Bluffing Preflop From the Big Blind

A good way to keep opponents off balance

An obvious time to run a bluff is when you are last to act and nobody has shown any strength. On the initial betting round, the last person to act is the big blind. When in this position, you should always be alert to the possibility of bluffing with a preflop raise when everyone who entered the pot limped in with a call.

In a situation in which everyone limps, it is unlikely that anyone other than the opener will have a strong hand. If your preflop raise gets by the opener, you may either get called or win the pot outright, but it is most unlikely that you will be reraised. (The only plausible danger comes from a short stack who decides to reraise all in with an intermediate pair or a fairly big ace, hoping that you are on a steal.) Consequently, it is essential that you observe the player who opens the pot. If you can determine that the opener is very unlikely to have a big hand, looking to reraise, the conditions for a steal are much more favorable.

An alert and aggressive player in one of the blinds should not be looking at his cards when the pot is being opened; he must be observant. So, you should either take advantage of the fact that you get your cards before the other players by taking a fast glance at your hand, or wait until it is your turn to act before looking at your cards. Furthermore, you should keep the opener under observation instead of following the action with your eyes. You will still be aware of whether or not the pot gets raised by keeping your ears open and following the action by using your peripheral vision. One of the reasons I wear a cap when playing is that I like to be able to study someone rather than watch the action - and not let on to what I am doing.

When bluffing, you are not looking to get called, let alone reraised, so it pays to give yourself a good chance of picking up the pot. This means making a large enough raise to give the opposition an incentive to fold. Of course, you do not want to raise an outlandishly large amount, or your opponents may snap you off for a large bundle, or perhaps read your bet size as weakness and fear. But, you sure do not want to raise a mere pittance, either.

You are out of position on all three of the remaining betting rounds, so even with a strong hand, you are not looking to get called. After all, the best hand that you can hold preflop is only a pair, and it figures to stay only a pair about seven times out of eight. As we know, one pair is fairly often no longer the best hand after the flop comes down. When you are out of position with an overpair (or top pair with the boss kicker), and it does not hold up, you figure to lose a bundle.

Since you do not want to be called when bluffing, and do not want to offer your opponents a cheap shot at big money, especially when out of position, you should never be making a small raise when in the big blind. I tell my students to overbet the pot size by 20 percent or 25 percent when making a preflop raise from either blind. I would not be critical of raising somewhat more than this, especially if there were many limpers. However, I think it is a clear-cut error to raise only the size of the pot or less.

A common mistake of weak poker players is to overbet the pot size when on a bluff or with a hand they're not eager to have called (such as A-Q offsuit or pocket tens), but to offer a bargain price when holding a big pair. Aside from the obvious defect of letting people know what type of hand they hold by the amount of their wager, they also overestimate the desire one should have for being called when holding a premium hand. This particularly applies when aceless, when an overcard may well beat you, or deprive you of the pot because you are worried about being outflopped.

Naturally, since you can easily be called with your preflop bluff-raise, it is better to have enough hand to give yourself a chance to get lucky on the flop. In a tournament, you may be under pressure from the ever-rising blinds to try raising in certain situations without having anything other than a near-miracle flop or a strong arm to fall back on if called. In a cash game, you will not be under any pressure to take a shot at the pot with a bluff, and normally will have a lot of chips in front of you in proportion to the blinds. But be aware that this often draws action from gamblers who hope to hit a lucky flop and get your whole stack. It is desirable to have the extra equity of being able to hit the flop on occasion and punish someone who is playing you for a big pair.

The ideal hand for a preflop bluff-raise is small suited connectors. The raise disguises your hand, so if you hit, there is a chance to win a big pot through a surprise holding. However, when I have a small pocket pair, I prefer to just check and see the flop for free, rather than risk a steal. A set is a potential double-up hand, so I prefer something else for a bluff-raise from the blind.

I think stealing limped pots from the big blind is an important part of no-limit hold'em. I use this tool fairly often, which has the natural effect of making my opponents suspicious because of my frequency. This is the time to sense that you are irritating the players by picking up the pots where they are weak. You are now at the point where you should back off and wait for a premium hand, rather than muscle the game. Keeping your opponents off balance is good poker, and stealing from the big blind on occasion is a good way to do that.