Part: Part Eight - Making Moves
A blocker bluff
River
You raised pre with A♠K♦, c-bet the Q♠ 8♠ 4♣ flop, checked back the 2♥ turn, and the river is the 7♠ - a third spade. You missed everything, but you hold the A♠. He checks.
The flush completes, he checks, and you hold the nut-flush blocker. Best?
WhyThe ace of spades in your hand is the whole play - with it, he can't hold the nut flush, so the flush you're representing is one he has to fear and rarely has. His pairs and busted draws can't call a big bet on a three-flush river. That single card turns ace-high into a credible threat.
What happensYou bet 3,800 and he folds. Missing everything didn't matter - the A-spades did the work a made hand couldn't have done better.
The best bluffs hold the cards their target needs to call. Block the nuts on a scary river and a hand with no showdown value becomes your strongest bet.
Hold the card that makes the nuts and your opponent almost never has it. Bluffing where you block the hand you're repping is bluffing with the deck stacked in your favor.