Iceman

Just read your article on blocking bets. I had sort of developed this move on my own in the tourneys I play, and thought I was really smart, I guess it doesn't work so well against more skilled competition. (I am still playing very weak foes for the most part.)

As I was reading, I thought of what Doyle Brunson called "post oak bluffs" in Super System. He said he never made post oak bluffs. Is this the same thing? Do you ever employ blocking bets yourself, or is this a weak play all the time?

Comments from others are welcome also, of course.

Thanks.

well it isn't weak if it works -:)

if you have a nut flush draw with overcards and a caller, betting 30% of the pot is +EV for you anyway even if only one calls

you are fine provided the players ahead won't re-raise enough to put you off your draw.. a lot of the time even if they re-raise they don't re-raise enough - they just put you on a bluff and re-raise mimium to 'slow you down'..giving you correct odds to see the re-raise and draw again.. they also may not put you on the flush but a weak hand like 2nd pair so may well be more inclined to see your bet if the flush does hit..

Its normally only considered blocking bet at the river, so excessions example doesnt really apply.
A post oak bluff would be betting maybe $10 into a $50 pot as a pure bluff. It wont work (like Doyle says). If you have nothing at the river you have to make a big bluff or fold. A small "post oak bluff" will get called every time unless th other guy had been bluffing the whole time.

I never said that a blocking bet was a weak play. It can be a very good play because you can get to showdown cheaper than you might have if you had checked and then called (a bigger bet than your bet). It works against good competition alot of the time if they have a vulnerable hand because its a confusing play and if thier hand isnt that strong, they wont raise you. I cant say that I ever use it though.

I find that its normally made by someone who has been calling you down with a very marginal hand. Im rarely in that spot. If my hand is marginal, I have usually folded or raised at some point

ok so if we restrict the use of the term blocking bet to trying to see a showdown cheaply at the river in preference to a check and pot-sized bet back at us, what should we call a small bet on eariler streets when we have a draw?

Semi-Bluff?

I'd call a pot-sized bet with a decent number of outs a semi-bluff - this is slightly different as you are more than happy to get called (just not re-raised by a lot)

When I have a nut flush draw I often bet-out the pot against players who I think will lay it down (often the better players). The smaller bet is a move I use against the calling station types..

do we call it a weak semi-bluff - or a quarter-bluff ?