The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

I've always advocated never trying to bluff a beginner. Truth of the matter is that beginners are too curious and don't know any better than to throw away their middle pairs or Ace high hands and will call you down to the river.

But there is one exception.

Beginners tend to play any two cards, so you can discount the strength of their holdings a lot. If you are in position (last to act), you can usually get away with a bluff when there is an Ace on the flop.

Let's say there's one caller, a beginner, and it's folded to you on the button. You look down at some suited connectors, so you limp in to see the flop for cheap. The small blind folds, and the big blind checks. The flop comes:

Ace-8-3 rainbow.

If it's checked to you, go ahead and bet out, even if you didn't pair your cards. If there is one card beginners fear, it is the Ace. I have found betting out when an Ace is on board is very profitable if it is checked to you. Most players will throw away their middle pairs if they see an Ace followed by a bet about 1/2 the size of the pot.

This example also shows the power of position. If you are first to act, I would NOT advocate betting first because the majority of the time, it is likely someone came in with an Ace. You have no information to act upon, so it's better to check. But if you are acting last, the majority of the time the players ahead of you will make a bet if they paired their Ace.

This is perhaps the only time I've seen beginners fold to a bluff. They never seem to give credit to anyone if a King or Queen is on board, but if an Ace appears and they don't have one, their cards quickly hit the muck.

Of course, this won't work all the time. Someone could be slowplaying and setting up a trap, and this is where you might exercise caution and opt to check instead of trying a bet. But most of the time you should take advantage of your position, and take down the pot when it's checked to you.