strategy
Bluff-catcher
Also: bluff catcher, bluff-catching
A hand that can only win at showdown if the opponent is bluffing — it beats their bluffs but loses to all their value hands. Deciding whether to call with one is a pure frequency question.
Example. Holding second pair facing a pot-sized river shove where the opponent either has the flush or a missed straight draw, you hold a bluff-catcher.
Against a polarised bet, all your bluff-catchers have roughly the same strength, so the question is not 'is my hand good' but 'does this opponent bluff enough'. Theory says you should call with just enough of them to keep the opponent's bluffs indifferent (see minimum defence frequency), preferring the ones that block their value and unblock their bluffs.