Deception - Using it to the Full Effect

Deception generally refers to doing something that you don’t usually do, in order to fool an opponent. Bluffing is the most common example of deception; you usually fold when you have nothing, but this time you raise. But there are many ways to incorporate deception into your game. Let’s take an example from No Limit Hold’em. If you normally limp in with connected suiters and raise only with high cards or pairs, raising with connected suiters would be using deception. Let’s think of how it could pay off. If you raise before the flop with 87 and the flop comes 654, an observant opponent would never put you on a straight. Because you raised preflop and he knows you normally limp in with suited connectors, he wouldn’t include 87 in your range of hands. Whenever you’re thinking about using deception, remember: deception should only be used against an observant opponent. If your opponent’s not paying attention, he doesn’t know what you normally do, so there’s no reason to use deception.

Let’s look at a more subtle example of deception, the game is Limit Hold’em. You defend your big blind with a call and hit two pairs (but not top two) on the flop. You decide to bet out, knowing that your opponent is very aggressive. He raises you – in this situation you usually reraise right away. Instead, you decide to only call and go for a check-raise on the turn. This is an example of a subtle use of deception; varying your typical betting lines is just as important as bluffing, semi-bluffing or other obvious types of deception. In order to effectively use deception in these situations substitute a different but reasonable betting pattern for your normal betting pattern.

Deception should eventually begin to form a basic part of your poker strategy at the table, regardless of what game you play (as long as there are observant players at the table). Find ways to consistently do something different from your norm without making plays that seriously hurt you in the short term. That means that you should never practice deception by just calling with the nuts; yes, it’s different than what you normally do, but it isn’t a part of any reasonable strategy. Likewise, you shouldn’t ever call bets with little or nothing for deception purposes. Deception is usually only worth fractions of bets, so don’t risk whole bets trying to accomplish it. This is always the case in limit games, and is almost always true of no limit games, unless you are playing against very amateur players.