Quote:
Originally Posted by legionrainfall
Still can't grasp this idea.
The other person does not know your cards.
So how can you say "only better hands will call"?
That's like saying "Only buy stocks that go up"
You simply don't know that.
If there is a flush draw on the board, many experts will donk bet, and rep the flush. So, some people will gladly call and catch you. Bluff catcher?
You're talking as if NO ONE ever calls with 2nd best possible hand. That's simply not true at all. If that were true, EVERYONE would donk bet with any A on the board, every time, since everyone will fold anything less.
I am simply unable to fathom how this mindreading assumption works.
Hero = QJh
Flop = As Qs Ks
You're saying that NO ONE with Ax would call a bet here? B/c they will never call with 2nd best hand? IF so, then I should bet every time here, right ? Rep the flush? Well, if that's the case, then everyone with Ax knows you're donking, and will start calling your bluff with 2nd best hand.
Full circle?
You asked about a concept, and then are suggesting that it applies to every situation. But it is a concept that applies in certain situations, and you have to be able to recognize them. It is a situation that is generally on the river, because before that people will often call with worse hands than whatever someone might have - because they always have hope, and probably outs.
Imagine you are on the river, and the board has 4 spades, and 3 to a straight. You have a middle spade, for an okay flush. Based on the way the hand has played, you are sure your opponent has high cards, so if he has a spade he probably has the nuts. He bets 2/3 of the pot leaving about a pot sized bet left.
You know he could be bluffing, so you don't plan on folding. If you raise - he will call with a higher spade and will fold with anything else. Your raise accomplishes nothing except to give him a lot of money if you are beat. A call will get you exactly the same amount of money, without risking losing it all.
Take the same situation, but you have nothing, and you think he doesn't have a good spade but whatever he has is better than you. This is a situation where you can raise. There are better hands that will fold. You can't call because then you are throwing money away. This is a straight bluff.
In the earlier situation, you may think you have a winning hand and are betting for value - but you have to realize you simply won't get value from any hands that are calling.
So this isn't every hand or every river - but there are times where you think you are ahead and it still doesn't make sense to bet.