Two rules to learn and abide by:
1. Don’t bluff in reraised pots
2. Don’t bluff without outs
Now for some elaboration. In general bluffing in reraised or 3bet pots is a bad idea. By the time someone puts in a big 3bet and then continuation bets the flop they have put in about 1/3 of their stack. At this point they are pretty committed to the hand and aren’t going to be easily coorced into folding and they are right to do so. If you hit top pair in a reraised pot you should probably end up felting it and if you lose chalk it up to a cooler. Here’s an example
POKERSTARS GAME #10042500943: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($2/$4) – 2007/05/22 – 00:11:01 (ET)
Table ‘Viola’ 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: number007 ($528 in chips)
Seat 2: andr3w321 ($596.30 in chips)
Seat 4: TableATM ($656 in chips)
Seat 5: MrteddyKGB ($418.10 in chips)
andr3w321: posts small blind $2
TableATM: posts big blind $4
Duffs#1fan: sits out
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to andr3w321 [Ah Th]
MrteddyKGB: folds
number007: raises $12 to $16
andr3w321: raises $36 to $52
TableATM: folds
number007: calls $36
*** FLOP *** [6c Ad 5s]
andr3w321: bets $68
number007: raises $127 to $195
Strazza joins the table at seat #3
andr3w321: raises $349.30 to $544.30 and is all-in
number007 said, “why holly wood ?”
number007: folds
andr3w321 collected $496 from pot
andr3w321: doesn’t show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $498 | Rake $2
Board [6c Ad 5s]
Seat 1: number007 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: andr3w321 (small blind) collected ($496)
Seat 4: TableATM (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: MrteddyKGB folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
In this hand I almost folded to his flop raise. It was very close. The only thing I beat was a pure bluff. However, as you can see he instafolded but he could have easily had AK and I could have lost. He made a big mistake by trying to bluff me out here. You just do not have very much fold equity postflop when so much money goes in preflop, bluffing is usually just bad.
For rule number two you should always have outs when you bluff. Bluffing with KT on an A high flop is just bad. You have 0 outs if called. Its much better to bluff with at least overs or a gutshot or something. Here’s a hand where it works out nicely and my hand is disguised well.
POKERSTARS GAME #10072379568: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($1/$2) – 2007/05/23 – 20:18:18 (ET)
Table ‘Atria’ 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: andr3w321 ($213.90 in chips)
Seat 2: ihatehorses ($200 in chips)
Seat 3: Tupz ($220.05 in chips)
Seat 4: royalsu ($214 in chips)
Seat 5: eliane ($200 in chips)
Seat 6: pommesxd ($337.30 in chips)
andr3w321: posts small blind $1
ihatehorses: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to andr3w321 [Qc As]
Tupz: folds
royalsu: folds
eliane: raises $6 to $8
pommesxd: folds
andr3w321: calls $7
ihatehorses: folds
*** FLOP *** [3d 9c 4h]
andr3w321: checks
eliane: bets $10
andr3w321: raises $20 to $30
eliane: calls $20
*** TURN *** [3d 9c 4h] [8s]
andr3w321: checks
eliane: checks
*** RIVER *** [3d 9c 4h 8s] [Qh]
andr3w321: bets $55
eliane: calls $55
*** SHOW DOWN ***
andr3w321: shows [Qc As] (a pair of Queens)
eliane: mucks hand
eliane leaves the table
andr3w321 collected $185 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $188 | Rake $3
Board [3d 9c 4h 8s Qh]
Seat 1: andr3w321 (small blind) showed [Qc As] and won ($185) with a pair of Queens
Seat 2: ihatehorses (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Tupz folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: royalsu folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: eliane mucked [9h 6h]
Seat 6: pommesxd (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)