Small-field tournaments offer prime spots to apply pressure—but many players miss easy bluffing opportunities. Here are five situations where you should bluff more to get a major edge.
When Your Opponent Actually Cares
This sounds like a “duh” point, but it’s amazing how many players miss these opportunities to bluff more.
I’ve played $10,000 events where people clearly were out drinking the night before. They look sick and like they want to get out of there. That’s not someone who cares about the stakes of the event. If you believe he cares because you care, then you are projecting. Versus this player I was able to execute a super thin value bet all-in on the river with one pair which I knew would get hero called by second pair. I NEVER would have triple barrel bluffed versus this person.
In smaller events, less people care about the stakes because they make money from somewhere else. They are there to blow off some steam.
If you see someone not really thinking through their decisions and then skipping back to their cell phone to text with half a dozen people and check their stocks and crypto while simultaneously betting on sports, then you don’t have a focused customer. You have someone who wants to have some fun.
If you see someone who is watching the action, thinking through decisions, and actually finding some folds on the turn and river, now you’re in business. Try to act like a fellow tight player with this guy. Exchange some knowing glances when someone turns over something ridiculous. Give off that air of, “yeah, we’re not like these heathens, are we?” Then break the treaty and take the fight right to them. Bluff more with this player than with those others who are just having a lark. They’ll never know what hit them.
Bluff More When Your Opponent Calls From The Big Blind
The worst range most people play regularly is from the big blind. They know they’re supposed to defend from that position, but they don’t know how to do that. If they ever actually looked at a solver and saw how many hands they’re supposed to be check/raising, they’d be stunned. If they looked at how many off-suit Aces the solver folds from deep stacks out of the big blind, they’d also be stunned.
Long story short, no one has a clue what they’re doing in this situation. And that means more profit for you. Bluff more against these big blind calls, and you will profit.
When your opponent calls out of the big blind, they likely would have three-bet their best hands, so you can already rule out the premiums. When they just flat you on a board with draws, that means they likely don’t have two pair or sets. They would have raised those hands in order to defend themselves from draws.
To defend against how bad their range is here, they’re supposed to check-raise some backdoor draws and mediocre pairs as bluffs. Since no one does that, their range instead is just loaded with awful pairs and draws.
Since their range is chock full of trash, you can unload the clip regularly and they’ll have no idea what to do. Most people do not practice this scenario, and they have no idea what their minimum defense frequency is supposed to be on every street. So bluff more.
If you get someone in the big blind who is clearly taking the game seriously, go after them. You’ll like the results.
When Your Opponent Continuation Bets Too Much
If you decide to defend out of the big blind, you’ll be given a number of opportunities to go after someone continuation betting into you.
Solid players understand what ranges hit the big blind flatter more. They check back more in these situations. They’ll also check back some high cards on occasion to make sure they’re not continuation betting too much.
Most of your opponents don’t do any of this. If you check to them and they are in position, they are firing. Period. If they are opening too many hands and continuation betting with all of them, this presents some problems for them.
There are certain boards that hit you more than them. For example, if a flop is loaded with cards four through eight, then it’s more likely to have hit your big blind flatting range than the raiser’s range. Typically, people raise with mostly high cards. They let go of a lot of the unsuited low cards, so those boards don’t work for them.
If you get one of those boards and you have backdoor draws of some sort, you can check-raise and put pressure on your perpetual continuation betting opponent.
If they just flat your raise on a board with a flush draw, it’s likely your opponent doesn’t have a set or two pair. They likely would have raised again with those hands to protect themselves. You can keep going after their one pair type hands if the turn cards are better for you than them.
Bluff More When Your Opponent’s Range Is Capped
You’ll notice that in these examples there is one constant:
Your opponent can’t have their best hands.
One question you should be asking yourself at all points of the hand is, “what hands does my opponent not have?”
Someone just flats you pre-flop? What doesn’t he have? Premiums.
Someone just flats you on a coordinated board? What doesn’t he have? Well, many people would raise with sets and two pairs to start building a pot while simultaneously protecting themselves, so we can rule out those hands.
The flush draw came in on the turn? You bet and this nit just called? What hands doesn’t he have? Well, you know this nit is terrified of the fourth card of a suit coming when they hold a small flush, so you know he would have raised those hands. Those hands are out. Oh wow, look at your hand, you’re blocking the nut flush. This guy has nothing! Let’s go after this river!
This is all professional poker players are doing nine times out of ten when they launch their huge bluffs. It’s not witchcraft. It’s simple process of elimination.
When You Have Semi-Bluffing Equity
If you have a draw when you’re launching one of these bluffs versus capped ranges, that’s even better. That means a decent percentage of the time you’re going to get bailed out on the turn or river. This is huge for you. The pot will also be large when you do hit your draws, which helps you out even more.
Remember, you don’t have to be perfectly balanced in local tournaments. You can bet smaller on later streets when you want to get called and larger when you want folds. No one is going to notice.
Conclusion
Well-timed bluffs can steal pots, build your image, and set you up for big scores. Recognize these spots, trust your reads, bluff more, and make your opponents fold more often.
Want to read more from APT Head Pro Alex Fitzgerald? Try his article about the 10 Essential Poker Skills Every Poker Pro Has
