That’d probably mean you’re sitting on a bluff. Yes, I do that on occasion too. Unlike some though, I don’t try to make it a livelihood. It a selective, situational activity. The goal isn’t to outjism the other guy. The goal is to keep people a bit more honest and try to compensate a bit for the blinds and antes.
There are players at the stud tables that must bet their big door card. There are flop players who always bet position. The word always is the killer. That is a killer because predictability is deadly. These are the people that win small pot after small pot and then pay off the better players in big ones. They’re a decent player’s bread and butter.
The thing about real bluffing at a stud table is that you don’t just fire a single bullet. The typical way I do it is a check-raise. There’s almost always going to be two subsequent bullets. I’m not going to do this against your typical 4-5 limpers. Those who like to bluff do it at the darnedest times. They got rats showing and they bet. Just how often are you making your set with those cards? Nice when it happens with a table full of limpers that will call and call. But, one has to figure that distribution isn’t favoring a player that often. Even those on a rush don’t get filled up on every rat hand.
I may be on a naked bluff at times. That is infrequent. The bluff is going to at least have good overs or some kind of flush or straight in the back door or a small pair and a premium. It isn’t going to be directed at the guy that won against the other bluffer with his rat pair. Although, I’ll occasionally do that when I’ve an image that will back it up. I like it to be when I’ve been used by him but recently shown down a solid hand that I’d bet in similar fashion.
The thing about the true loose-aggressive is that they are basically insecure. They are often the kid that got bullied or the kid that bullied. For the bullied one it is a chance to get back at a world that has mistreated him. For the true bully, it is just a continuation of his amoral jog through life. You can often identify which one is which. The true bully is the one who’ll raise you back. You don’t let him do it. If you don’t own or think he’ll keep position, I tend to call and then lead out. If you go to four-bets you need him have to lead. You don’t have information adequate information when forced to start the next round. For the same price, you can fire on the next street and get more information.
Bluffing is dangerous. To do it well, you commit a number of big bets to the operation. That means you’d hope to win often enough to show a profit. When the donk had a hand or your crap got to the river missing its draw, it still has some redeeming value. If you are a true tight-aggressive, you’ve just done some great misdirection that will help you get those strong hands paid off. Tracker software never catches that side of the play.
There is another type of bluff that is more used. That’s the honest one. Or at least it is as honest as a bluff gets. They’re cheap one from late position. At stud I usually will complete with more modest holdings. With an ace or king up, I’ll mix in the call and bet the next street. The idea is to mix it up a bit and give the impression of the possible slow play. That works at two levels