Poker Bluffs: When to Believe Your Opponent in Live Games

Mark recorded a video analyzing sixteen hands, half of which illustrate non-bluff spots, and the other half illustrate situations where bluffs are in fashion. We decided to split the translation of this video into 2 articles. Here is the first part:

We start with 8 spots where bluffs are rare. In the first spot, the player checks back on the flop and raises on the turn after opening JJ from the cutoff and receiving a 3-bet from the button. The opponent's range mainly consists of hands with showdown value and air, such as TT, 99, AK, or bluffs like .

In the second spot, the player makes a small bet for value and protection on the turn and receives a raise. The opponent's range includes hands like TT, JJ, Qx, and middle pairs. In the third spot, the player calls a raise from the lowjack and hits a top pair on the flop, then calls on the turn and receives a third barrel on the river. On A-high boards, players tend not to bluff because it is difficult to find intuitive bluffs and they often bet thin value hands like AK or AQ.