Against players who bet and raise too much

In this lesson

• Price a bluff-catch against a bettor's share of bluffs.
• Call down wider with middle pairs, weak pairs and ace-high against over-bluffers.
• Raise some air when the extra bets are air that folds.
• Tell aggression from bluffing by what a player shows down.

Read first: Adjusting to the player pool, Calling down with a bluff-catcher · Advice, not a lock: every lesson opens.

Concepts used: GTO and exploitative play, Bluff-catching, Check-raising

The price of a bluff-catch

Facing a pot-sized river bet, 20 into 20, you call 20 to win 40: a bluff-catcher needs a third of the bets to be bluffs. Against a bettor whose bets are half bluffs, each call is worth 0.5 × 40 − 0.5 × 20 = 10 bb. Aggression that runs ahead of the hands behind it pays the players who call it.

Rail's best response to a player who bluffs too much

Lock a river opponent who is first to act to bet much more of his air, and the lab's best response calls far more with its middle pairs, weak pairs and ace-high: the hands that beat a bluff and nothing else. It also raises some of its own air as a bluff. The extra bets are air, and air cannot call a raise — as long as the opponent folds them, which is part of the read.

Aggression is not the same as bluffing

The opponents panel counts bets and raises; it cannot tell a bluff from a strong hand played fast. A player who bets a lot may simply hold a lot. The read that matters is what he shows down after betting — your own hands where you called and saw the cards — and that sample builds slowly.

The turn works the same way, with one caution: Rail solves the turn with a single bet size, so the turn drills here practise calling barrels against Rail's baseline, not against a locked opponent.

The lab locks the river only. Turn spots are solved with one bet size (75% of the pot) and all-in, on ranges narrowed by Rail's heuristic model.

Rules of thumb

• A bluff-catcher needs bluffs at the bet's price: a third of a pot-sized bet.
• Against an over-bluffer, call wider with pairs and ace-high.
• Raise some air when his extra bets are air that folds.
• Judge aggression by what he shows down, not by how often he bets.

When they break

• A player who bets a lot because he holds a lot is not bluffing: check his showdowns.
• Against a bettor who never folds to a raise, raising air is a pure loss.

Example hands

Your own pool

Practice

The lesson is mastered when every exercise below that Rail can grade is passed. Missed items come back later as review cards.