Bluffing habitual bluffers

No Limit Holdem / Marcus Bateman / 12 August 2010 / Leave a Comment

One of the most obvious mistakes that people seem to make against habitual bluff artists is to assume that when they check they have basically given up on a hand. The general line of thought seems to be something along the lines of: 'Well they always bet so if they had anything they would fire here'.

The problem with this is that habitual bluff artists actually do check a whole range of hands - those too good to bluff but but too weak to bet with. These are hands that occupy a position where calling is the most logical action due to their showdown value, and as a result checks from these players often indicate medium/low strength - never a great spot to bluff in.

Not only are habitual bluffers usually checking the sort of hands they will call with, but they are actually much more inclined to call than regular players, simply because:

a) They bluff constantly which makes them project this onto other players - often giving far little credit to even the tightest players;

and:

b) As they bluff so much they are frequently called down light and have a biased view of quite what hands are good calling hands as a result, making them much more likely to view a low strength hand as worthy of a call.

These factors combine to make trying to bluff this player type when checked too a very bad idea. Against habitual bluffers, the shortest route to the money is simply to start calling down more, and constantly value bet your good hands whenever checked too. Players who start calling with any hand with any kind of showdown value are in very dangerous territory against good players - as the old poker adage goes - they make go home broke, but they certainly wont go home curious; and this is a much more sound tactic against these players than trying to turn their own constant bluffing against them.

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