When Not to Semi-Bluff

As we have seen, a semi-bluff can be profitable because it sometimes works as a bluff (when your opponent folds the best hand) and sometimes lets you improve to the best hand (when your opponent calls). It is the combination of these circumstances that makes the semi-bluff profitable. Therefore, it is important to realize that you usually don't semi-bluff if you are sure you are going to be called. Why? Because then the bluff aspect of your bet has vanished, you are betting only for value, and it is clearly incorrect to put more money m the pot on a hand you know to be the underdog. The only exception to this principle may occur in seven-card stud and razz, as we saw earlier, when your semi-bluff confuses your opponent on later rounds as he watches your board develop into what looks like the best hand.
It is also a good idea to semi-bluff less often when you are last to act, especially if many players have checked ahead of you. Not only do you have the opportunity to give yourself a free card in last position, but it's possible that somebody ahead of you was sandbagging with a big hand and will check-raise when you bet. In contrast, when you are in first position, you would be more inclined to bet with a semi-bluffing hand. Since you can't assure yourself of a free card in first position, you might as well become the aggressor and bet when the situation warrants it.

Summary
We'll summarize this somewhat lengthy chapter point by point.
1. A semi-bluff is a bet, raise, or check-raise with a wide variety of hands which you believe are not the best at the moment. However, they may win not only right there when your opponent folds but also in a showdown when they improve to the best hand. They may also win when your opponent folds on a later round after you catch a scare card that makes your hand look like the best hand.
2. A semi-bluff may be used in any game, but it may be used only with more cards to come.
3. Sometimes a hand with which you think you are semi-bluffing is in fact the best hand. By betting, you prevent a worse hand from getting a free card.
4. If you have a hand that warrants a call when your opponent bets, it is usually correct to bet yourself, particularly in first position. You thereby gain the chance of winning the pot immediately, and you show more strength than you actually have, which can be to your advantage later.
5. Semi-bluffs allow you to be the bettor instead of the caller, which nearly always puts you in a more advantageous position.
6. Semi-bluffs are a good way to randomize your bluffs, for you have the added equity of a possible win even when you are called.
7. A semi-bluff can frequently be a profitable play in situations where a pure bluff is not. Your extra out of outdrawing your opponent can swing your mathematical expectation from the minus to the plus side.
8. You usually do not semi-bluff when you are sure your opponent will call. However, if there is a possibility that opponent will fold, you should bet - or raise - with a semi-bluffing hand, especially as the pot gets larger.
9, It is usually better to make a semi-bluff bet when you are first to act: when you are last, you have the opportunity of giving yourself a free card, and you may not want to risk the chance of an opponent check-raising you.