Player A makes a pot-size bet of $100, and Player B calls, meaning we have a total pot size of $300. Player A checks again, and Player B checks behind again. Player A checks the flop, and Player B checks behind. In the second example, we get to the flop, and the pot is $100. Player A makes a final pot-sized bet, and Player B calls, meaning we have a total pot size of $1800. We get to the river, and the pot is now $900. Player A makes another pot-sized bet, and Player B calls. Player A makes a pot-sized bet, and Player B calls.

In the first example, we get to the flop, and the pot is $100. Let’s look at an example of two pots, one where the flop and turn are played aggressively and one where they’re played passively: In poker, pots grow exponentially due to there being at least two amounts of money going in on each street–a bet and a call. Conversely, if you were to play all of your draws passively and never bet with them, the pots will be much smaller by the time you make them. One of the benefits of semi-bluffing with a strong draw is that the pot has been bloated for the times you do make your hand, allowing you to make a large bet on the turn/river. There is a big difference in the expected value between these hands due to the extra 20% you win of the pot after a bet and a call, plus a potential river bet. Compare this to if you were pure bluffing the turn with a hand like 72o you’ll only win the pot the 35% of the time your opponent folds. Say you’re on the turn and semi-bluffing with a flush draw you think your opponent will fold around 35% of the time to your bet, plus about 20% of the time you’ll make your hand on the river, meaning you’ll win the pot around 55% of the time.

The more times you’re able to win the pot, the more money you’re going to make playing poker. It’s like having a backup plan for your bluffs if it doesn’t work, then there’s an escape route you can take by making the best hand.īy choosing semi-bluffs as your hands to bluff with, you’re increasing the number of times you win the pot. The great thing about semi-bluffing is that you give yourself two chances to win the pot: you can either take it down if your bluff works and if it doesn’t, you have an opportunity to make the best hand by the river.

While this is a legitimate point, and the reason we don’t semi-bluff with 100% frequency, there are plenty of benefits to semi-bluffing. You might think that betting without a made hand is too risky and that if you semi-bluff and don’t make your hand then you’ve wasted money when you could have played passively instead.

How to call someone bluff in poker