Bluff Raising The River at Online Poker
When we first starts out in online poker, each of us have aspects of the game that are more attractive to us, based on what it was that appealed us to the game in the first place. For numerous of us, our insights about poker come largely from media depictions of the game. The way the media has showed poker over the last 2 decades, has lots to do with why people are attracted to the game as a pastime. People think of poker as being an overgenerous display of psychological warfare. And they’re always very preoccupied with the bluff tactics followed in the game.
This is mostly as they’ve seen instances of big bluffs on TV made by pros. There the player just decides their opponent doesn’t have it and goes with their read. These plays are impressive as people are largely too taken in by the notion of poker online as a battle of big egos, more so than a battle of strategy more akin to chess.
The Rules Of Bluff Raising The River
People are impressed by bluffing in big pots, and of course the pot is usually biggest on the river. Beginner players who have just begun to play poker online games dwell on big river bluffs as something that can only be done by pros with deep pockets and a lot of heart. The reality is that this isn’t even close to true. Big river bluffs can be made effectively by almost anyone. And there are a few simple factors that can help you make better choices in this regard.
Look for weak betting ranges:
In almost any scenario, the best times to attack your opponents with aggression are the times when you can identify that their range capped, i.e. it’s difficult or impossible for them to have the nuts. This clearly is going to mean they’ll have a hard time responding to river. As they’ll often have few hands capable of calling large bets or raises.
Understand your own range:
In order to maintain credibility and avoid situations where our opponents might be inclined to make very big calls. We need to ensure we’re making these bluffs where it’s possible for us to actually have the hands we’re representing. An instance of a great spot for this is a situation where the river brings a backdoor flush. There will frequently be a decent number of hands in our continuing ranges on earlier streets. This contain backdoor flush combos, if we’re defending our ranges suitably.
Apply maximum stack pressure
As with any situation in tournament poker, stack sizes are a key component of our decision-making process. The degree of suppleness we possess in terms of strategic options can make it either extremely easy or extremely difficult to exploit our opponents on the river. Situations where we have our opponents covered can be great chances to really turn the screw. This is particularly in the middle or late stages of poker tournaments. While we may not want to mess with bigger-stacked with chips of opponents who aren’t going to think twice about calling an irrelevant river raise.
Don’t forget to raise for value
At last, it’s vital not to forget about raising the river when you do actually have the hand you’re representing. If your river aggression level goes up, sooner or later people are going to start picking up on it, and you’re going to start getting less credit for your bluffs. This means that not only should we slow down on our approach to bluffing, however we should also raise thinner for value.
Happy playing!