When setting a trap in hunting, using the proper bait is important. The proper bait in poker traps depends on the kind of animal you are playing with. It also depends on what kind of hunter you are-aggressive or passive. When trying to get other players to fold or stay in longer than they should, different baits are needed for different players. While a conservative player can be baited and trapped by slow playing, a looser player may require the bait of fast play-challenges either way.
Often, the difference between a bluff and a trap is that a bluffer wants people to fold while the trapper wants opponents to stay in. Whether you are bluffing or trapping, your actions are the opposite of what you are pretending. After all, the skill of poker is acting like you have a good or a bad hand.
A bluff may be a show of weakness that is actually a trap. For example, suppose in Texas hold 'em that you start with a suited ace and deuce. When the flop comes in your entire suit, you may check or bet small. Actually, you have the nuts and if the flop doesn't show a pair on the turn or the river, you're a sure winner. So, limping in or just calling bets can be a sure sign that you may already have a made hand. In this instance, bluffing is the same as trapping, except that your show of weakness is designed to get others to stay in-not to fold.
Most bluffs are designed to get players to think your hand is stronger or weaker than it really is. Depending on what position you are in, a bluff could mean the difference between winning a small or large pot. For example, suppose you have an unsuited A-2 and the flop is:
5s-Ad-9s
Of course, you'd stay with top pair and your ace is a spade. Rather than being aggressive, you check to show weakness. Actually, with the deuce for a kicker, you could be the weaker hand. On the turn, there's a king of hearts. The board now looks like this:
5s-Ad-9s-Kh
That gives another player a pair of kings. She bets and you call, rather than raise-still pretending not to have top pair. Of course she could have two pair. And then on the river comes a spade.
Three spades are showing now. The player before you bets and you raise all-in! This raise is at least three times the pot. All you have is four spades and top pair. Your bluff is aimed at getting her to fold. Your bait is fear. If she folds you win a bigger pot than if you played more aggressively from the get-go. You could have check-raised your top pair. In that case, everyone including the king would have folded. But, since you didn't act on your top pair, she thought she had a better hand than you. That's what poker is all about-pretending.
Does that mean the good poker players are better pretenders. Actually, it doesn't. Some good players seldom trap, although they may like to bluff. When they bet they usually have something to back up those bets. However, if you are this conservative, perhaps a well timed bet could be a trap.
When a conservative player checks, it could mean that he or she only has a pair. In this case, it's safe to say that such a check is not an attempt to trap. However, when a good player with the nuts checks, it's always to encourage people to stay in.
What's the bait in poker to set a trap? It's usually greed or some other emotion, like fear. A player will call when he or she thinks their hand is better-that's greed. On the other hand, a player will feign weakness to encourage players to stay in-that's greed too!
When you bet more than it would be poker to call, that could be a bluff, and it could be very profitable.
Jim McKenna has been practicing psychotherapy for more than thirty-five years. His books include the acclaimed Beyond Tells: Power Poker Psychology, Beyond Bluffs: Master the Mysteries of Poker, and Beyond Traps: The Anatomy of Poker Success, all published by Kensington Press. Write to Jim@Jimmckenna-PhD.com.
