What is a semi-bluff?
A semi-bluff is a bet where you have the potential to make more money than you put at stake. Such opportunities are difficult to find, and only few people are capable to make money from them. The typical tournament poker players know the answer for this question. They tend to try to bluff especially in the first betting round. For example, if you call to the river with a hand like As, 6h, and an opponent bets 300 into the pot, you better have a strong hand to call. But on the other hand a semi-bluff may take place for example if you called with a hand like A, 5, 4, and an opponent bets 200.
Why to make a semi-bluff?
If you feel confident in your semi-bluff you can do so. This opportunity occurs because of the concept of concealment. You are able to hide the fact that you would have better hand than your opponents by changing the feel of your play. If your opponents are not sure about the second part of your bluff they cannot obviously fold just because of blind pressure.
In the following rounds your opponents are going to be trying to figure out if the second part of your bluff is true or not. Your opponents are also likely to be seeing if you have a stronger hand than you appear to based on the first betting round. In a sixth card commitment betting round a semi-bluff can be successful for two reasons.
Firstly, if your opponents fully intend to call you then there is a chance that they will also slow down on the later betting rounds, allowing you to make more profits from your semi-bluff.Secondly if your opponents show weakness when you have a weak hand, then you will likely get paid off more when you have a better hand to call with, allowing you to make a profit from your semi-bluff.
Pseudo-blinds
Blinds are not the only way to slow down the game and force players to bet only if they have a better hand. A high stakes poker game can be fast-paced and this is especially true in Vegas88. Lower blinds mean quicker decisions, which means more profits.
When you bet, you have to watch out for other players to raise the speed of the game up. They do this in an attempt to get everyone to bet. They do this in a way to build a bigger pot. Players raise in order to thin the field and increase the amount of players still in the hand. They also hope that a player remains in the hand after the flop so that they do not have to check the flop against many other players.
However you do not want to chase a draw, but you can at times take a shot at the draw. There are a couple of ways to play semi-bluff. You can either try to encouraged your opponents to continue the hand, or you can try to make them think that you have the better hand.
The first way to play a semi-bluff is to remember to keep the bet to a minimum as it might be more than your opponents are willing to bet. At the same time never bet more than 5% of your bankroll in to the pot. The purpose of this is to create a strong pot and an uphill battle for your opponents.
The second way is to show your cards after the flop and hope that your opponents see your bet and guess right. You can try this when you have nothing and your opponents check to you. They might be checking hoping that their cards on the flop are better than yours and better yet they might be waiting for a better hand than you have.
The third way to play a semi-bluff is to bet the turn even if you have nothing. Your opponent might think you are bluffing and check when you might have a monster. You can then keep betting again on the turn and hope that your opponent runs away. You might lose but if you survive, you can bluff your way to the river.
No matter what your strategy is, if you are playing a free poker tournament online, it is important to have a strong and successful approach in order to be successful. The strategies I have shared with you today are all inclusive and free so that you can work them out on your own. However, I do urge you to practice these strategies in free poker tournaments online because it is very different from cash games. Cash games are definitely more profitable thus, you might as well play free poker tournaments online.