Poker: Losing a bluff can still pay off

Sometimes you have all the elements you need to pull off a bluff, but then your opponent spoils it by making a call.

It’s not a total loss, however, if you can turn a misread into some information useful later on, as top young pro Eric Baldwin found in this hand from the World Poker Tour’s $15,000-buy-in Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Las Vegas’ Bellagio in 2009. With blinds at $100-$200 plus a $25-chip ante, Baldwin raised to $575 from middle position with 6-4 offsuit.

“I had just won a pot, so I was trying to get a little rush going,” said Baldwin, the 2009 Card Player magazine Player of the Year. “I raised and got called in four spots.”

The flop came 5-3-8, two hearts, giving Baldwin an open-ended straight draw. Both blinds checked. Baldwin bet $1,000 into a pot worth $3,125.

“I just wanted to keep the lead in the pot,” said Baldwin, a pro from the Ultimatebet.net online site. “I wanted to judge by how people call me and what type of hand they might have. If I keep control of the pot, I might get the chance to bluff at the end.”

Baldwin got one caller behind him.

“There was a good chance he had a heart draw or a small pair,” Baldwin said.

The turn came the queen of diamonds.

“Based on how quickly he called on the flop, I put him on a draw,” Baldwin said. “A lot of people call right away when they have draws; they tend to ponder a little more when they have a made hand. He seemed like the type of player who could call on the turn, so I just checked to take a free card, and if the heart draw missed on the river, my plan was to bluff. He checked behind me right away. He was happy to take a free card, which reinforced my belief he was on a draw.”

The river came the 10 of clubs.

“I can’t beat anything,” Baldwin said. “I’ve got 6-high. But if he was on a heart draw, he missed. If he had an 8, then there are two overcards out there, so I’m going to fire a decent-sized bet in relation to the pot and pick it up with 6-high.”

Baldwin bet $3,775. His opponent called and showed 8-7 of spades, taking the pot with a pair of 8s.

“It was one of those spots where you feel like you’ve made a good bluff, but the other player just didn’t do what you thought he was going to do,” said Baldwin, winner of a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2009. “You can’t let yourself get discouraged. A lot of times in these tournaments, you won’t have a good read on your opponents. But now he’s a guy I wouldn’t try to bluff again if I think he has a piece of the board.”

TABLE TALK

Open-ended straight draw: Four consecutive cards to a straight that can be completed by a card on the top or bottom end.