Lesson
Ranking Bluff-Catchers by Blocker Value
Blockers & Card Removal · advanced · 10 min
Tyler Forrester reviews how to rank bluff catchers against river overbet jams by their blocker effects instead of raw hand class. The lesson breaks down why overpairs can become poor calls, why board-interacting pairs can outperform them, and how a specific Ace-Ten fold became a large river mistake because of double blockers.
Key takeaways
- Against overbet jams, rank bluff catchers by how they interact with the board and the opponent's value and bluff ranges.
- Avoid default-calling overpairs as bluff catchers when they block the opponent's likely bluffs and do not block enough value.
- Prefer hands that block value hands while unblocking bluffs; in the discussed spot, hands like Jack-Ten, Queen-Ten, and Ten-Eight are stronger bluff catchers than Kings through Jacks.
- Use the required equity from the pot odds before calling; in the example, the call needed about 39-40% equity.
- Account for double blocker effects, such as Ace-Ten with relevant suits, because they can turn a close or losing bluff catch into a profitable call.