Bluff the Fish. The right formula !!
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 98
How many times did hear or watch this sentence “don’t bluff the fish”. I pretty sure you hear this from your coach, poker buddies, coaching videos, poker books, forums, etc. Have you try it? Please don’t lie, tell truth. I know you did. Double or Triple barrel on A K 9 3 4 and just then you see the villain take down the pot with pocket 2’s. Does that frustrate you? I don’t think he’s the bad player. I am, you are as well. You know that he doesn’t know better and yet try to bluff
To be honest you can bluff the fish, yes, the big fish as well, that book that you just read it’s not 100% accurate, you just need to figure out at what stage or mode the villain is at any given time.
THE POLICE GUY
If the villain is on police mode, a big bluff is out of the question, but it doesn’t mean you can’t go light. If he can find any train of thought where he can convince his self that you are bluffing or he has the best hand he will go to showdown. When the fish is on this mode I like to go cheap to showdown trying stuff like betting on A high board, paired board, I also try semibluff but I don’t look at it as it is, I like to think about it like a EV(how much money I can win if he thinks my line doesn’t make sense?). Since I know that he’s on police mode there’s no fold equity so I go very cheap with my C-bet. I notice there’s a 50% to 60% chance that he will call you down even if you hit your straight or flush because that is not line that he will take if he’s chasing a draw(to him seems more like bluff than a made hand “why are you betting if you don’t have a made hand”). If notice that he’s the type of guy that raise every single hand and go to showdown just to keep you honest, I may try to 3-bet once in while and then show trash at showdown. It’s incredible how a while after you can go berserker on him with AA and stack him off since he can’t remove from his mind that you show him trash in the past. Enough evidence for him to play role as a detective. If you have this type of opportunity don’t go shy because he’s not a REG, on his mind your trying to steal the pot from him, he need to mimic the poker commercial he saw 2 hours ago.
THE SHY GUY
Have you notice the type of player that spill 60-80% of his buyin and then decide to protect the other 20%. I’ve since this countless of times where he continues to limp in order to see the flop as cheap as possible but he no longer hold down to pair of 7’s on A high board. Yesterday I saw this guy on $0,25/$0,50 stake. He start out with $50 went up to $70 doing all sort of crazy bets and calls until he drops to $20 where he decide to tighten up. Now you c-bet the flop, he drops, you bet on a 3 card flush draw on the turn and he also drops, you double barrel on A or K high on the turn and he decide to let go on his pocket 4’s(if the hand doesn’t make it to show down the fish like to show what they think is the second best hand when they about to fold). It’s hilarious how a player like this can give away 80% of his stack in 5 minutes and then lose an amount that is as low as $5 in half an hour. When I see this I tell my self “it’s time to bluff”. I C-bet, semi-bluff, go Big bluff, Re-Raise ALLIN with a weak pocket pair. I notice that when I get caught is by a premium hand or something like 2 pairs that he got on the flop other wheeze he had fold it to the aggression since he’s on conservative mode. I test this and come to the conclusion that I win between the half and entire money that he left with(the remaining 20% of his stack)
WHAT ARE YOUR TOUGHTS
How do you prepare fish for your good hands? How do you exploit fish?
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,071
U seem to have the right thought process. Basically try to figure out his style and exploit him. He will probably not adjust, or adjust in a very predictable and obvious way in which case hero just re-adjusts.
Most fish/recreationals i encounter at NL25 is either blowing money away or calling stations in both cases i just consider their VPIP and take them to value town accordingly. With the occasional loose passive fish that wants to see a lot of flops and plays fit and fold OTF i just try to isolate him and then increase my cbet percentage to 100%.