The Powerful Semi-Bluff

While bluffing can sometimes be one of the most thrilling plays in poker, it can also be one of the scariest.  Especially for cash game players who are risking real money when they put their chips into the middle with nothing but air.  Semi-bluffing can provide many of the same rewards that bluffing can, but with the added benefit that you still may be able to make a winning hand even if you get called.  Semi-bluffing means that you are betting with a hand that would currently lose at showdown, but the hand also has the potential to improve.

For example let’s say you are holding the 10H and JH and the flop falls 7H, 8H and A-D. Even though you are technically behind if you bet, your hand still has a chance of winning at showdown if you catch a heart or a 9. Even better, you could win the pot immediately if your opponents aren’t carrying an Ace.

You can semi-bluff your hand either in or out of position, and each option offers different risks and benefits.  The first benefit of semi-bluffing from out of position is that sometimes by leading out, you can take the pot right away by forcing your opponents to fold.  In cases where your opponent does not fold, a semi-bluff can work as a defensive bet. You take control of the game by enticing your opponent to call for a smaller amount that he would have eventually bet on his own.  Also, semi-bluffing from out of position can be very deceptive since your opponents will often give you credit for having a made hand rather than some kind of draw.  If your opponent raises your semi-bluff on the flop, you may want to call and reevaluate your hand on the turn, but occasionally you can continue your semi-bluff and put in a big re-raise.  You can do this either when your draw is very unlikely to hit or when you suspect your opponent does not have a huge hand.  If you think your opponent is very strong, you can check-call hoping to make your hand on the turn.  If you think he’s weak, you can lead out with another semi-bluff on the turn.

Your semi-bluffing options are slightly different when you are in position.  In this case, betting your hand when your opponents check to you can often be enough to just take the pot down right away.  Remember though that by doing so you are re-opening the betting and giving a tricky opponent the chance to check-raise you into folding a hand that could have improved with a free card.  With this in mind, take careful note of who you are up against in the hand.  If you are up against a weak or predictable opponent you can semi-bluff without much fear.  Against a tricky or more aggressive opponent, then you need to think about whether or not your hand can stand up to a check-raise before you bet.

Taking The “Blinds” Strategy Seriously

In Texas Hold’em there is no ante, instead there are blinds that serve the same purpose. Big and small blinds are forced bets that rotate around the table getting the action started. Without the blinds, everyone would just wait until they had a perfect hand to play, which would bring the action to a screeching halt.  There are two blinds: a small blind and a big blind.

The big blind is typically set as the amount of the pre-flop bet and the small blind is usually half of the big blind. For example, in a $10-20 limit poker game, the big blind is $10 and the small blind is $5.

If you want to win at poker, it is important to understand the blinds and take the notion of blind strategy seriously. Every round you’re forced to play both a big blind and a small blind. In online poker, you’ll receive between 60 and 70 hands per hour. (More if you’re multi-tabling.) At a full table, this means you’ll be posting blinds 6 or 7 times per hour. In a $10/$20 game, that’s between $90 and $105 each hour.

Use the simple poker blinds formula below to try and figure out how much money you put in the pot for blinds each hour:

(Rounds per hour x big blind post amount) + (Rounds per hour x small blind post amount) = Total dollars put in the pot from blinds.

In my opinion, there are two perspectives to consider when thinking about the blinds:

• Defensive – You want to protect your blinds when you’re in the blinds.
• Offensive – You want to steal the other players’ blinds when you can.

Being able to steal blinds is necessary to be a winning player in a tough game. Stealing blinds in the tough games become more important because players are usually playing tighter.  Take advantage of your table position and play aggressively, raising pre-flop.  If you succeed and the blinds fold, you’ve won a free hand of poker. And of course you have the advantage of stealing a blind from any position if you’re holding a premium starting hand.

You’ll need to defend your blinds from this strategy from other players as well. Good poker players know when to be selective about the hands they play. But if your blinds are stolen every round by a raise, then you’re losing a significant amount of money. The bottom line is that dealing with the blinds is something you’ll have to learn how to do to be a successful player. Especially in tournament play.