The Post Oak Bluff in Modern Poker

Definition. Doyle Brunson calls the post oak bluff a “gutless” and weak play in Super System, but that hasn’t stopped players as big as Phil Hellmuth from keeping the play in their repertoire. The post oak bluff is a bluff in which a player makes a very small bet in relation to the size of the pot as a “sucker bet” that looks like it wants a call, and is expecting a call, when in reality, is a very weak hand. Post oak, a small tree that bears low quality wood, is also is generally a bad type of bluff; thanks to the advent of pot odds and the actual terming of what a post oak is, many players will simply call the tiny bet as opposed to feeling too compelled to call. Let's take an example to illustrate this point. Our hero recently found a sweet cash bonus on PKR poker after searching for PKR bonus codes, and has been playing fairly tight as he clear the bonus. A hand comes up where he decides to bluff; he raises preflop and gets two callers, bets the flop and get sone caller, bets the turn and keeps the one caller, and now it's the river. The player thinks to himself "Well, I've bet the whole way, so I might as well bet small now; if he has nothing, he's going to fold to any sort of bet and the pot's so large that if he's got anything, he'll call a big bet. I'm tight, so my bet should get respect." Maybe our hero is trying to save a couple of bets because the PKR bonus requirements force him to play quite a few hands, or maybe he really thinks the play will work, but the fact is our hero is ignoring a critical fact of poker - people don't mind calling small bets in big pots with really maginal hands.

Recognizing post oak bluffers. Some players have chose to ignore Brunson’s warning about the weakness of the the bluff, however, and still attempt to use the bet, trying to mix in value bets with medium strength hands as a signal to players that they’re not always micro betting with total garbage. Anytime you see a player make a bet of 1/6th the pot or less on the river, take a careful note of what his hand is if called and shown. Betting t1,000 into a pot of t8,000 is a bet that screams for a call, and the player betting only needs for the bluff to work 12.5% of the time to be a profitable bluff, which may make it more appealing than the bigger sized bluffs that they may normally employ.

Using the post oak bluff. In the current landscape of poker, the post oak bluff only has two real uses; bluffing off a player who you think missed the same draw you did, but has you beaten, or bluffing a player who also uses the post oak bluff. The first example is simple. Say you’re first to act on the river of a decent sized pot, and you bricked an eight high straight draw, but you think your opponent had some sort of draw as well; maybe a bigger straight draw, or a flush draw that also was on the flop. Instead of checking and losing or firing a big bluff that may be a bluff into a monster, post oak bluffing may get your opponent to lay down the worst of his trash; a 9 high straight draw, the jack high flush draw, and allows you to escape very cheaply when your opponent fires back at you with a raise. The problem with this play, however, is that perceptive players may choose to bluff raise you back, if they understand the post oak bluff. Or, they may call you down with very weak holdings; ace high, bottom pair, and so on, simply because the pot odds dictate the call. You can also attempt the post oak bluff against a post oak bluffer, himself, so long as you make luring bets with respectable hands previously. Show the player a few winning hands with the luring bet; middle pair, maybe top pair occasionally. Then, when you have position and are checked to on the river of a decent pot, you can attempt the post oak bluff against this player; showing the respectable hands may move him off a weak pair or ace high.