When most people think of bluffing and semi-bluffing they think of doing it on the flop, turn, and river. Players normally don’t engage in bluffing as much in pre-flop play, and they also don’t consider doing it from the big blind quite as much either. But you can actually make a lot of money by bluffing people from the big blind spot in pre-flop play if you do it correctly.
The first thing to realize is that being in the big blind can actually be to your advantage. Sure you have to lay down the big bet which no one likes to do, but you also have a chance to survey all of the action before doing so. If you see that everyone has limped into the hand then a good opportunity exists to steal all of the previous bets with a strong raise. However, you also have to keep situations in mind where one of the earlier players could have a good hand, and thus might re-raise you.
That’s why you need to make raises that will actually convince other players to fold their hands. A small raise simply won’t do the job, but at the same time you can’t be risking half your stack on a pre-flop raise. A good pre-flop raise from the big blind is a pot-sized one since you don’t risk getting knocked out of the game, yet still have enough chips on the table to make people think twice about staying in the hand.
Another thing to be aware of when pre-flop betting from the big blind is that you need to make sure no big raises have been made before the action is to you. The reason for this is that you don’t want to be risking a pot-sized wager when the pot is too big.
Also, keep in mind that the cards you’re holding need to be a factor in whether or not you decide to bluff from the big blind. Small pairs, connectors, and especially suited connectors are always nice to have when pulling off this kind of bluff. Of course if you’ve already got your opponents figured out then the cards could mean less.
Tags: Tips
