Poker Bluff Catcher

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Bluff catcher poker definition

Bluff Catcher Hi, I'm a beginner poker player in New Jersey. I'm hoping to learn and improve. View my complete profile. Follow by Email. Theme images by pollux. Bluff Catcher A hand that can only win by calling a player who has bluffed. Usually refers to a weak hand (e.g., a small pair or ace-high) that cannot be bet for value but which is enough to win. A bluff catcher is a hand that will beat every hand Villain is bluffing with and will lose to every hand he is betting for value. You will have a bluff catcher whenever you have a medium strength showdown value hand and your opponent is betting with a polarised range, meaning a range containing only strong value hands and bluffs. What matters then in the distribution of this bluff-catching range is the card removal effects of the two cards you hold. Because of this, sometimes a one-pair hand could actually be a better bluff. A bluff catcher is a hand that isn't necessarily strong, but strong enough to call an opponent and beat them if you believe they're bluffing. It's a hand that's not good enough to value bet, as you'll have to fold if raised as it isn't good enough to beat your opponents value-betting range.

Last time we learned how to decide if our hand is bluff catcher. We defined bluff catchers as hands that lose to all of Villain’s value bets and beat all of his bluffs. We noted that we always have a bluff catcher with a medium strength hand facing aggressive lines unless Villain is a weaker player who does not understand how to bet with a polarised range. Today we are going to assume that our opponent is competent and betting multiple streets only with a polarised range containing value hands, which beat us, and bluffs, which we beat.

Bluffing Candidates

A bluffing candidate is a hand our opponent reaches a decision point with that would be reasonable for turning into a bluff by betting. These hands are always lacking in showdown value and are unlikely to win very often by checking. Second pair is not usually a bluffing candidate but a missed flush draw and J-high on the river definitely are. Bluffing candidates are obvious in the case of straight draws or Ten-High on the river but are less obvious when bluffing requires turning a pair into a bluff or betting the turn without much equity.

Bluff catcher poker definition

Actual Bluffs

An actual bluff is a bluffing candidate that Villain has chosen to pull the trigger with. Players don’t always bluff with every bluffing candidate they reach a decision point with.

Bluffing Incentive

Villain’s bluffing incentive is how likely he is to pull the trigger on a bluffing candidate. This depends on the player’s/population’s views on how likely they are to get a fold in a certain spot as well as their natural tendencies as a player. Some spots are more attractive to bluff in than others.

The Formula

A player’s number actual bluffs (in combos) is equal to the % of his range that is made up of bluffing candidates multiplied by his bluffing incentive in the spot in question.

If one of these two factors is very low then the output of actual bluffs will also be very low. If you multiply any number by zero, you get zero.

Therefore, we want to fold our bluff catchers – which only beat bluffs, remember – whenever we think that either:

  1. Very little of Villain’s range is made up of natural bluffing candidates.
Catcher

Or

  1. Villain’s bluffing incentive is likely to be very low based on his player type and/or the situation.

Let’s take a couple of examples of folding bluff catchers for these reasons.

When Villain has Few Natural Bluffing Candidates

Imagine that we open in the CO with A♠5♠ and call a 3-Bet from the SB. The flop comes A♦Q♦J♣ and Villain goes ahead and bets one third of the pot. We suspect he is doing this with pretty close to all of his range and make the call. The turn comes the 4♥ and we face a two thirds pot-sized bet this time, indicating a more polarised range. Do we beat any of Villain’s value-bets? No, not if he is competent. Do we lose to any bluffs? No. Our hand is certainly a bluff catcher then, and so it’s time to assess how many actual bluffs Villain could have here.

Firstly, there are very few possible flush draws here that don’t contain an ace or a straight already. Villain could have something like K♣9♣, 10♣9♣ or 9♣8♣ but that’s about it. These hands have a high bluffing incentive for most players. The problem is that there are only a few combos of them. In order to get anywhere near close to the number of actual bluffs required to make us consider calling with A♠5♠ here, Villain will need to be regularly finding bluffs with a lot of less standard bluffing candidates, which are not so enticing to barrel with. Hands like 99, 88, 77 etc are bluffing candidates here, but a lot of players don’t see them as such. Villain needs to be aware that his range is very strong after 3-betting on this board, and contains a lot of value betting combos. Therefore, he should be bluffing underpairs at a high frequency in order to avoid becoming too strong when he bets. Most players do not feel a high bluffing incentive with these hands. The third category of bluffing candidate here is a hand like [QTs KJs JTs] but many players do not see these hands as bluffs either. The incentive to bet again with a pair and a draw here is low for a lot of people because they mistake their hand for having a lot of showdown value, which it does not in this situation.

We can conclude by saying that there are very few natural bluffing candidates available here for the SB 3-bettor and that the bluffing incentive for most players is lower than it should be with the less standard looking candidates such as TT and JTs. As a result, we expect this spot not to get bluffed very often. We can fold our bluff catcher happily.

When Villain has a low Bluffing Incentive

Poker Bluff Catcher Tips

After opening UTG and getting called by the BU, in a 6-max cash game, we fire three barrels with A♣K♥ on K♦8♠5♠2♥10♦ . Villain raises the river all-in for more than pot and we need around 37% equity to make the call (getting a bit worse than 2:1 odds). In this spot, Villain does have some bluffing candidates, most notably two spades or 76s if he is loose pre-flop. The problem this time, however, is that bluffing incentive is extremely low for most people in this spot. How often have you wanted to take your air and jam all-in over a river bet here – a bet that comes from an opponent who is uncapped (can still have the nuts)? This is a play that humans will almost never make because the risk:reward ratio is so unenticing. We should fold here against 95% of opponents. If Villain happens to be the 5% who readily bluff here, then, good for him!

Summary

  • Villain’s actual bluff frequency is dependant on his number of bluffing candidates and his bluffing incentive for the spot in question.
  • When one of these two factors are low, we should fold our bluff catchers.
  • Players tend to have few natural bluffing candidates on high, wet flops
  • Players tend to have low bluffing incentives when they raise the river, particularly against uncapped ranges.

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Neil Gibson

Poker Bluff Catcher

Each week, the Talking Poker series will highlight a particular poker term. We’ll give you a clear, to-the-point definition of the term and an example of the strategic concept to which it refers, so that you can start using the term and implementing the related strategy into your game. This week we look at what is meant when a hand is described as a bluff catcher and related strategy.

Definition

Simply put, a bluff catcher is a hand that can only win by calling a player who has bluffed. The term is generally only used to refer to the last round of betting, such as on the river in hold’em. The strength of a bluff catcher can vary — from the near-nuts down to just ace- or king-high — depending on the cards and how the action has proceeded.

Often when a player calls with a “bluff catcher,” the call is described as a “hero call” — that is, a tough call that requires extra courage to make.

Example

In a $1/$2 no-limit hold’em cash game, Player A, a very loose player who has been playing many hands and bluffing a lot, open-raises from the button for $7. Player B calls from the big blind with .

Bluff Poker Site

The flop comes , giving Player B a pair of eights and a flush draw, and he check-calls a continuation bet of $8. Both players then check the turn. The river brings the and after the big blind checks, Player A bets $20, about two-thirds of the pot.

Player B’s hand is not strong enough to bet, but he strongly suspects Player A not to have an ace or king, nor anything else that would beat eights and fives. Player B’s hand is a bluff catcher.

Strategic Considerations

A hand only becomes a bluff catcher after the action has proceeded in such a way so as to suggest a player’s final-round bet could be a bluff, thereby making the potential caller’s hand strong enough to win by calling. Generally speaking, calling with a bluff catcher should only happen rarely and only if the sequence of betting and your read of your opponent strongly indicates that player to be bluffing.

Poker Bluff Catcher App

Bluff catchers usually should be folded against tight or passive opponents. Meanwhile, against especially loose or aggressive players, calling river bets with bluff catchers like second- or third-pair or even ace-high might well be profitable. However, be aware that at lower stakes especially, many players are often less inclined to bluff, which means talking yourself into making such “hero calls” with bluff catchers can be very costly.

Another way to think of the bluff catcher is as a kind of “value call” (as opposed to a value bet) when playing from out of position against a single, loose opponent prone to bluffing at rivers.

Say you’ve reached the river with a hand not strong enough to value bet — e.g., you hold , the board shows , and after checking your opponent has bet. Your opponent has played the hand in a way that suggests he’s made his river bet not for value but because he cannot win the hand unless you fold. That is, you’re reasonably certain he hasn’t got a queen, a trey, or a pocket pair higher than nines, and more likely has a busted straight or flush draw. Your check allows him to bluff at the pot, and you call and collect with your bluff catcher.

Watch and Learn

Pokers Bluffs Il

Earlier this week, Sarah Herring spoke with WSOP-bracelet holder Jason Duval about an especially interesting hand he played during the early levels of Day 1 of the European Poker Tour Malta Main Event that illustrated him facing a river bet and holding a bluff catcher.

Bluff Poker Magazine

The hand found Duval reaching the river versus Bartolomeo-Fulvio Tato holding while the board showed . After turning two pair Duval had rivered a flush — although not quite the best possible one — but was facing an all-in shove by Tato of 15,000 or about twice the size of the pot.

As Duval explains, despite holding a strong hand, he was forced to accept that his flush had essentially become a “bluff catcher.” Hear Duval’s explanation of why he came to that conclusion and what happened next:

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