
Seat 6: bigslick820 ($81.50 in chips)
Seat 8: SlappinYaUp ($129.75 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
SlappinYaUp posts blind ($0.50), loppettte posts blind ($1).

SlappinYaUp gets [ KS,AH ]

PRE-FLOP
Truman82 folds, bigslick820 folds, SlappinYaUp bets $3.50, loppettte calls $3.

FLOP [board cards 4C,6H,AS ]
SlappinYaUp bets $6, loppettte calls $6.

TURN [board cards 4C,6H,AS,5C ]
SlappinYaUp checks, loppettte checks.

RIVER [board cards 4C,6H,AS,5C,JH ]
SlappinYaUp bets $15, loppettte calls $15.

SHOWDOWN
SlappinYaUp shows [ KS,AH ]
loppettte mucks cards [ QD,6D ]
SlappinYaUp wins $48.

This is a move I pull frequently, I force people to pay my top pair off with their middle pair.

What's funny is there are plenty of situations where it's best to NOT bet, like (AA7 flop when you hold A2). You don't have to protect a hand like that, and it's best to just induce a bluff.

Paid off for me in a real game last night. I held nut on the turn, but checked, opponent with top pair bet, and on the river my nut became aces full of kings! Check-raised him all in and killed the sucker off! YAY!!

I like this play. I think it adds another element of deception to your style and makes your bets harder to read.

I did something kind of like this yesterday. I raised with A-J off in late position got one caller. Flop comes J high with no draws, I made my standard continuation bet, and he called. I figured he probably had a J with a lower kicker, so I checked to him as if to say "I missed with A-K and am done trying to bluff," he bet, I came over the top and he folded.

You do risk giving a free card, but I think you can make up for the risk by the prospect of inducing a bluff or bet from a marginal hand on the turn, or when it causes the other guy to make a weak call on the river.