Many players new to poker believe that the game involves big bluffs and daring all-in moves. While this is certainly a characteristic of the final table of televised poker tournaments – where players are often desperately short-stacked - playing this way in an online cash game is a recipe for losing your bankroll very quickly. This article is a beginner’s guide to spotting profitable bluffing situations using what is known as the ‘No-Limit Semi-Bluff’.

There are many situations in poker where instead of flopping a great hand you flop a hand that requires some help from the turn or river to be completed. The most common situation involves holding 4 cards to a flush or a straight. You know that if you catch one of your ‘outs’ in the next two cards you are the favorite to win a showdown, but at the moment do not actually hold a made hand.

Especially when last to act after the flop, these situations can be used for a ‘semi-bluff’ raise or even re-raise. Here is an example: You hold 2 hearts and the board comes with 2 hearts and one other card. Your single opponent, who you (correctly) assess as holding a weak pair bets into you.

Here you have several choices – however the situation is ideal for a semi-bluff raise. This can have several positive outcomes. You could win the pot right away if your opponent folds and pick up a nice pot. If your opponent calls you could make you hand with a heart on the turn. Finally if a heart does not fall on the turn the probability is that your opponent will check to you – this will enable you to take a ‘free card’ on the river to make your hand.

The ‘semi-bluff’ works due to the multiple ways of winning the hand. In this same situation a ‘pure bluff’ (with no hand and no draw) would not succeed often enough to be profitable. Calling to draw to your flush would also be problematic – your opponent could easily bet so much after the turn that it would not be profitable to continue drawing. However the combination of the bluff element and the chance of making the best hand together make the semi-bluff a profitable move.

As you gain more experience in spotting these profitable situations at the tables you will be able to take account of other factors which influence whether this move will be successful. These include the possibility of your opponent re-raising your raise, either as a bluff or because he has a monster holding. Your position at the table will also influence the success of semi-bluffing as will the number of opponents still active in the hand.

A final factor in success is whether the draw that you hold is obvious to your opponents. Here we used the example of a flush draw – however 3 cards to a flush on the board will often make opponents wary and may result in you winning a smaller pot. Straight draws are often better hands to semi-bluff with, as opponents are usually far less likely to give you credit for holding the straight.

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