The Re-Raise Bluff
If you play plenty of poker, then you inevitably run into the jokers who raise as a bluff to scare off the other players. It gets old after awhile, especially when you have a decent starting but speculative hand. When you continually run into this from the same player, especially in tournament poker, then you are going to have to counter-attack at some point with a re-raise bluff yourself.
If you are short stack, you will have to make this move with any two decent cards. When sitting on a big stack, you want to preserve it to make it to the money, so re-raising with a bluff is risky since you could wind up with a mediocre stack. The ideal time is when you have a medium sized stack that could use some added strength.
With a medium stack, you have everything to gain against a chronic bluffer and raiser. It is a given that it’s worthwhile sometimes because a raise has already been added to the pot and made it sufficiently rewarding, even pre-flop.
The best players to target with a re-raise bluff are those who tend to play tight most of the time and are willing to fold to raises. Re-raising a loose maniac will probably result in a call. What do you do when your re-raised bluff is called?
In this case, you can figure your poker opponent may actually be holding a made hand, albeit not necessarily a big pair. Or else the player is on a draw, especially if it takes a long time for him to respond to your bet. Check the turn to see if you can get a free card. Study the board texture to see if a straight or flush is shaping up.
The only way to counter a bluffer is to bluff back at select times.
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