What Is A Blocker In Poker?
1 minute
Last Updated: December 17, 2023
In poker, a blocker refers to a card that reduces the likelihood of a player holding a particular hand.
This concept is also known as card removal or combinatorics and is one of the fundamental concepts in poker game theory.
In games such as No-Limit Texas Holdem, the concept of blockers allows players to remove certain card combinations from their opponent's hand, which in turn helps them to make better-informed choices.
However, it is important to note that relying too much on blockers and neglecting other factors, such as the strength of your hand, board texture, and opponents' tendencies, can lead to bad decisions.
For this reason, blockers should only be used as a complementary strategy and not as a primary one.
Poker Blocker Example:
Let’s say you are holding a pocket pair of Js Jd on a board like Ts 9d 4c 8d 2s, and your opponent goes all in with pot sized bet on the river. With such a strong bet, it is likely that your opponent either has a straight or a complete airball.
Now for him to have a straight in this situation, he needs to hold a QJ or J8 in his hand, and since we are holding two jacks, it makes it much more likely that he is bluffing than he has the nut straight since there are way fewer ways he can make this hand.
For this reason, pocket Jacks are a much better bluff catcher than hand like pocket rockets in this situation.
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