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Ace Speaks - A semi-bluff succeeds
by Rolf Slotboom

It's one of those nice and quiet Sunday afternoons. Usually, this would be my day off, because on Sundays there are no big pot-limit games in my regular cardroom. But because I haven't played any long limit hold'em sessions in quite a while, I head to the casino to play a little $10-20 hold'em, which is the biggest limit available.

The game is unusually soft on this day. There are quite a few weak, easy-to-manipulate opponents, and I am up close to $500 for a way-above-average win. It needs to be said that I have been rather fortunate. In five hours of play, my aces and king have both held up, and I have flopped a set twice - meaning I played six hands, and won four of them. (I have also picked up two pots from the blinds while holding absolutely nothing, but my opponents have no clue that in both cases I was on a stone cold steal.)

Now, a new player enters the game. Well, this player is not actually new; I have played with him on numerous occasions. When I had just started playing for a living, he was one of the regulars. This player - let's call him Johnny - does play rather tight, but he is also very tricky. He likes to push small edges and often bets with marginal hands if he senses that the opposition may be weak. At the same time, he isn't afraid to fold even reasonably good hands if it seems likely that someone holds a better one.

As I said, Johnny and I have been at the same table very often, but because he has moved abroad he doesn't play in my regular game anymore. Johnny still remembers me as the super-rock who only plays ace-king, and who would never continue in a hand with less than top pair. After all, that's how I played when I just started out: rock-solid, ultra-disciplined and very tight. Of course, over the years I have improved my game considerably (by occasionally semi-bluffing and even bluffing, and by making my tight image work by stealing a few pots here and there), but he doesn't know that. For him, I am still the tight, unimaginative player that I used to be.

Now, that is the crux to the play that I'm sharing with you today. It is the fact that Johnny still viewed me as someone who would never bet or raise without having the goods. There were also some additional factors that, from his perspective, made it highly unlikely I was making a move to make him lay down the best hand, not to mention the fact that by the way I played my hand, I was able to disguise my actual holding. Here's what happened.

The play.

A waitress has just brought a delicious meal to the table. Even though I usually don't like to eat while playing, the game is so good that I simply don't want to take a break. The food is good too: I have a spicy, delicious combination of steak and green vegetables in a rich, thick Oriental sauce. I'm in the big blind with king-nine of clubs. Five players have limped, including Johnny who is in the cutoff, so I get a free play. The flop comes J63 with two clubs, meaning I've got a king-high flush draw in addition to some (but not a lot) high-card and backdoor straight potential. Even though I often play my flush draws aggressively, because I have been quite active from the blinds earlier this session, I decide to simply check to see how things develop. It gets checked around to Johnny who bets in his unusual, strange manner.

Now, as I said, this Johnny is a tricky player. He likes to play deceptively, and often checks when most people would bet, and bets when most people would check. For instance, while most people would almost always slowplay monsters like quads or top full, this player loves to simply come out betting in situations like this. In this specific hand that was going on right now, it seemed to me that he had a genuine hand, though - even though it was unclear to me if he was betting a genuine made hand or a genuine draw. All in all, I didn't like his bet, as he might well be pushing an ace-high flush draw, making me drawing dead or close to it.

Both the button and the small blind flat-call his bet, and now it's up to me. While often in multiway pots like this I would have gone for the check-raise with my flush draw, in this case I decide to just call and maybe lure the two players behind me into the pot as well. My reasoning? Because most people in this game know that I often play my four-flushes aggressively, I might now be able to make quite a bit of money if I hit it, especially because of my passive play all throughout the hand. (A second reason for not raising was of course the threat that a higher flush draw than mine may be out there.) After all, because I have given no sign of aggression whatsoever (being in the big blind in an unraised pot, having checked-and-called on the flop in a six-way pot), I was fairly certain I could get some of my opponents to pay me off generously in case I hit my flush, with hands as weak as one pair maybe. Anyway, there is one more caller, so five people stay for the turn, which is an offsuited five. Now, this is an interesting card, knowing it may well have helped one of my opponents. After all, with five people seeing the turn, and with people routinely playing hands like seven-four suited in this game, I know that this card might have given one of my opponents considerable help.

Everyone checks to Johnny, who once again makes a bet. Now, he is just about the only player in this pot who can't have a seven-four because, as I said, his preflop standards are rather tight. The most likely hands for him to hold would be top pair, second pair + ace kicker or, also still possible, the ace-high flush draw. He can also hold a set, but I usually read him very well, and I don't sense this much strength in him. In fact, I sense fear in Johnny, fear that this five may very well be a bad card for him.

So, when both the button and the small blind fold, and when I see that the remaining player behind me doesn't seem very interested either, I decide to make a move. I check-raise Johnny as a semi-bluff, to make him throw away his one-pair hands that currently beat my king-high, and also to pave the way for a river bluff in case he does hold a bigger flush draw than me. The player behind me indeed throws away his cards, and now Johnny goes into the tank. You can see him thinking: does Rolf have the seven-four here, or is he making a move? But then again, what kind of move could he be making? Because if Rolf is making a semi-bluff here, what could he conceivably have? With a flush draw, he probably would have check-raised on the flop or even bet out, and he isn't the type of player to make any move without the flush. In fact, he hardly ever makes a move! Plus, it is clear that Rolf can easily hold the seven-four here. After all, he is in the big blind, and with six players in the pot and relatively little raising, calling one bet on the flop with a gutshot may well have been the proper play - even for a tight player like him. Should I call? Should I fold? Does he have it - or doesn't he?

Johnny looks again at his cards, he looks at me, at my huge pile of chips, and at the food that is there waiting for me. It is clear that he just doesn't want to fold, but basically everything seems to indicate that he is up against a straight, or at least some other very strong holding. He knows I almost never bluff (at least, that is his perception of me), I'm in front (usually, people who are in front are less likely to make any moves than people who are losing), I am eating (people who have just gotten food usually bet and raise only when they've got the goods), and the way I have played the hand is exactly how someone with a straight draw would play it: check-call while drawing, and then check-raise when it gets there.

After long deliberation, Johnny finally decides to throw away his cards, showing king-jack offsuit. I would have been drawing to nine cards only, if he had called me. Now, I win a good-sized pot while holding just a draw, and I have been able to make my opponent lay down a fairly strong hand, a hand way stronger than mine. I stack my chips, and feel warm inside. I have used perfect timing for this semi-bluff to succeed and have chosen the ideal opponent to execute it, knowing that probably more than the other players, this specific player would give me credit for having the best hand. I go back to my steak with the Oriental sauce and the green vegetables. It tastes even better than before, now.