The No-Limit Toolbox — The Call Bluff

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The No-Limit Toolbox is a new series that showcases the array of tactics available to no-limit players.

The Play: The Call Bluff

How It Works: You have position on a lone, aggressive opponent. Your opponent bets a small percentage of the remaining stacks. You have a marginal hand, but you call. The next round, your opponent checks, you bet, and she folds.

The Play In Action: You’re on the button in a $2-$5 game with $1,000. An aggressive player opens for $15. He has you covered. You call with the 7 5 . The flop comes K 8 4 giving you a gutshot and a backdoor flush draw. Your opponent bets $20, and you call. The turn is the A . Your opponent checks, and you bet $50.

Why It’s Good: The call bluff leverages the power of position to maximize your reward versus your risk and to keep your opponent off-balance. Rather than bluff-raise immediately, you delay the bluff until the next street. Doing this forces your opponent to act once more before you commit to the bluff, giving you more information about your opponent’s hand strength. Using the above example, instead of risking an immediate $70 to win the $50 in the pot, you risk only $20 for the right to an extra card and round of information. When your opponent checks, you interpret that act as a sign of weakness, and you risk the remaining $50 with better winning chances. Also, using the call bluff occasionally serves to balance your play and keep your opponent guessing. When you call a bet, your opponent won’t know if you have a strong hand, a bluffing hand, or a decent draw.

When It Works: The call bluff works best in two situations: when your opponent is fairly predictable or when the stacks are very deep compared to the current bet size. Predictability is good because it improves the quality of the extra information you get. Some players will raise preflop and routinely continuation bet with almost any hand. But on the turn, they bet only if they have something, and they give up otherwise. The call bluff is a great counter to this strategy. When the stacks are very deep, an immediate raise might not be large enough to leverage someone off their hand. For instance, if your opponent bets $20, and you raise $50 more, they might call with top pair. But if you call the $20, and then raise their subsequent $50 bet to $150, you’re more likely to get a fold. By building the pot a bit with your call, you make the hand play “bigger” and consequently will scare off more hands.

When It Doesn’t Work: The call bluff doesn’t work as well when you’re out of position or when you have multiple opponents. Out of position, you don’t gain nearly as much from the extra information. And against multiple opponents, you aren’t as likely to succeed, and you offer savvy opponents a chance to bluff first, winning the pot including your ill-fated call. The call bluff also fails against aggressive players with short stacks. Say your opponent c-bets the flop, and you call. He bets again on the turn, but he’s aggressive, so he’ll often be bluffing himself. If there’s not enough money left after his bet to put in a solid raise, you may not be able to move him off even weak hands or draws. With shorter stacks against aggressive players, you may be better off with The Flop Overbet Semibluff. Also, naturally, the call bluff is no good against players who are too passive to bet the flop without a strong hand. To make the initial call worthwhile, you have to think your opponent could be betting a weak or marginal hand.

Variations: The most common betting pattern for the call bluff is bet-call on the flop, then check-bet-fold on the turn. But you can also play it bet-call on the flop, and bet-raise-fold on the turn. Furthermore, with some hands and stack sizes, you can delay the bluff a second time, playing it bet-call on the flop, bet-call on the turn, and check-bet-fold on the river.

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