semi-bluff defense

[DimitriT]

How often do you put up a defense against bluffing. I try to do it about one in 8 or 10 hands and more often if the opponent hasn't gotten a call in a while.

Here's a case where a defense turned into a major beat:

PokerStars Game #1787136778: Tournament #8398745, Hold'em No Limit - Level III
(25/50) - 2005/05/28 - 21:54:28 (ET)
Table '8398745 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: j-roq (6625 in chips)
Seat 4: Harker6 (2135 in chips)
Seat 5: DimitriT (4740 in chips)
Harker6: posts small blind 25
DimitriT: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DimitriT [Ac 6h]
j-roq: raises 100 to 150
Harker6: calls 125
DimitriT: calls 100
*** FLOP *** [4h Js 5s]
Harker6: checks
DimitriT: bets 150
j-roq: raises 300 to 450
Harker6: folds
DimitriT: calls 300
*** TURN *** [4h Js 5s] [3d]
DimitriT: bets 200
j-roq: raises 500 to 700
DimitriT: calls 500
*** RIVER *** [4h Js 5s 3d] [2s]
DimitriT: bets 400
j-roq: calls 400
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DimitriT: shows [Ac 6h] (a straight, Deuce to Six)
j-roq: shows [Kc Ks] (a pair of Kings)
DimitriT collected 3550 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3550 | Rake 0
Board [4h Js 5s 3d 2s]
Seat 1: j-roq (button) showed [Kc Ks] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 4: Harker6 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: DimitriT (big blind) showed [Ac 6h] and won (3550) with a straight,
Deuce to Six

[LeFou]

I think your flop and turn calls were both poor. You shouldn't be fiddling with that guy, chasing versus the big stack. Focus on squishing harker.

[gabe]

when someone else is showing aggression, don't try to bluff them off their hand. bluff into weakness, not strength!!

[DimitriT]

I think your flop and turn calls were both poor. You shouldn't be fiddling with that guy, chasing versus the big stack. Focus on squishing harker.

I agree. I went into this hand after the big stack had established a pattern of hitting the blinds. I decided I would put up a defense on this hand. The small stack was super tight, hardly knew he was there.

[TLR]

Even if you though he was bluffing (which apperantly he wasn't) your hand is too weak to call his bluff,
I would probably fold to the reraise on the flop

[DimitriT]

Even if you though he was bluffing (which apperantly he wasn't) your hand is too weak to call his bluff,
I would probably fold to the reraise on the flop

Yes, that was a poor call. My reasoning was:

1. He was following his pattern of 6x BB raise after the flop
2. I saw the possibility of either pairing my A or getting an OESD. I
figured implied odds were good in the case of the straight draw;
perhaps even the A pair. I saw 4 cards that would give me the
SD and 1 card for the A pair. A total of 18 cards going into the turn.

My read was that he had overcards not the big pair. I think his
6x BB raise was a little weak given his established pattern.

Here's what the odds calc says:

pokenum -h ac 6h - kc ks -- 4h js 5s
Holdem Hi: 990 enumerated boards containing Js 5s 4h
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
Ac 6h 162 16.36 828 83.64 0 0.00 0.164
Ks Kc 828 83.64 162 16.36 0 0.00 0.836

The total pot was 3550 so my 300 call was actually ok
considering the implied odds on the straight.

pokenum -h ac 6h - kc ks -- 4h js 5s 3d
Holdem Hi: 44 enumerated boards containing Js 5s 3d 4h
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
Ac 6h 11 25.00 33 75.00 0 0.00 0.250
Ks Kc 33 75.00 11 25.00 0 0.00 0.750

Here, the iimplied odds made this call ok too.

My mistake was not raising more after I made the straight.
Had I read him correctly, I would have bet twice as much.

[ihategnomes]

Theres no such thing as the call-bluff, unless you call the flop to drop the hammer on the turn. Im sure there is some other guy at another forum ranting about how is KK got sucked out on

If your gonna test their "bluff" then raise them. Calling only gives you 1 way to win.

[ihategnomes]

2. I saw the possibility of either pairing my A or getting an OESD

Drawing to a draw is bad, its also called a runner runner by other means.

I saw 4 cards that would give me the
SD and 1 card for the A pair. A total of 18 cards going into the turn.

This is some flawed thinking, you are wasting chips trying to draw to a draw so you can draw.

[Hubris1]

That wasn't a blind defense, a blind defense is playing back on the raise preflop and basically saying "F you you can't see a flop with me out of position" or its playing hardball on the flop when you put them on a steal. On the turn you're trying to semi bluff by tossing 200 into a ~1300 pot, that's not being aggressive, it's just fishing for a runner runner draw to complete. If he's capable of reading weakness, you're showing it in spades. Personally if I were him I would have put you all in here whether I had it or not.