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• Learning the art of "bluff catching" will also be challenging, especially for brand new no-limit hold'em players.

• What is a "bluff catcher"? What criteria are needed so as to call your opponents after they bluff?

A certain, relatively small category of no-limit hold'em players never bluff. It's true. Whether because they're afraid to get caught or simply have some form of mental block preventing them from betting and not using a good hand, a certain, small percentage of players genuinely never bluff.

However, the vast majority of hold'em players do bluff. A lot of these players needless to say in an effort to win at no-limit hold'em, you cannot simply stay up for good hands and expect always to learn from them after they finally come around. Bluffing lets you win hands with no need the most productive cards. Bluffing also lets you create a picture that increases the probabilities you're going to get called when you're betting with the most efficient hand.

Meanwhile discovering sniff out bluffs and make correct calls could also be a fascinating skill for no-limit hold'em players. In fact, working out the art of "bluff catching" could be some of the challenging lessons to learn, especially for brand new players.

An Example Bluff... Viewed from Both Sides

Learning bluff well isn't an effortless task, but players generally get practice bluffing early on of their poker development — sometimes out of necessity.

Finding yourself deep in a postflop situation with out a good hand, you recognize a bluff is your only way of winning a hand and fire away. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and by trial-and-error you learn what tends to work when bluffing and what does not.

Hopefully (eventually) you discover ways to make your bluffs believable, with smart bet sizing and/or giving the illusion of logical "lines" or sequences of action leading as much as your bluffs. The well-made bluff comes after having established credibility, usually through "telling" a believable "story" that starts along with your image and extends in the course of the actions in a selected hand.

Let's walk through an example.

Having shown yourself to be a tight-aggressive player, making a decision to lift from the button with and get a caller within the big blind.

You continue with a big gamble after the flop and are called. Then after the turn your opponent bets, you make a decision to boost together with your big draws, and also you get called again. The river is the , and when your opponent checks you do not wait long before confidently firing a two-thirds pot-sized bet as a bluff.

It's a reputable story. You appear possibly to have the strong hand you're representing, and never just the ace-high you really have.

Now imagine yourself at the other side of this example. Say you are the one within the big blind with . You check-call the flop with second pair, then choose to lead at the turn only to get raised. You warily call that raise then check fifth street, then watch your opponent fire a large river bet.

Whether or not you'll be able to increase the nerve to name the bet, you would like to remember that holding on a board is what's called a "bluff catcher." That's a hand which by definition (probably) can only beat a bluff.

A player with a medium-strength hand in this river — hands like like , , — probably will check behind. Even players with stronger hands like two pair or a collection might check, fearing the third diamond might need made you the flush you gave the impression to be chasing by calling the turn check-raise.

That leaves very strong hands (like a diamond flush) or bluffs (like busted straight or flush draws) as hands with which the player would bet. As you could have a bluff catcher, you'll call in case you believe the bluff to be much more likely than the very strong hand.

Three Necessary Criteria for Bluff Catching

Looking at this example, we will isolate the mandatory elements that should be in place with a view to call a bluff with any such "bluff catcher" hand:

your opponent should be able to bluffing

your opponent's bet size makes it inviting to call

you need to have a hand that may actually beat a bluff

First off, your opponent should be in a position to bluffing. If the player falls into that small category of never-bluffers, and even if the player has demonstrated extreme tightness and a seeming unwillingness to get out of line, you need not bother talking yourself into creating a thin call with a subpar hand. He isn't firing that river with something your second pair, weak kicker can beat.

Typically you'll target loose-aggressive players who're greater than willing to bet and lift with subpar hands — or nothing in any respect — when calling with a bluff catcher.

Secondly, it's a must to think twice the volume of the bluff and whether your opponent's bet size makes it inviting to call.

If you could have some history with the opponent and feature recognized any patterns with bets or bluffs, use that information that can assist you evaluate the bet amount. If the player routinely bets big amounts (i.e., a big percentage of the pot) with strong hands, a large bet might be less inviting to call, but when the player loves to make smallish value bets after which bets big, that would indicate a bluff.

You too can use pot odds to assist make this decision. In our sample hand above a player made a river bet of two-thirds the pot — let's consider a big gamble of $60 right into a $90 pot. That may mean you need to call $60 to win $150, that's pot odds of 2.5-to-1.

If you estimate your opponent is bluffing greater than once every 2.5 times this example arises, a choice could be profitable from a mathetmatical standpoint. (See "10 Hold'em Tips: Pot Odds Basics" for more in this topic.)

Finally, you will be almost 100% sure your opponent is bluffing, but you must have a hand that may actually beat a bluff in an effort to call.

Bluff catchers have a tendency to be weak pairs (if you happen to think your opponent has no better than ace-high), and even sometimes ace-high (if you happen to think your opponent has king-high or worse). But when the board shows and you've got , even though you recognize your opponent is bluffing you cannot reasonably call. (IT'S WORTHWHILE TO bluff raise in this sort of spot, however.)

Bottom line — if the tale"" your opponent is making an attempt to inform isn't adding up and also you suspect a bluff, and the location meets the entire criteria for bluff catching, consider making that call.

Be smart, though, and never overly paranoid that everybody is bluffing you on those rivers. The reality is, whether playing live or online poker, most players bluff little or no. With many opponents you'll find their bets and raises — especially the large ones — often aren't bluffs but made for value.

Also on this series...

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