Hi all,

I think I can still improve in recognising the non-obvious bluffing spots. Everyone can bluff a missed draw. To be a great player it takes more.
I was wondering whether the following spot on the turn is a sweet spot to make a check raise bluff and , if called on the turn, follow it up by a river bet.
Villain is probably checking back Ace high otf. He might of course check back aces, kings or a monster to trap. IMO the probability of a weak hand (ace high) is much more likely and by minbetting ott he might want to go to a cheap showdown.

I took the easiest way and just folded my king high.

Villain has just been sitting down for 30 hands but has been very active preflop, hence the call. Bad call even if villain is threebetting a lot?


PokerStars, $100 + $9 - Hold'em No Limit - 100/200 (25 ante) - 8 players


UTG: 2,636 (13 bb)
UTG+1: 4,975 (25 bb)
MP: 4,794 (24 bb)
MP+1 (Hero): 12,412 (62 bb)
CO: 4,971 (25 bb)
BU: 7,348 (37 bb)
SB: 10,785 (54 bb)
BB: 6,983 (35 bb)

Pre-Flop: (500) Hero is MP+1 with J♥ K♣
3 players fold, Hero raises to 445, 1 fold, BTN 3-bets to 1,320, 2 players fold, Hero calls 875

Flop: (3,140) 5♣ T♥ 7♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: (3,140) T♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 800, MP+1 (Hero) folds

Total pot: 3,140
BU wins 3,140

Wouldn't you rather have 98s to make moves with?

Point being there wont be many good spots when flatting KJo oop v 3b, also flatting KJo doesn't punish him for recklessly 3betting. This is what he wants. What he doesn't want is to get 4bet by KJo.

So as played pretending you flatted KJs, I'd probably play it as you did and let this one go, your plan should work alot but players can get stubborn when they convince themselves they induced bluffs. I prefer the spots where they think they look strong (eg. x/r v reckless turn cbets)

before bluffing here i'd want to know why V didn't 25% c-bet flop

Splashing around flops with this guy, OOP, with a crappy hand isn't how you exploit his perceived overaggression.

Fold pre.

Fold now. We have draws like 98s we can start bluffing with.

Pre is pretty marginal, KJo should be one of our weakest open MP so it seems like a logical fold to 3-bet. If we're going to 4-bet bluff here having an A would be much better.

As played I think we have to fold. If we start calling with every overcard combo here we're probably calling too much even to the tiny bet sizing. I also think it's hard to represent a credible story if we c/r turn unless we're doing so with a lot of our suited Tx, and even then we probably have better bluffs (like 98s or J9s) in our range.

Plus while KJ does block KK and JJ which may occasionally check flop, it also blocks AK and AJ which may often check flop and are the types of hands we're trying to get to fold.

If you’re intending to bluff here, donk 1500 on turn and 1500 on river. At least you rep 88 etc