Dec 19, 2019 Poker Strategy With Ryan Laplante: A Big Bluff Against A Familiar Face For A Poker Masters Title Laplante Breaks Down Crucial Hand That Led To His Recent Poker Masters Event Win.
Poker bluffing is a very important aspect of the game of poker.
In basic terms bluffing in poker is when a player fakes a move and also fakes his face against his desired or real motives, luring his opponents to act in a desired way.
To be successful in poker bluffing, the bluffer must know the thoughts of the other players so as to create a game plan for winning.
Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.The understanding and awareness of certain factors are very important in poker bluffing.
Some of which are the types of poker players at the table, the number of the opponents on the table, the ability of the bluffer to read the plays of his opponents, the cards on the board post-flop, the image already created by the bluffer for himself at the table, the size of the pot already on the table and his position in the hand.
Before I begin with my list I would like to share you my favorite bluffing video featuring Chris Moneymaker in the 2003 WSOP for some inspiration. He really shows us how to bluff in poker.
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Top 10 Poker Bluffing Tips
So there are many tips and how to guide on how to master the art of poker bluffing. Here is my very own top 10 of different ways to bluff in poker. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.
Winning with poker bluffing requires you to not play every hand, and you should always reserve your bluffing for the moments of better chances of winning.
Most people can’t skip a round even when they are given a lousy starting hand because they get bored when they fold.
They cannot stand to wait for the next hand and play anyway, leading to loss of money to them.
However, it will eventually be discovered by people if you never put any money on the table without having four of a kind first, leading to smaller pots on your winning hands because your opponents will definitely fold.
You should always bluff a maximum of 2 players at a time if you want to be successful at poker bluffing.
With many active players at the poker table, you are not likely to scare more than 2 away.
Going against this rule causes one of the unmoved players to call your bluff if he has a really good hand.
In most cases, pots with more than 2 players are not profitable for bluffing because the more the opponents you are betting into, the less willing a player would be to call.
You should not bluff when playing against bad or newbie players, as these people frequently call bets regardless of the strength of their hand.
They do this because they still don’t know what the game is all about, and are thus happy to call down bets with mediocre hands.
Inexperienced or bad players do not have the ability to fold, while a good player first tries to understand the strength represented by you.
Winning Poker Strategy
This rule should be followed even if you feel you have a stronger hand.
Your bluffing should always be based on the pot odds, which means you should always display the attitude of a person with a winning hand each time you bluff.
In most cases, a player anticipates folding of a minimum of one hand when he bluffs.
But, you will be exposed if your bluff fails because there is no fold.
A player is not likely to fold if there is more money in the pot because he has more to gain by playing while your bluff will fold more hands with a small pot.
Therefore, a bluff should not be wasted on a large pot.
Bluffing is a good strategy which can be done when you actually hold aces full of kings.
It could even be done if you had low bets and a good hand, as that is a tactic which engages your opponents, forcing them to add to the pot for you to end up with a bigger pot when the hope of winning is lost.
You should also pay attention to the opponents who have folded already, because a player who is out of a hand tends to register more emotion on his face.
If a person folds an eight, it is easier for you to know before two eights are on the board.
In addition, if you notice that a player is upset, there are more chances of you being able to bluff the remaining opponents in the hand and take the pot.
Though bluffing is a common poker strategy, a long time is needed to really be good at it.
You should know when to bluff, making it a strategy that should be launched by experienced players.
Most inexperienced players think that to really become a winning poker player, they need to bluff.
This is not true, because it is possible to be a winning poker player without even bluffing once.
Thus, your bluffs should be limited as much as possible.
They are to be used only in situations where you are sure your opponent will be forced to fold.
You should never be compelled to bluff because you have not done that for a long time.
If all signs indicate that your opponent has a strong hand, you should not bluff.
If you cannot just sit without doing anything, using a semi-bluff is a good idea. This is the type of bluff backed up by a decent poker hand.
The semi-bluff works if you are both having the same hand, and though it is an aggressive move, it is not as risky as a true bluff.
It is a large bet that is being made by you to avoid a showdown, but you would not be helpless even if the showdown were to still occur.
If your betting shows a consistent trend, you should bluff.
For instance, if you had a pre-flop raised in a game holding 6-6, and the flop produced A Q 5 after getting a caller, it would be an indication of the best time to bluff because of the consistent trend.
At the same time, this should be done carefully and not too frequently during the course of the entire game, or you would be caught by the other players that you were just bluffing.
The secret of an effective bluff here is not making the others to be aware that you are following a specific trend or that you are bluffing or not during the game.
If you completely missed the flop after pre-flopping with a good hand, it could be a good idea to repeat that bet.
In some cases, this is a good time to bluff because a better hand could still be made with subsequent cards.
Now, many of the other players are aware that your bet pre-flopped the last time, and don’t know that you missed it.
If you represent your bet, pressure will be put on the other players because they will have the suspicion that you now have something better than you have actually.
Video Poker Strategy
Bluffing also works when there is a pair on the board.
The reason is that the chances of a person hitting a hand are reduced.
When you have 2 cards, and they are the same cards on the board, it means they are less of a flush possibility (not the same suit), less of a straight possibility (not ordered), and that out there, there are only 2 other cards which could match them to make a set.
It could be that those 2 cards had not yet come, or were either buried (especially in a low pair, would people often fold lower cards pre-flop).
In this situation, it is like having 2 cards coming on the flop, and statistically, this means only a few people would have a drawing hand or have hit their hand.
Therefore, you have a good opportunity for bluffing.
final thoughts
Poker bluffing is an art because the player needs to consider a lot of factors.
At the same time, the paradox of bluffing is that if nobody has ever caught you bluffing, you are either not bluffing enough or you are one of the best bluffers.
You would be bluffing too frequently if you were caught almost every time you bluff.
Late positioning and sensing weaknesses should form part of your bluffing strategies and though they do not usually win a pot, they narrow it down to a few people.
Now you should go and practice your newly learned poker bluffing skills by playing some real poker.
After coaching dozens of students to successful poker careers, Ryan Laplante has launched his own training site, aptly named Learn Pro Poker. Laplante’s new poker course gives a structured breakdown of game theory optimal (GTO) strategy, and explains when to deviate from those strategies to exploit players at the table. Sign up now for an always-expanding library of content that already includes 60+ videos and 40+ hours of expert poker training.
I’ve been very fortunate in my career to be able to play in some well-run, prestigious events. While still a newcomer to the tournament scene, the Poker Masters hosted this November at Aria Casino in Las Vegas is easily one of the most illustrious series I have ever played in.
The series takes place in the small, cozy space of the PokerGo studio, which, while located off the beaten path of the massive Aria property; says nothing about how well put together and impressive the layout is. The moment you step into the room it feels like you are entering a true battle ground, one built only for poker’s elite. It is a monument to poker excellence, and also an arena where even the best in the world can discover that their best efforts will end in failure.
The walls of the room display a continuous mural of some of the incredible players that have competed and won events in that room. Poker legends like Justin Bonomo, Fedor Holz, Rainer Kempe, Alex Foxen, Sean Winter, Ali Imsirovic, Erik Seidel, and many others had their faces plastered all over the walls. The tables, chairs, and rest of the décor are of a standard that only a property like the Aria has the ability to provide, and all of it was accentuated by the bright lights and many cameras there to film all of the action.
Walking in there, not just the first time, but for every event I played, I knew that I was testing myself in a way that I had never done before over my ten-year career. It was simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying. I wanted to prove to myself that I was a worthy competitor against the best in the world. I knew I would likely fail, and honestly, I thought I would be okay with that failure.
Fortunately, I really enjoy the great game of pot-limit Omaha (PLO). I’ve played PLO my entire career, and while I’ve largely been a no-limit hold’em-focused player, it was as much because of convenience and volume offered as anything else. For the longest time my largest cash in a tournament, and currently my only World Series of Poker bracelet, came in a PLO event. I love the game, and greatly enjoy playing it in the tournament format.
So while I have rarely been able to compete at the level of skill or stakes required of the Poker Masters, I am far from new to the game and have been successful playing it. I was fortunate enough to get to heads-up in the $10,000 buy-in event, one where 62 of the game’s best tried to take my chips every step of the way. I was extremely happy and knew how big of an accomplishment getting to that point was, but I obviously wanted to cap it off with a win.
My opponent heads-up just so happened to be high-stakes pro and fellow WSOPPLO bracelet winner Chance Kornuth. Chance and I have known each other and been friends for years. I am even a coach for his training site ChipLeaderCoaching. So, we have discussed many hands over the last few years and he knows how skilled of a player I am. He also knows just how large of a heads-up match this is for me, with the difference between second and first being $62,000 and the title.
The two of us ended up playing a crucial hand which went a long way in determining the final outcome of the tournament. If you’d like to see the video and commentary for the hand, you can find it on PokerGo. The title is “Poker Masters 2019 Event #2 $10k PLO Final Table” with the hand starting at the 2 hour, 50 minute mark.
Ryan Laplante: 5,300,000
Chance Kornuth: 2,400,000
Hand: 9 8 5 3
Blinds: 40,000-80,000 with an 80,000 big blind ante
Position: Small Blind/Button
Being on the button and heads-up in PLO you are supposed to have extremely few folds, only folding some of the absolute worst hands in the game, like trips or quads, or very disjointed non-suited hands like Q-7-3-2 rainbow, or mono-suit hands like K 9 3 2. With a big blind ante in play, we are certainly encouraged to put in a lot of raises, but due to the nature of PLO, there should be very few bottom of range opens. You should be mostly choosing a loose, linear range as an open and going with the top 40-60 percent of hands as a raise to 180,000-200,000. My hand certainly falls outside of the top 70 percent of hands, and because of that I want to use it as a call.
Action: I complete the button, and Chance checks his option.
Flop: K 5 5 (Pot Size: 240,000)
Action: Chance checks, I bet 100,000, Chance raises to 260,000, and I call.
This flop is a board I want to bet very often, generally with a small continuation bet sizing. When Chance raises, it puts me into a somewhat uncomfortable spot. If he has a value hand, he has me beat, and against some of that value I am drawing completely dead. That being said, I also block his strongest hands and he can certainly have bluffs.
Turn: K 5 5 10 (Pot Size: 760,000)
Action: We both check.
When he checks to me I have no reason to bet this hand, as it is possible I will be betting into strong hands, and it isn’t very likely that a worse hand will call. Also, if he is on a bare flush draw or similar, it is possible he hits his flush and I hit a full house, so I don’t really need to protect my hand here.
River: K 5 5 10 J (Pot Size: 760,000)
Action: Chance bets 600,000, leaving himself with 1,400,000 behind.
Poker Strategy Guide
While I do have trips and block full houses and my nine blocks a straight, my hand is still pretty weak relative to this bet size. I really only beat bluffs. Fortunately, I block some of the strongest hands that he can have, which includes quads, K-5, J-5, and 10-5. I also believe it is very likely if he did have a hand like K-5 or better that he would have bet it on the turn. Thus, I strongly believe that his most likely value hands are either 10-5 or J-5, or maybe a hand like Q-9. So, while my hand makes a perfectly reasonable call, if I believe it is likely that he will fold these to a shove, then instead of just using my hand as a bluff catch, I can actually turn it into a bluff.
Action: I raise all-in and he went into the tank. Eventually, Chance folded J 6 5 2 for a full house, and I went on to win the tournament soon after when I flopped a full house against his trips for the rest of the chips. ♠
Ryan Laplante is a WSOP bracelet winner. He has more than $5 million in tournament cashes and eight WSOP final tables. He is the co-founder of LearnProPoker.com, an easy to use GTO based training site.
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