Semi Bluffing - How Often

dvdfan

Just wanted to run this by people for opinions. I play tight now, usually in the region of 15-18 V$PIP but i like to raise with suited connecters, 1 gap suited connecters, sometimes low pocket pairs and high cards like KJ, Q10 etc along with raising all my premium hands. Im playing 50/1 on tribeca and im finding im coming across the same players alot so this keeps them guessing.

My question is on bluffing, how often should i be doing it at this level. Im finding when i semi-bluff and pull it off or even when i bluff and showdown that after that people mark me as an idiot and are willing to call larger raises than usual and all ins that they wouldnt normally call.

I dont do it very often but maybe i might do it when i join a table and then tighten up. Here is an example below of a hand i tried to bluff that didnt work out (See Below). I was only at the table for around 12 hands, he was 50/0/0.78 and although he was limping alot in the limited time i seen him he would call a smallish bet but probably fold to a pot sized+ bet.

Now that didnt work out but a while later my image paid off. I re-raised a 3x bet to 12x pre-flop with 66 hit trips on the flop and got paid off for a full buy-in even with a flush on board that me and him didnt have and he still paid me off and again against that same opponent i called 5x raise with AK hit king on the flop and got all in for 1/2 a buyin. These are bets that i most likely wouldnt have got opponents all in for but my image early on helped.

Is it right to try this or is it -EV in the long run. I dont plan in advance to blindly bluff everyone, its just sometimes when i raise in late position i find myself in a position where i could bluff my opponent off a hand and if i do get caught out i use my image to make more value bets with the best hand later. Sometimes when someone sees a player like me with a V$PIP of 15 and i bet heavy theyre quick to fold, this occasionally helps or at least keeps them guessing.

I know also i had the open straight so its really only a semi bluff, but i might have made that move on a blank turn aswell but i much more like to do this with a gutshot or middle pair against an opponent who i suspect hasnt more than 1 pair. I also get to showdown i raised with 87o

Opinions Please?

Holdem No Limit - $1 BB

SB ($123.50) [Hero]
BB ($99.82) [lapoca99 ]
UTG ($122.22) [Skillz99 ]
UTG+1 ($89.50) [MsGentleman ]
UTG+2 ($50.60) [madmaxy ]
MP+1 ($106) [patrick3331 ]
MP+2 ($81.62) [itravel7153 ]
CO ($44.75) [mwo3 ]
Button ($69) [Barasnygg ]

Hero is SB with 8s, 7d
Preflop: (8 players, $1.5)
2 folds, madmaxy calls $1, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.50 and raises $4, lapoca99 folds, madmaxy calls $4

Flop: Kc, Ah, 9d (2 players, $11)
Hero bets $8, madmaxy calls $8

Turn: 6d (2 players, $27)
Hero bets $110.50 and is All-In, madmaxy calls $37.60 and is All-In

River: 6c ($175.1)

Results: Hero has 8s, 7d
madmaxy has Ks, Qs
madmaxy wins $99.2 with Two Pair: Kings and 6s

valor

against someone with those stats this is horrible, also raising this hand vs that villain button limp is also very bad as he will never fold preflop and very rarely fold on the flop

your sb opening range vs limpers should be very tight

sikes

what valor said.

Also you want to play suited connectors etc in position, not out of position.

phantom_lord

limp here. i'd only open raise scs, or raise on the co/button, raising out of the sb is bad.

flop bet's ok, check the turn. really don't shove.

There's better spots to semi-bluff than this, and certainly do it against someone like him, where you've no fe.

dvdfan

Ok,

Figured raising on the blinds was good with limpers because theyre not showing strength and theres money to be won and nobody has raised. Makes sense i suppose what ye are saying, everyone has position on me in a raised pot and i dont have a strong hand. I was thinking more on the lines of stealing the limpers money and not having to play the flop at all, in the above example as i said the villain was folding to big bets post flop even though he was calling alot preflop so i taught i could push him off his hand. It was poor anyway because i didnt have enough info on him to be sure and he did turn out to be a calling station and wasnt letting go of middle pair.

What do you think about the bluffing in general as a way to entice opponents to call bigger bets as long as i play tight overall and dont do it too often (and dont pick calling stations:rolleyes: ) is it +ev or showed i just play tight at this level

valor

in general, never bluff at this level

peeko

be careful in the small blind too dvdfan, it's one of the hardest positions to play from because you are first to act after the flop. your range here should be quite small, espcially for raising.