Bluffing

I've been unable to find any good articles on bluffing, anywhere. It seems strange since there's so much to it that everything anyone's written on it (that I've been able to find) seems so basic.

The fact is that I think my bluffing is only slightly proffitable, and it needs to improve a lot. I see good players bluff way more than I do, and get away with it way more than I do, they know something that I don't but so far I've been unable to figure out what that is.

Here's what I know so far:

Only bluff someone who can fold.

99% of the time, you should be bluffing with outs. Overcards, straight draws, flush draws etc. Don't let your opponents believe you do this regularly.

Don't bet draws into someone you wouldn't make a complete bluff against.

When someone makes an "I surrender" check, usually on the river when they've either been flat calling you or making small bets (to stop you making bigger bets) all the way and now they've checked it to you. A bet will usually take the pot down here.
Another circumstance is when there's a four flush on the board and they check it to you, the vast majority of the time they have a low flush at best the only question is can they fold a low flush.

When someone who's ahead of you in a hand sees a scare card, ask yourself if they're capable of making the laydown if they believe you're ahead.

Usually you should only bluff into a pot in which no one has taken an interest yet. If you're on the button and suspect someone else has made a steal attempt before you get the chance, usually you should concede the pot to them. Whoever gets in first takes it, they've represented strength which is either real or fake, it's often not worth finding out.

Consider the pot odds. You should usually be betting upwards of 80% of the pot, so in order for this to make you money you have to have gotten this far in the hand based on the probability of your cards winning the hand (almost never enter a hand with the intention of bluffing, it should be a back up plan only).

Make your bluffs seem real. Don't throw out a bet on the river because you've missed your flush when you've played it like you were drawing, only an idiot will believe you here and an idiot still wont fold. You've got to consider what your opponent could think you have.

Watch out for low flops in raised pots. If you take the flop heads up and it comes 257r, the only possible hand you could have that liked this flop is a pocket pair, often your opponent wont believe your bluff here. This can be dangerous because you both know that the other didn't hit.

When an opponent is drawing and you become aware of this, you can take the pot extremely easily. Good players wont pay more than they've got odds to pay in order to draw, even if you've completely missed and their ace high is ahead, make it unprofitable for them to draw against a made hand and they'll fold. Keep in mind that you can again only do this against intelligent players, some people are gamblers and will take their chances.

Position is important. Don't bluff from early position especially when there are a lot of players in the hand. Bluffing from the button is troublesome because it's such a good position for it that most of your bets are considered to be a steal attempts by other players.


People call more than they should, it's rare for someone to fold more than they should. Bluffing should be done sparingly.




That's all I know about bluffing, or at least what I can come up with off the top of my head. There's obviously a lot more to it and I'm wondering if anyone could add to this list, or tell me where I can find some useful information on bluffing.

That's just way too much to remember.

Bluffing: 1) Don't do it 2) If you do bluff then you're relying on fold equity to be successful. Make sure you have some. 3) Size your bet to the hand you're representing.

One thing I could add to the list is a well timed bluff can be very successful if you have the table image of a rock.
If you play LAG, your bluffs will be easily picked off.

I like Double-A's post , imo "bluffing" is overrated and misunderstood.

One thing that's really important that you don't explicitly list is relating Villain's range to your range and to the board. This gets more complicated the higher the limit, but at it's simplest - what has Villain's actions represented his hand as being and how does that map to the board. Let's say Villain opens pf in MP for 3.5bb's - is this guy opening tons of hands, or is he limited to specific types of hands? If he leads a flop of Q73r but checks the 9 on the turn, what are his likely holdings? If you're in position, you might bet representing the Q to see if he'll fold AK/AJ/AT/KJ/KT/second pair etc. Let's say he leads the turn - does he double barrel A high hands alot? If so, you might raise representing a strong hand. Floating the right villain types can be very profitable. Note this doesn't work as well multiway; that's why isolating is important.

I don't know if it'll help you, but this thought helped me alot - don't think about bluffing, think about stealing. Build a coherent story around a presumed hand and try to steal when it's appropriate (i.e., when fold equity is high - I also don't think of this as fold equity, I think of this as steal equity). Are my actions in this hand consistent w my having a stronger hand than villain's? If so, and villain is a thinking player, a bet will take the pot down a certain percentage of the time. Of course, you need that percentage of the time to be high enough to offset the times villain calls.

I make a strong distinction between semi-bluffing and pure bluffing - I rarely make a pure bluff (i.e., my only presumed outs are, say, zero, one, or two overcards) but semi-bluff (i.e., if I get called, I have 8 or more outs to make the likely best hand) frequently. Semi-bluffing is beautiful - even if you're a 3:2 dog, if there's enough dead money in the pot and a reasonable amount of fold equity (pick your spots well), it's a profitable play over the long run (even though you'll potentially lose a lot in the short run).

I regularly make hero calls when I don't think villain's actions have been consistent w the hands he is now representing - esp at 50nl, bluffing tends to be a little transparent, and you don't have to be correct about the bluff as often as you'd think in order to profit in the long run.

I've actually had a lot of problems with bluffing on flush/straight draws and have found out that a few friends who're poker pros at the same casino have had the same problem. Either you're against a fish who's not going to fold so whilst you are building the pot, you're building it while you're a 30something% chance to win the hand with very little chance of stealing the pot. Or you're against an intelligent thinking player who will consider the possibility that you're semi-bluffing.

You just can't semi-bluff your draws at most tables there with less than a $200 buy in (i.e. any table I'm likely to sit at) and most winning regulars have resorted to check-calling.

On the other hand, I have recently had some success in semi-bluffing backdoor draws (on the turn) and bet/calling with overcards against the right opponents simply because opponents wont put me on these hands very often (and it adds great value to your strong hands when a shark sees you're willing to bet ace high) but that could just be variance as I've adjusted both plays recently.

comments above. Note - if you are limping or flatting behind pf, this doesn't work very well, you usually need to be the aggressor in order to make semi-bluffing work.

also, dont bluff a short stack, they are eager to gamble and arent shy to move in at any moment.
I find bluffing to be much easier in Live games rather than online ones.
then again, it depends on the player.
if i may offer one more tip of advice, when you bluff, do it when the cards call for it. dont just bluff when you feel like it, bluff when you think the cards arent as dangerous and have as many options or draws.
if you bluff on a flop the is a rainbow and without a straight draw and you happen to get called, you can have an easier time putting your oppnent on a hand than when you bluff on a pot with 3 suited connectors on it.
lol, one more thing i have to say- if your going to bluff, bluff with the mindset that you are willing to bluff enough to win.
not all bluffs go as smooth and as easy as you would like them to.
many times you will have to fire 3 bullets to win. sometimes you will still lose. have the common instinct to stop bluffing if you feel your opponent is a calling station or is setting you up.
good luck to all you bluffers out there, dont get caught with your pants down.

What stakes are you playing at? At micro stakes, bluffing should be rare, since you're almost never going to get the typical player to fold anything worse than second pair. People hang on to mediocre hands like they're the nuts..

of all the books i have read on poker by the pro's(and trust me there are many)...i think the best way i have ever heard it phrased was" use your bet to gain information"..this is crucial if you ask me.......you might take down a lot more pots by bluffing if you do just toss a 1/2 to 2/3 pot sized bet out there just to see where the table is at...esp online where you get them two flush/ straight boards out there...we all see these setup hands..and these imo are the best to try to bluff on the flop and turn if the board doesnt fill those power hands on the draw..(btw i hate draw donkeys lol)...i think the majority of pros call this a semi bluff..but this to me is the best type of...

I would suggest playing tight and making sure you have that tight image at the table. Once you have that esablished it is so much easier to bluff and people will give you more credit on a big hand. That is the absolute BEST thing you can do. You do this and you will have players folding trips, top pr, and always that middle pr, etc... Ofcourse you have to watch out for that BAD player because you cant bluff a horrible player like you can a descent player at the table. Anyways thats pretty much the Basic strategy on bluffing. You do this and you will see profits in cash games or tournament play.

Hope this gives you a little better idea on the most common basic strategy.

Shinedown and aceup, you guys are both right that a tight table image makes your bluffs more credible.
It is also worth noting though that a loose aggressive image can be effective for bluffing because your opponents know that they've got to be prepared to put in most or all of their stack, and they just wont do that without a big hand.

I think if you are a lag player your bluffs should be rare but if you're a tag player who traps you can use table position to steal many decent sized pots. Don't forget to watch out for us trap players.We know who you betting machines are.lol

a small addition... 'tournament play' BvB, if SB COMP while you're on BB... if SB checks flop, you check behind... SB checks turn... 'almost always bet here'. Check/Check, Check/'Bet'

Most of my experience is on tournament-style NLHE and I've found that alot of stealing situations become intuitive,.... & similiarly reading other's bluffs as well.

Player reads are key.

Question for ya..... are you primarilay a tournament player or cash game? Anything I have to add would be tourney-style related so will wait to respond on here once I see what your game preference is.

I only disagree with 1 of your points spidey.I play low limit ring games and if you are known as tight player and bluff from position a large majority of your "well timed" bluffs will still work.Just make sure it's at least a pot bet.

I disagree, I definitely pay attention and know who to bluff or not.... Depending on if they are tight or loose ( calling stations), but it's more a feel to bluff..... I think the best way to practice this is to practice situations were bluffs are more likely to occur..... Study the basics bluffs, such as paired boards, low flops, checks etc.... then move on to psychological bluffs. Getting into your opponents heads to bluff or not...... consider bluffing more on a feeling and situation.... then randomizing your bluffs....

Man i love the bluffers and i love to hear them whine when i catch them. My advice is that if u can't take a beat then don't bluff. People call u a donk and everything for calling their bluff with only a pair but if u can't take the beat then don't bluff!

Thanks for the tips about bluffing...I seldom bluff, but when I do, most of the time I'm very successful! I also know when to fold 'em when I'm called on it!

I disagree with you Gordon regarding that bluffing is related to the FEEL...
Many players fall in problems because they rely on their instincts to time the bluff....
I would say, never rely on instincts. But consider the "time to bluff" only depending upon the style and strategy of the players at your table. This approach is much better that the FEEL approach !!!

Hey spiderman637, I agree it's definitely about the time to bluff, but I consider the time to bluff a feel, or a feeling you get when you come across a situation were a bluff may be needed. You're opponents styles and strength in the current hand your in should also be considered. For example: if my opponent is a calling station, and we are involved in a hand were I need to bluff to win, I'm going to have a feeling not to because I know more than likely hes going to call.

Playing in position and picking your fights is key. I went into a raise or fold mentality and learned how to bluff through that. In tourneys bluffing is the key to get a large stack but rarely do it in a cash game.
Never overdo it as it will just lose you money.

I don't find bluffing to be that profitable. I do occasional after I've been at the table for awhile and have some sort of image built up but I don't see it as anything but a small weapon in the arsenal.

I found this advice and works if you can stick to it....

The semi-bluff is one of the most powerful weapons in any poker player's arsenal. If there's a decent chance you can steal a pot by semi-bluffing, you should usually take it. But, as with any play you make at the table, the semi-bluff is always most effective when you use it at the correct time in the correct situation. Semi-bluff too much and your opponents will know when you’re on the draw; semi-bluff too little and your opponents will know to fold whenever you bet. The key to semi-bluffi ng is to always mix things up and never become too predictable with your betting patterns.

Bluffing for bravado purposes (like Jamie Gold and other showboats) IMO is pointless. Bluffing with a purpose (to alter your table image, to grab free money that a nit is all that happy to let you have, etc.) is an invaluable skill. The key is using that tool at the right time- and being flexible enough to exploit it to its maximum.

For instance, on one occasion, I bluffed at two consecutive hands in NLHE. In both hands, I bluffed on the flop, fired a second barrel at the turn. I checked to the river on the first hand and made a a value bet sized bet on the second hand. After the second hand, my opponent was ragging on me in the chatbox about how he had a great read on me, how I was a donk, etc. Anyway about 20 hands later, I pick up pocket Aces against this same guy and hit a set on the flop. I used the same betting pattern and he came over the top on me on the river and I ended up with all my money back (minus the rake ). Boy was he pissed.

I don't like that 80% pot bet bluff. I think a half pot bet (if you regularly do this when you have a hand) is the best option because it feigns your normal routine.