Bluff Catching

The last two months have been pretty brutal. Certainly part of that was due to whiffing the WSOP and a few failed shots at 40/80, but even my regular games have not been going well. Unlike in past downswings, I don’t feel that I’ve experienced extraordinarily brutal luck. There were some unfortunate spots, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that I haven’t been playing my best. I’m still in the early stages of evaluating what may have gone wrong, but one thing I noticed was a dramatic dip in my $ won without showdown. That could be due to playing too loose on early streets or bluffing badly, but I think at least part of it is due to folding too often. Thus, I played some 10/20 heads up today with a focus on catching bluffs. It went well:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($2080)
Hero (BB) ($2020)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, 7
SB bets $60, Hero calls $40

Flop: ($120) 2, 4, 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $80, Hero raises to $210, SB raises to $380, Hero calls $170

Turn: ($880) K (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks

River: ($880) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $1160, Hero calls $1160

Total pot: $3200 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
SB had 9, 10 (high card, King).
Hero had 6, 7 (two pair, sevens and sixes).
Outcome: Hero won $3199.50

As I checked river, I even thought to myself that this would be a good spot to overbet bluff. I didn’t know much about him at this point, and a lot of draws did get there, but given stacks I felt he’d probably make a big bet on the turn if he had a draw. This next one was just a few hands later:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($2020)
Hero (SB) ($3619.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, 8
Hero bets $60, BB raises to $200, Hero calls $140

Flop: ($400) 2, 4, 7 (2 players)
BB bets $280, Hero raises to $619, BB raises to $1820 (All-In), Hero calls $1201

Turn: ($4040) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($4040) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $4040 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had 7, 8 (one pair, sevens).
BB had A, K (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $4039.50

This was probably the closest decision of the match. It’s a good bluff card for him, but it does legitimately connect with a fair number of hands he could play this way. Given that I’d caught him a few times already, I thought he might be less likely to bluff. I do think he can value shove any K here, and I probably do call if river is a low diamond:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($2694.50)
Hero (SB) ($5002.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, Q
Hero bets $60, BB raises to $220, Hero calls $160

Flop: ($440) J, J, 3 (2 players)
BB bets $300, Hero calls $300

Turn: ($1040) 4 (2 players)
BB bets $580, Hero calls $580

River: ($2200) K (2 players)
BB bets $1594.50 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: $2200 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
BB didn’t show
Outcome: BB won $2199.50

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($3753)
Hero (BB) ($3942)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8, 8
SB bets $60, Hero calls $40

Flop: ($120) 2, 10, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $100, Hero raises to $277, SB calls $177

Turn: ($674) K (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $525, Hero calls $525

River: ($1724) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks

Total pot: $1724 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
SB had 3, 4 (one pair, twos).
Hero had 8, 8 (two pair, eights and twos).
Outcome: Hero won $1723.50

I was calling river.

These last two were against a different opponent:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($2160)
Hero (BB) ($2436.75)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, A
SB bets $60, Hero calls $40

Flop: ($120) 10, 4, K (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $100, Hero calls $100

Turn: ($320) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $260, Hero calls $260

River: ($840) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $660, Hero calls $660

Total pot: $2160 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
SB had 9, 2 (high card, King).
Hero had 10, A (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero won $2159.50

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($2911)
Hero (BB) ($4783)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7, 7
SB bets $60, Hero calls $40

Flop: ($120) 2, Q, 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $100, Hero calls $100

Turn: ($320) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $260, Hero calls $260

River: ($840) K (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $620, Hero calls $620

Total pot: $2080 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
SB had 6, 9 (high card, King).
Hero had 7, 7 (one pair, sevens).
Outcome: Hero won $2079.50

Pretty weird spot here. The river bet is definitely thin, but I didn’t think he would check better very often at all. Based on this that’s probably wrong. I’m surprised he thought I would bet the river, but he clearly wasn’t wrong.