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As mentioned in previous hand histories [should this be 'strategy articles'?], using the semi- bluff is an important tactic to include in your overall strategy. One of the benefits of making the semi-bluff bet, or raise, is the chance of a free card. If you are seated in late position and act strongly on the flop with a drawing hand, often times the table will check to you on the turn, allowing you to see the river card for free. Seeing that card for free could be extremely helpful, for several reasons:
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You do not have a made hand yet and still need help, but with one card left
you have less of a chance of hitting your card.
You want to stay in the hand, because if you hit your card, you are most likely going to take down
the pot.
If someone makes a decent sized bet, you probably have to fold.
So, the free card is very helpful, and you can set that up by acting aggressively on the flop after your opponents. In the hand below, I'm holding the KQ of hearts in early position, and pre-flop raise $1.50. The table folds except for the small blind, which is very fortunate for me because I have position on my opponent for the rest of the hand. The flop brings 6 J T and two hearts. So, I am holding an open-ended straight draw, as well as the flush draw. This gives me 15 outs (15 cards in the deck to complete my straight or my flush) and makes me a 51.4% chance of hitting one of those outs. These are pretty good odds (Check out the essay,
Post-flop Strategy - Pot Odds,
to read more about outs and odds.)
My opponent comes out betting $3 on this flop. Since I have a very good chance of making a winning hand, I semi-bluff and raise the bet to $8. I'm hoping for a fold, but don't mind a call since I have a great shot of winning the hand (but please, no re-raise!). My opponent calls my raise. The turn brings a 7 of spades, no help. Now, with only one card left, my odds of hitting one of my 15 outs has dropped to 32.6%, and where I might have been a slight favorite on the flop, I am now most likely behind on the turn (you can use this chart for quick odds calculations -
Charts - Outs and Pot Odds.)
However, since I acted so strongly on the flop, my opponent checks to my strength on the turn, allowing me to check and see the river for free.
The river card completes my hand. Now, if my opponent had made a strong bet on the turn (giving me poor pot odds) I would have layed down the hand, but my play on the flop allowed me to stay in the hand and take it down.
Check it out:
***** Hand History for Game XXXX *****
0/0 TexasHTGameTable (NL) - Wed Apr 07 23:12:19 EDT 2004
Table Table XX (Real Money) -- Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 2: Player2 ( $24.25)
Seat 3: Player3 ( $24)
Seat 4: Player4 ( $16)
Seat 5: Player5 ( $15.25)
Seat 6: FlopTurnRiver ( $30.65)
Seat 7: Player7 ( $6)
Seat 8: Player8 ( $61.40)
Seat 9: Player9 ( $60.55)
Seat 10: Player10 ( $23.15)
Player4 posts small blind (0.25)
Player5 posts big blind (0.50)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to FlopTurnRiver [ Qh, Kh ]
FlopTurnRiver raises (1.50) to 1.50
Player7 folds.
Player8 folds.
Player9 folds.
Player10 folds.
Player2 folds.
Player3 folds.
Player4 calls (1.25)
Player5 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 6h, Tc, Jh ]
Player4 bets (3)
FlopTurnRiver raises (8) to 8
Player4 calls (5)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 7s ]
Player4 checks.
FlopTurnRiver checks.
** Dealing River ** : [ 3h ]
Player4 checks.
FlopTurnRiver bets (7)
Player4 calls (6.50)
Player4 is all-In.
Creating Main Pot with $30.90 with Player4
** Summary **
Main Pot: $30.90 | Side Pot 1: $0.50 | Rake: $1.60
Board: [ 6h Tc Jh 7s 3h ]
Player2 balance $24.25, didn't bet (folded)
Player3 balance $24, didn't bet (folded)
Player4 balance $0, lost $16 [ Qd Qc ] [ a pair of queens -- Qd,Qc,Jh,Tc,7s ]
Player5 balance $14.75, lost $0.50 (folded)
FlopTurnRiver balance $45.55, bet $16.50, collected $31.40, net +$14.90 [ Qh Kh ] [ a flush, king high -- Kh,Qh,Jh,6h,3h ]
Player7 balance $6, didn't bet (folded)
Player8 balance $61.40, didn't bet (folded)
Player9 balance $60.55, didn't bet (folded)
Player10 balance $23.15, didn't bet (folded)
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