High stakes players Paul Phua and Sam Trickett give us an insight into bluffing in the Big Game in a new Paul Phua Poker video. [ Ссылка ]
How do you decide when to bluff?
Sam Trickett: You get into a pot and there’s all different dynamics, these variables, you know. If he’s a really tight guy, he’s more likely to fold, you know what l mean? What’s your image like, how have you been playing that day, you know? What hand you think he has? If you think he has that hand, do you think he will fold that hand? There’s so many different things you have to think about.
Paul Phua: And, also, on the board, you know, if there’s a lot of draws on the board l would hesitate to bluff.
Sam Trickett: Exactly, yeah, because there’s more hands that can…
Paul Phua: And then if you want to bluff you have to put in a very big bet, “Oh, costs me a lot!” you know. So, you know, there’s all this strategy to account. And also, is that guy winning or losing, you know?
Sam Trickett: That’s a big… that’s actually more important than people think.
Paul Phua: Nowadays, l bluff less to a losing player, because he wants to get back and call, you know?
Sam Trickett: Of course, yeah. The guys that are losing find it hard to make good folds because they’re losing. Guys that are winning, they’re already happy in their mind, they’ll protect their winnings.
Paul Phua: Most people are like that. We are not saying everybody is like that.
Sam Trickett: No, most people, they are, though, right?
Paul Phua: Yeah.
Sam Trickett: But if you were playing against a billionaire who doesn’t care if he’s winning or losing… l don’t bluff him!
Paul Phua: Oh, man. I used to have one policy: never bluff the Chairman. But now l have to, because now he doesn’t call me as much!
Sam Trickett: No, because you never bluffed him! He’s smart, he picked up that you never were bluffing him. But that was an adjustment you make, you see? You never bluffed him, you never bluffed him, and then he realises now that, “Ah, he folds so much now that l can bluff him.” So that’s like the adjustments you make when you play poker.
Paul Phua: Yes, but l think, for me, because l have a very, very, very tight image, you know, people think l bluff less. When l go to a game l say, “Ooh, ooh, who’s on the table? These three guys know I’ve a tight image, you know, so l will bluff them more.”
Sam Trickett: He bluffed me once, he bluffed me once in a big, big hand in Macau when l first started playing high stakes. l remember him bluffing me, on the river. I think I’d a back door to the flush, and l bet, and Paul… “All-in,” and the board was paired or something. And l thought for ages. l’d like an 8-high flush, and l folded, and Paul went, “Hee, hee, hee”, and he showed me the bluff! I was steaming off my face. Yeah, l was steaming. Yeah, I remember he bluffed me…
Paul Phua: Yeah, many, many years ago.
Sam Trickett: But that was, that was years – four, five years ago. But it was good. He tends to pick the right spots, actually, in these big games. So, like he just said, he doesn’t bluff that much, so when he does it tends to work. So yeah, he’s got an art for it.
Do you still feel nervous when you bluff, and do you avoid showing it?
Sam Trickett: For me, personally, it depends on the situation. If l’m making a bluff where l’m kind of confident he’s going to fold – like I’m confident because I kinda have an idea of what he has, and l know l look really strong, and l go all-in – I’m like more confident, that he’s gonna fold, so l don’t feel it. But when l’m making like a questionable bluff – it’s close, or l don’t have anything, and l’m like, “Ah, some draws missed, but he may call, but l’ve nothing, so it’s probably better than checking,” and l go all-in. Maybe I’m not as confident, so, I feel it a little bit more inside. So it depends on the spot. Like sometimes you’re bluffing you know it’s gonna work, right?
Paul Phua: Yes.
Sam Trickett: But like, sometimes you’re unsure so maybe you feel a little bit…
Paul Phua: Yes, sometimes you go “Wow, this is probably going to go wrong!”
Sam Trickett: Yeah, yeah. He’s maybe gonna call me but, you know, you have no hand, so it’s like probably better than checking and giving up because you have nothing. So, those are the spots that personally get me feeling the pressure a little bit more.
Paul Phua: For me, it’s more like tournaments, you know? With no more re-buys, you know, if l bluff and I get called, l’ll be out of the tournament and… I just love poker, you know? What else can l do for the rest of the day, you know? It’s my only concern sometimes!
Sam Trickett: So you think you bluff less in tournament for all-in?
Paul Phua: But with re-buys… l still got a re-buy, l bluff more! OK, there’s a tip for the future… but l might change!
