An epiphany

Probably being a bit over dramatic here, but in my time off, I thought a lot about random poker situations. I mostly thought a lot about bluffing, because in the passive games that I'd been playing, thats how I lost most of my money.

Now, when I bluff, I generally try to play my bluffing hands the exact same way that I play my non-bluffing hands. For example if my "standard" play is to bet the flop and turn with a set, then I also will bet the flop and turn as a bluff. For me, this made sense, in that, my opponents now can't get an easy read on me and will have some suspicion that I could sometimes be bluffing when I'm representing something, and therefore pay me off when I'm not.

However, after some thought, I realized - isn't my whole value betting strategy designed to get people to call? I'm not an overly tricky player, but thats not to say I don't try to trick my opponents (obvious). So when I have a big hand, I generally go through great lengths to disguise my hand strength, but also maximize the number of chips in the pot. And while I'm no superstar, it generally works.

So when I'm sitting there, playing my bluffs the same way that I play my strong hands, should I be suprised when they call me down? Like how many times have you been playing, pushing hard against someone only to have them call you down with 2nd pair, and you are sitting there staring at the screen yelling, "HOW COULD THEY CALL ME? I PLAY ACES THE EXACT SAME WAY WTFFFFFFFFFLOLZ!"

And I thought that way too. But I naively ignored the fact that I design my value bets TO BE CALLED. So why should I expect them to fold when I'm doing the exact same plays that I would if I wanted TO BE CALLED?

So, while this is all interesting and stuff, is it helpful? That I don't know either.

On one hand, you should bet the same way when you are bluffing as if you have the nuts because if you don't people (well, good people) will pick up on it. But if you bluff the same way you do with the nuts, expect a few calls here and there, because, well, thats what you designed it for. (is the horse dead yet?) However, if you start bluffing erratically, without really representing anything, you will get called just because, well, people suck, and won't fold if your bets don't make sense.

Another poker enigma.

Wait didn't I title this post, "An epiphany"? Wtf I didn't learn...

shhhh