Crush Under-Bluffers | Expert Exploits

This week Phil is back with another edition of "Expert Exploits" and discusses how best to adjust to someone who consistently under-bluffs the river. Phil also describes the mistake he sees EVERYONE make against players like this and it may surprise you!
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00:00 How to Adjustment to Someone Who Doesn't Bluff River Enough
00:26 Don't Call with Something That's "Supposed to be a Call"
01:22 Adjustments for the River
04:04 Adjustments for the Turn
07:53 Adjustments for the Flop
08:54 Bluff Raising River Against People who Don't Bluff Enough
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Crush Under-Bluffers | Expert Exploits
Producer: Thomas Deming-Henes
Post Producer: Anne Johnson
Music: DJ Spinello

[@mdognrdog]

I have to thank you, Phil, for just *giving away* content that causes me to think this deeply about the game. I may have to watch this two or three times to milk it for all the nuances.

[@PhilGalfond]

My pleasure! I’m glad you’re finding it helpful.

[@argemangare6090]

I usually never comment on YT, but please keep these videos coming. Thanks a lot Phil!

[@PhilGalfond]

You’re very welcome!

[@aaronclark007]

Phil, I just wanted to thank you for making this level of content. It is clearly not absorbable by the masses, but i am watching it for the 3rd time and will watch again. Those of us that do appreciate it, really do. I would pay for your content if I could afford to do so, so i really appreciate the free bits you do.

[@oskarsund4703]

Love you concept videos Phil! Music to my ears listening to your reasoning!

[@ToDGaming]

Great content. A good follow up piece could perhaps be how to identify such players. How many showdowns and what type of showdowns allowed you to spot that someone was underbluffing river.

[@jacemandt]

Yeah, good point. It seems easy enough to notice if someone is drastically underbluffing, but I'm not sure how I could possibly detect if they were like 20% underbluffing.

[@danield8094]

Can you talk about how you build reads on opponents? I'd love to hear how you go about it. Like, when an opponent shows down a head, how are you processing that information?

[@itiswhatitis...9648]

I'm from the old school of poker the early mid 2000's and internet hay day, OMGclayaiken days. I still can't believe poker players are on youtube spilling the secrets, but thank you. You have validated things I have used for over two decades and also made me question some of my pre flop play as well as not value betting enough when super deep.

[@chrisp755]

I'll always listen to free advice from Phil Galfond tyty

[@fredsmit3481]

Phil, this is awesome content. Underbluffing is so common in my games. Thank you so much!

[@jongjongksdvj748]

its really always eyeopening you explain how to think about poker.

[@Phobzi]

Thank you for the video Phil.

[@LifeisA_Dream]

Thanks for the tips Phil!

[@spencerdavies1195]

Loving this style of video Phil

[@keitho6018]

So good...love the real life applications and strategies...thank you

[@MikeHoltzPoker]

It’s sad how little people watch these, fantastic content as always phil

[@PhilGalfond]

Thank you very much, Mike 😊

[@stumbras2000]

Why, he is making poker more difficult. More free education - harder to win money.

[@Xequi]

@@stumbras2000 I see your point, but doesn't necessarily make it harder to win money. More free education could bring more new players into the game as well. Which is what I hope for.

[@JeffL-jl2lf]

@@stumbras2000 Here's a free L + Ratio

[@quincyadams7877]

It’s because these videos suck.

[@louismaberry9683]

Amazing work, thank you!

[@cactuarnoob100]

Thank you for your content!

[@PhilGalfond]

You're very welcome! 🙂

[@MatanBarkat1]

Great explainations Phil!!!

[@j.sarnak1391]

On 1 hand, I want to see more people watch your stuff. On the other hand, I feel like a bunch of poker players are missing some great content which might help me in the long run. Thanks Phil

[@PhilGalfond]

Thank you 😊. Glad you’re finding it helpful!

[@brettblaster]

Such a genius, always appreciate the well thought out videos

[@PhilGalfond]

Thanks, Brett

[@supatroopa5097]

This channel is gold

[@georgewbushcenterforintell147]

Thanks Phil and Thomas

[@jimmymcgill5572]

Thank you for this content please continue it

[@MattGreenNL]

My session tonight was a perfect example of what Phil is talking about. Try to start a table, and quickly get joined by 4-5 players from eastern Europe on PartyPoker. Get destroyed in good call down spots with mid pair etc....they never bluff ever, could have saved so much.

[@DJM3KS]

Sounds like you're playing against bots 😂

[@jasonli5024]

Thanks for the insight

[@PhilGalfond]

My pleasure!

[@TheTree1]

Anytime I have trouble sleeping I que up one of phil’s videos.

[@mcxi]

Thank you Phil

[@buyamiracle5179]

I really love this content. Please Please Please make it more

[@PhilGalfond]

More coming! 😊❤️

[@soyelmaskabronj3]

hi phil, I bring to you another profile that maybe you can think about: the check back flops with "nuts" (top/mid set and sovereign str8 or str8draw in wet or semiwet boards - nut flushdraw in paired board, etc...) in srp or 3bpots with 100bb. he always looking to dodge the setup like a type of sickness and start playing in turn. thanks for your great content!

[@suzuki800622]

thank you so much

[@demianenkopoker]

Great!

[@vladimpala1859]

when in position, would you size up your value raises, assuming that opponent will have a stronger than average range now that he's bet? or would you keep consistent and raise based on pot size, bet size, stack size, etc.?

[@bardakchaya]

usefull recomendations, but I guess if we are talking about mdf to check raise river we should not count folds with bluffs as a part of mdf. I mean if our opp has 2/3 value and 1/3 bluff and his mdf 50% he must fold half of his value range that means that at mdf 50% his fold freq at gto will be 66%. other words bluffing range do not interested in defence because it do not have showdown value. we can see it in solver scenarious. thx for your videos ❤

[@patrickjane4027]

Thanks a lot I love you 💕

[@nolimitpoker]

Nothing better than getting that river check raise bluff threw

[@Adam27X]

What's an example hand from villain that would give us a read that allows us to make these adjustments? It's not hard to think of some but I think some examples that are "bona fide" reads would be a great addition to this video.

[@jiamonx2]

great strategy to adjust vs opponents which tend to exist at lower stakes :)

[@susymay7831]

Sometimes a river bet should be raised with a profitable bluff catcher, or even an unprofitable one, if your opponent likes to fold too many value hands. Snapping off some bluffs as well as folding out some better hands makes a nice combo play

[@oskarsund4703]

Next topic Phil! How to adjust if someone isn't valuebetting enough! edit: I feel like I should explain this more since it might not be obvious what I'm refering to. There's a lot of spots where people aren't willing to bet thin enough for value. I play lowstakes PLO and esp deep when draws hit there's a very clear mentality of only betting nutflushes and going for ch/c with everything else (even though they are happy betting the hand when it was a decent/strong draw etc on previous street/s). Obviously this is for the most part very unsimilar to how solvers approach these spots so studying their suggested valuebets/bluffs gets really iffy in these instances as well, which are fairly common. Just an idea for a video!

[@timb4248]

Lol I know the feeling at low stakes PLO. My favorite is players who call 3 bets or 4 bets preflop with 8663 or some trash. But are scared to death to get all the money in on KJ6 for fear of being up against KK or JJ. Like what were you hoping for, to flop quads?

[@davidm9323]

I feel like preflop adjustments are getting short shrift in these! If someone plays pretty good preflop and makes big errors on later streets, preflop adjustments can be valuable as well. For example, if someone bets every flop and turn in position, I would never 3bet preflop.

[@timb4248]

Why? Just 3 bet with good hands, and check your overpairs and strong hands to him.

[@ushatator]

How many bluffs on a river in percentage should a player have if he uses sizing different from pot-bet? for example, if 30% or 75%?

[@m.pirone1774]

thx for the video phill and with the care of quality. You can talk 1 hour without autofocus, doenst matter, cuz what are you saying is so clear ahhahaha!

[@AtomicAndi]

In a nutshell the adjustment is to value bet more. But what if their ranges are tighter than usual and/or they trap quite a lot.

[@cfiyuhbv8rfbebuvrbty]

thank you, super-insightful! btw you might want to check your audio levels, voice seems distorted a bit

[@baohoangpoker3673]

hello, are you top play over the world? congrate, sir

[@t00mgoos]

fwiw pretty much all spots in poker are underbluffed nodes from running population tendency sims, so phil's exploit should essentially be used pure lol

[@AtomicAndi]

That’s what I do (low stakes live) - but there is always this nagging feeling that you have to punish them more. If the only answer to passive players is to be passive then we are doomed

[@AtomicAndi]

Here’s my take: These adjustments seem to re-enforce the ultra-passive games you see at low stakes live. Under-bluffing is contagious as you made clear in the last part. In multiway pots the effect is even more pronounced I would guess. How can you break out of this? It can’t be optimal after all. At which points do you exploit the underbluffer by aggression - or is that futile?

[@Phobzi]

People under bluff but that doesn't mean they under call. If they over call your bluffs but under bluff themselves you want to call wider but bluff less. I think that often times people will undercall or overcall bluffs and then that will even vary from street to street with each player. I find that lowstakes players will undercall flop but overcall turn and river, but that's just my generalization. I think when choosing how often to bluff you need to be very aware of which player you are bluffing and what you think they are likely to do.

[@TimeToChangeLife]

👍

[@thallo4577]

Why are we putting out content this good for free?

[@PhilGalfond]

Games are getting too easy.

[@Filippo8111]

My preferred series, Phil would be nice if you can add some Omaha examples also. Cheers

[@Marekkk307]

How to now if someone don't bluff enaugh

[@Xequi]

Look for spots where they have a good bluffing hand but decide not to bluff. Make notes

[@Maximilian195]

this is exactly what I do and i crush my local 2/5 :)

[@nowornever9327]

Logic wins!

[@kevstree1495]

just what the world needs right now. more poker content. taking other peoples money and providing zero value. blessed

[@BradDanyluk]

Hey Phil, I don't mean to be intrusive, but "fold the river?" Were you kidnapped and forced to make this video against your will? Type 1 if we should send help.

[@PhilGalfond]

😂

[@_stephenhubbard]

Delete this. Too high content. Probably my fav yet!