See also
The semi-bluff raise is when you raise on the draw not necessarily to build the pot for value, but with the intent of taking down the pot without further action. This implies that you need to have some reasonable expectation that the bettor will actually fold, which means that the best candidates for a semi-bluff raise are the usual suspects: weak stabs, c-bets, or any other possible steal bets.
In low-SPR situations in which there are only two bets to play, the semi-bluff raise takes precedence over the float. In other words, if you choose to contest the pot at all, the default play is to shove.
But in mid- to high-SPR situations, the semi-bluff raise is more of an alternative to the float. And, much like the float, the weaker your draw, the more the play is dependent on your read of your opponent. In other words, you don’t need as strong a read on your opponent to raise with a 13-card nut wrap with a flush draw as you do to raise with a bare open-ended straight draw with a two-flush on the board.
As a general rule of thumb, the bare 13-card nut wrap is the cutoff point between floating and semi-bluff raising because it is only about a coin flip against pair.
Let’s say it’s a $5-$5 game with $1,000 stacks and five people see the flop for the minimum. If you are on the button with K-Q-J-3, the flop comes T-9-4 rainbow, the small blind bets the pot into five people and everybody folds to you, you should tend to call (float) rather than raise. But if instead you have K-Q-J-T for top pair and a 13-card nut wrap, K-Q-J-8 for a 16-card nut wrap, you can go ahead and put in at least one raise and build the pot for value. Or if instead you have a flush draw to go with the 13-card nut wrap (obviously not on a rainbow flop this time), you can also put in a raise. However, if instead everybody checks to the cutoff and he takes a weak stab on the T-9-4 rainbow flop, you can go ahead and raise him once on the semi-bluff with the K-Q-J-3 hand (and of course you slow down and just call if you get re-raised).
That said, the weaker the draw, the more you should lean towards floating or folding rather than raising.
It should also be noted that in mid- to high-SPR situations, the semi-bluff raise can be used in conjunction with the float - that is, you float the flop with a weak draw, and then put in a semi-bluff raise on the turn when your opponent follows up a c-bet with another weak stab.
PLO tips:
- In low-SPR situations, the semi-bluff raise takes precedence over the float.
- The weaker the draw, the more you should lean towards floating or folding rather than raising.
- In mid- to high-SPR situations, a semi-bluff raise on the turn can be used in conjunction with a float on the flop.
The Naked Bluff Raise.
There isn’t nearly as much naked bluff raising in Omaha as there is in hold’em, simply because there is a lot more to draw at in Omaha. Ideally, you don’t want to raise with nothing, get called by a player on the draw, and then have to fire another shot; when you have nothing, you want to end the pot with the raise. And so if you are going to put in a raise with nothing, you are really looking for an either/or scenario where your opponent either has it or he doesn’t. That said, the best times for a pure bluff are:
- Paired boards. Paired boards probably represent the number one naked bluff-raising opportunity, particularly when the open pair is on the bottom (i.e. the flop is A-7-7 rather the A-A-7), as there is a lot of stabbing; for the most part, you either have a full house or you don’t.
- Boards where a flush is possible. This is another virtual either/or scenario, where the bettor most likely either has the nuts or probably can’t stand a raise. The bluff raise can sometimes be done without the key card.
- Dry boards. Let’s say you are on the button with any four cards, and the flop comes something like K
7
2
or A 9 4 - a dry board with not much to draw at. It gets checked to the player in front of you, who takes a stab at the pot. Against a possible steal bet such as this one, this is a decent spot to put in a raise, as it is basically an either/or flop - either your opponent has a strong made hand or he doesn’t and will fold to raise. Some strong players will raise with top pair here and treat the king or ace as a blocker against top set; however, personally, I prefer to smooth call (combo float) with top pair against a possible steal bet in deep stack play. That said, this isn’t a bad spot to put in a bluff raise with air from time to time. - At the river. This is another good spot for a bluff raise, primarily because all the cards are out, but also because the river is the one street where non-pot-sized bets are standard, thus yielding the best value for the bluff.
