Would you induce a bluff with high cards if...

Situation: Playing with an over-confident player who thinks he's better than me. also decently conservative, a bit predictable. will definately make continuation bets and bluffs every once in a while. at a home game, $10 buy in. I have AKs raise to $1, he calls.

Flop: 552 (two hearts).

Villan bets $2, i think that he didn't hit this flop and thinks his highcards are good. i call feeling my hand is still best.

Turn: 7s

Villan checks. I'm am really confident now that he indeed made a continuation bet on the flop...

Now here's the thing: should i bet now, or do a gutsy thing... Check to induce a bluff. Could i possibly do that play?

well i felt confident in my read so i checked.

River: 3c

Villan bets $6.
I now think Yes! pulled it off... i still think for a little while making sure that i have a good read, reviewing his play.

I call, show my AKs, and take down the pot.
The guy is okay at first, but then i tell him i trapped him. At that comment he flips out, because an unpaired AK is not a trap. But in a sense my play was a trap.


Anyways to the point. What do you think of this play? I don't know if it's really correct to do this, since i played the whole hand so passively with nothing. My thinking was he had a AK-AJ, so if he hit an Ace i'm probably still winning. and if a J or Q comes i'll see what i think.

You told him what?
Why?

If he might have AK, I'd raise the river. I might raise it anyway, I don't want to showdown with someone who thinks he's better than me.

If you never show him a hand, it'll get to him.

Against an overaggressive player, it's often profitable to check a marginal hand you feel is ahead, but don't want to go deep with, because you don't want a tough decision, and it becomes profitable to make a loose call on their subsequent bluff attempt. In essence, ther are situations where it is correct to become "tight passive" against an overaggressive opponent.

I use this often now. I let a hand I have identified from an aggressive opponent think I'm weak in hopes it will bluff the river unimproved, and pay me off. I do this almost exclusivley in tournament play. This has a lot that goes with it, such as he's more likely to bluff if he misses, than chase for the wrong price. It becomes very sophisticated. You learn this play in aggressive LIMIT games, but it has it's application in a NL setting as well. You check on the river if your hand is vulnerable, and your opponent is aggressive to weakness, because often they will take a stab at it when they're behind, they won't pay if you bet, and only raise your river bet when they're ahead.

I think I have this straight. Maybe Fnord can take a peek and correct my lingo.

Nh Sir

i did it just now.

PokerStars Game #3023838220: Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2005/11/10 - 17:55:26 (ET)
Table 'Marceline' Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: slickster998 ($84.95 in chips)
Seat 2: rebuyman ($57.80 in chips)
Seat 3: pondman_1 ($22.65 in chips)
Seat 4: bigol_salmon ($48.55 in chips)
Seat 5: WheelingJim ($55.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Ganpathy ($23.75 in chips)
Seat 7: Owly ($45.10 in chips)
Seat 8: HotSauce3 ($165.85 in chips)
Seat 9: 7GotNothin2 ($35.25 in chips)
Owly: posts small blind $0.25
HotSauce3: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to rebuyman [Ad Qd]
7GotNothin2: folds
slickster998: folds
rebuyman: raises $1.50 to $2
pondman_1: folds
bigol_salmon: folds
WheelingJim: folds
Ganpathy: folds
Owly: folds
HotSauce3: calls $1.50
*** FLOP *** [Th 9d 4c]
HotSauce3: checks
rebuyman: bets $2
HotSauce3: calls $2
*** TURN *** [Th 9d 4c] [9c]
HotSauce3: checks
rebuyman: checks
*** RIVER *** [Th 9d 4c 9c] [8c]
HotSauce3: bets $5
rebuyman: calls $5
*** SHOW DOWN ***
HotSauce3: shows [Kh Qh] (a pair of Nines)
rebuyman: shows [Ad Qd] (a pair of Nines - Ace kicker)
rebuyman collected $17.40 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $18.25 | Rake $0.85
Board [Th 9d 4c 9c 8c]
Seat 1: slickster998 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: rebuyman showed [Ad Qd] and won ($17.40) with a pair of Nines
Seat 3: pondman_1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: bigol_salmon folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: WheelingJim folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Ganpathy (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Owly (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: HotSauce3 (big blind) showed [Kh Qh] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 9: 7GotNothin2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

i dont think he would check call the flop and check the turn with a pair so i put him on something like AJ or KQ and was right.