PokerWorks

As the game gets more aggressive, it's still easy to stick with some basic concepts to pull off bluffs that work.

One of the most basic, yet most effective ways to pull off a bluff is to take advantage of a scare card when it hits the board.

I've got a pair of 4s in middle position in a six-handed, .25/.50 game on PokerStars. I've got a full stack, so when an opponent who is second to act raises in still relatively early position, I call, hoping to hit my set.

The hand gets really interesting, however, when the Small Blind re-raises to $4.50.

Three-bets pre-flop are more common than they used to be at my levels, especially in a six-handed game, which is just another sign that the game is getting more sophisticated and tougher to beat. However, in most cases, a three-bet still means a big hand.

I have to take this seriously, too, because he's doing this from the Small Blind. That means he's going to be out of position the rest of the hand. He must want to end the hand now, and I'm guessing he also must really like his hand to put more money in the pot when he'll be at such a disadvantage.

I have to put him on a big pair, given all that, until he tells me differently.

That's exactly why I call. I will have position, and he didn't raise enough for me to consider folding a smaller pair that could most likely stack him when I hit my set. Any poker player has a hard time getting away from a big pair in a shorthanded game against fairly aggressive opponents, so if I do hit my set, I could double up.

The initial raiser calls, too, as my call most likely drew him to call as it gave him the odds to call with a much wider range of hands, including suited connectors or another small-to-medium pair.

The flop comes - - . Crap. I didn't hit my set.

The Small Blind, as expected, bets, but his bet is a strange one. It's $2 into a pot that's swelled to $12.50 before the flop. Now this bet makes me start to wonder if my read is, in fact, correct and he hates that board.

True, he certainly could have hit that Ace. But let's look at what it would take for him to do that. He could have flopped a set of Aces, meaning his bet is more of a bet intended to suck me in, but that's not likely, and I'm not going to play every hand assuming my opponent hit a monster. We're not playing Omaha here.

He could have A-K, but I'm not sure he would re-raise with a drawing hand when he'll be out of position the rest of the hand.

My guess is he has Q-Q or K-K or even, I suppose, J-J, and he HATED that Ace. And he's betting a small amount to test the waters.

Well, I'm going to make the waters choppy for him.

I could raise here, but I'm just going to call. I am a tad wary of that Ace, too, given the pre-flop action, and I have the luxury of position on him, so I don't have to take control the hand just yet.

The comes down on the turn. He checks. Ah-ha!

This is why I love playing hands in position. He's forced to tell me what he's feeling. That check, I think, is telling me he's giving up because of that Ace on the board. True, that check could be really crafty, and he decided to slow-play his set of Aces, or he could be controlling the pot with his A-K and he intends to call.

But one reason I'm winning at online poker again lately is because I'm taking hands for what they are at face value. What is my opponent telling me most of the time with that check? Then I try to act based on the information that is most likely true. I will not be right all of the time, but I will be right most of the time, and that's enough - in poker - to win.

So I bet just about the pot, $14, and he quickly folds.

I won an $18 pot, not including the $14 I bet to win it. That's not a huge pot, but it's exactly the kind of pots you have to win to stay afloat, beat the rake and make up for the hands that don't hit.

And I registered a winning session that night, in part because I was willing to take advantage of a scare card and pull off a good bluff.