Pokerwiner.com → Within poker principles
Comments:
Once more, the advanced player covers more ground in his thinking. Here, his greater awareness of more variable and their potential impact on the poker hand leads him to view his options quite differently than the average player. The average player looks simplistically at little more than his general hand value.
The advanced player sees the situation in more depth, considering the implications of the texture of the flop, the number and types of active players, and their positions relative to him. He then thinks about his options, settling on one which addresses the specific problem he has identified.
Inducing a Bluff
Overview:
It is fifth street. The board reads:Our player holds: He bet and was called by one player on the flop and fourth street.
Average Player’s thoughts:
I’ve been poker betting and he’s been calling all the way. No reason to think he has a four. Might as well bet again; I think I have the best hand.
Advanced player’s thoughts:
This guy is generally an aggressive player. I think he would surely have raised on the flop if he had a queen, or even a ten with a decent kicker. His calling all the way suggests he’s probably been on a straight or flush draw. He chose to play it passively in this instance, maybe because he felt that I’d correctly put him on a draw, and would only make him pay more for it if he tried to semi-bluff or to buy a free card. I don’t think there is any hand he could be holding that he would call with at this point. If bet he’ll probably just fold. But he does like to bluff if he thinks you’re weak and there’s some chance to pick up the pot. He might well try it here against me if I check, as he sees me as tight and knows I can lay a hand down. I think I’d do best in the long run to check and hope to induce a bluff.
Comments:
We see here an average player who just throws in another bet, acting with little thought, almost on “automatic pilot.” As Sklansky points out in Poker, Gaming & Life, failure to think enough when heads-up on the end is common among typical players. New consideration arise on the last card, turning the decision making process there into a unique one. An advanced player knows this, and so tries to think a little more at this point in a hand. Having made the effort to acquire more knowledge, he also thinks about elements that
The Strategic Moment in Holdem / One Way Not to Fold /
Beating the Berserko: Preflop Against a Maniac /
On Into the Storm: Playing the maniac After the Flop
One Reason to Reraise a Maniac / A Simple Read / Countering a Good Reader
Thinking About What They’re Thinking / Out On the Edge
Considerations in Two Blind Stealing Defense situations
Easing the Transition to the middle Limits: Part I
Easing the Transition to the middle Limits: Part II / Multiple Changing Images