Much of the thinking/advice on these forums for river play is to value bet/fold to a raise....so i searched for river bluff raise threads with little luck.

I've read threads/articles from low to high limit players as well as lower stakes nl, 1-2, 2-5 and see similar thinking.

Is it simply that when we are raised on the river we are beat 95%+ so even the huge pot odds in our limit games do not justify calling for 1 more bet? On a similar note, is a river bluff raise considered FPS?

I figured that with so many adept players on these forums we at least have that play in the repertoire, but does it get used?

Every time I go play live that play is in the plans if i find the right villain/situation, yet when going over the previous session i find that i had several opportunities yet didn't pull the trigger.

Thoughts?

First off, most small stakes players never bluff-raise the river. This is why you can often fold to a river raise. Of course, it depends a bit on your hand strength and the board, but generally speaking, a river raise means villain "has it".

As for bluff-raising yourself: sometimes you've played with a villain enough to know that he is mubsy, will fold to river raises, and believes that you are tight. In these rare situations, a bluff-raise should be part of your arsenal. However, this doesn't occur often at small stakes.

if you intend to use the bluff raise i think it's important to first witness a villain bet/folding the river. we need to make this play versus someone who is capable of folding, otherwise it will never work. also, our intended opponent should be someone who is willing to stab at the pot.

i think this play will work on occasion versus the right opponent, but it's a rare situation when it comes up. i did it a couple of days ago, but i think i may have been bluffing with the best hand.

In small stakes games- generally populated by poor-playing, calling stations- you'd be better served to forget about bluffing and resign yourself to having the best hand to win. And don't forget to value bet it otr.

this

also they don't bluff. so our strategy of not bluffing vs their made hands on the river coupled with folding to their river raises with our made hands is +++EV.

just be sure of your read is all. you can apply this strategy to the majority of small stakes live players, but if you're playing vs a creative 2p2er b/f the river in these spots can be cancer. know your opponents, cuz i'll gladly steal the pot from ya if you're distracted by the nba game or the server's vivacious knockers.

I think the 3 most important principles of bluff raising are:

playing against someone who value bets thinly;

playing against someone who can bet/fold;

having your story make sense; you can't just raise the river when a blank hits because you're getting looked up.

If the spot comes up, it will be against the guy who is trying to play well. He'll be talking strategy constantly with his neighbor. He'll talk about fishy limps, 3 betting frequency, and balance. You'll know to bluff him because he longs to make an expert laydown. Then you help.
You still have to worry about the guy who bets intending to fold and then who can't actually fold. In his mind, he's making the expert forum play but at the table he wants to see what you have.

Check out CaptainR's post on bluffing.

I have seen players bluff raise the river and sometimes raise w/o the best hand. This is rare and unless you have seen the player do that consider that they made their hand. Four to a straight and he has 2 pair. Bad player bets, weak-tight overcalls, player raises, bad player calls with one pair - weak tight folds best hand.

This is rare at low limit but you do need to watch for it just like some will bluff bet the river hoping you fold. I called a guy with bottom pair and it pissed him off. Beat his Ace high. You can only bluff good players and my bluffs are good about 5% if that high. Most will call you for no good reason but to see your hand : VALUE BET.

I might do it for a small pot early in a session only if you want to get caught to generate action for your big hands on the river later in the session... Assuming you're going to play tight after advertising.

I often tell players that are coming over to LHE from NLH that limit is "a showdown game".

Either the odds or curiosity/information will call your bluff so much of the time it's not an optimal play.

However, to NOT have it in your arsenal is also a mistake. I agree with what was said about finding a player who is yapping about how much he knows about the game and making sure he sees you as tight.

Then you can make your move when the time is right.

Exactly. Rare. 6/12 bay 101. A player kept saying that he could read me. So I let him do that. HU I'm BB checked raised turn with air when K paired the board. He did not have a K and folded with a speech.

Bluff raising a small pot expecting them to call is expensive. Mostly your opponents don't remember. Your big hands get action in loose LHE games already, we're talking about getting called. If you want 2 big bets in your advertising budget, I'd almost think that straddling is cheaper. Don't do either.

Since you raise more than everyone else in a passive game you're already seen as aggressive. Since you 3 bet correctly, the spots where people see you win with AJo vs. a steal or light raise cover the "crazy raising guy" part. Since you limp 85s on the button after 5 limps, you play a fair number of hands. What I'm saying is that normal good play doesn't make you look like a nit. Your image will take care of itself, if you play well. Most live players (even people who post here) forget about hand strength vs. position and action, so the weak hands you correctly play in the blinds or in late position will be considered part of your UTG range by the people who saw them at showdown. The only reason most online players know is because their HUD shows them if they click on your PFR stat and see that you're positionally aware.

Thanks for the replies...and the link, that was a good one.

I've gone out with the intention of looking for a spot where i have Axo and the 3rd flush card hits on the river as a spot to try to steal a pot...but at game speed I have hesitated and then not continued with the raise as i realize that the slight hesitation wouldn't look right and would get looked up...

playing sslh this is the worste part of allota "there" games...
if u have value,push it!!

It's not usual for people to fold to raises in small-stakes games, but I do see it happen (by people showing their bluffs). As you move up bluffing becomes more important. So, while bluffing is not part of normal strategy for small-stakes games, I think it is a good idea to keep an eye our for situations where it would work against the right opponent. Remember that anytime you bluff your range needs to have hands that you would be value raising in the same situation.