Fake Flush Draw

Here is a play that I've become very fond of and seems to be working well. It works best if you're heads-up and in position on a relatively tight player who doesn't generally bet on the come.

Here's an example:
UTG raises, I call on button with 56s, no other callersw. Flop comes 47Q with none of my suit but two to another suit. UTG bets pot, meaning he probably has a hand, QK or better, and I call, looking to either complete my deceptive straight draw and take down a big pot or bluff the completed flush draw. If a blank falls on the turn, I will call another decent sized bet (probably up to 2/3 or 3/4 pot-size or so, assuming I'll have enough left in my stack to make a bluff with some muscle or get paid off big on the river) looking for my straight or the flush possibility to come on the river.

If the flush draw completes on the turn and it's checked to me, I'll probably check behind or make a small bet--representing a strong flush--and then bet huge on the river. Similarly, if the flush comes on the river, I'm betting huge when the other guy checks it to me and 9 times out of 10 I'll steal the pot. If the third flush card comes on the turn and I'm bet into, then it really depends on my read. If I think he has either a set or top pair or better and the nut draw and won't be able to get away from it, I'll fold. If I think he's bluffing or has a hand he'll fold to a big bet, I'll raise big. And obviously, if I get one of my six outs for my untainted straight, I'm in a prime position to win a big pot (the other guy is likely to bet on turn and river with a strong hand and no flush, and a big raise could easily be misread as a missed flush), so I'll bet or raise as much as I think the other guy will call. If the flush draw AND my straight draw complete, I'd probably make a relatively small value bet, since I probably won't be able to sell my hand for very much with the flush draw out.

So, the next time you have an OESD heads up, consider that you might have 15 outs instead of just 8.

Originally Posted by twosevoff

If the flush draw completes on the turn and it's checked to me, I'll probably check behind or make a small bet--representing a strong flush--and then bet huge on the river.

You are gonna slow-play a bluff? Crazy.

Originally Posted by twosevoff

Similarly, if the flush comes on the river, I'm betting huge when the other guy checks it to me and 9 times out of 10 I'll steal the pot.

9 times out of 10! 90%!?!?! You can bluff Top pair out of a heads up pot by representing the flush, and you pull this off 90% of the time? You may want to recheck those numbers.

That sounds like a trick play from the back of the playbook, but I guess for this to work you have to have established already a Laggy type of table image so that your opponent will believe you'd play anything...or am I missing something?

Also does this only apply to button play or can you do this UTG? Actually kinda curious because the victims you are refering to kinda sound like me a bit.

I dont like this play, if it doesnt work thewn you loose the call you made on the flop, the smallish bet on the turn and your bluf at the river. the only way i see this as being profitable is if youre telling the truth and it works about 90% of the time, which I highly doubt it.


-anto

Against the right type of player, I'd say it works more like 10 times out 10. Even if they know I'll make big bluffs, when an obvious flush draw out on the flop completes is not the time a tight player is going to try to snap me off. I mean, what does the typical player put you on if you're just calling with two to a suit out there on the flop? The flush draw is always in their mind, believe me. If the flush draw doesn't come and then you bet huge, that's when they're likely to call you down (they think you've missed the flush and are bluffing when in fact you've made the nut straight). But when the flush does come on the river, I'd say a tight player will often lay down a hand as strong as a set. Tight players do NOT like to give action when they think they've been sucked out on.

Again, this is a "trick" play that should probably only be used seldomly (but how often are you going to flop a OESD in a HU pot with two to a suit out there?) and should generally only be used with both a read and position. I'm not sure about the 9/10 number, I just know that the few times I've used this play it's worked, and that whenever I bluff or bet big into a tight player with the flush draw out, they invariably lay their hand down unless they have a flush of their own or they think I'm a maniac.

The aspect of this that I like is slowplaying the bluff. You can really mess with people's heads this way. I don't do this much, but I have several times and it's been successful maybe 75% of the time. You have to have a solid read on the player in the pot with you - he has to be tight, and you better know that he's just betting top pair or something in that vein. Even tight players with top two pair or a set will often call you, even when they "know" you have them beat. So bluffing at that kind of hand is too risky.