Poker: Bluffing

In poker it's not only what's in your hand that counts, but also what people think is in your hand. If you bet as though you have good cards, other players just may believe you do have good cards. Therein lies the essence of bluffing. Of course there are good times to bluff and bad times as well. Here are a few insights into bluffing:

Don't
- Bluff bad players. Bad players don't necessarily know when they are beaten. So even though you may present yourself as having the stronger hand, they simply may not notice or may not care.
- Don't expect bluffs to work in low limit hold'em. If the cost to see your cards is not significant, why should your bet (or raise) keep anyone from paying to see them?
- Try to bluff many players. You may fool some of them, but if you don't fool everyone you are in trouble.

Do:
- Bluff when the board says "someone" might have made a good hand. An example is when the third of a suit hits the board. "Someone" might have a flush. If you bet as if you have the flush, the other players may believe you do.
- Bluff against good or tight players. If you are in a pot with a player that looks for a reason to fold, give them one. Try betting big and making them think you have something they cannot beat.

Bluffing is something that is done between players, so the more you know your opponent's habits the better. If a player is a 'calling station' and always calls the bet so they can get to the next card or see the showdown, don't bother trying to bluff them.

If players have caught you bluffing recently, they will remember it. If you try to bluff again too soon do not be surprised if someone calls you, just to 'keep you honest'. Of course this can be used to your advantage. If you find yourself with good cards right after being caught bluffing, you are more likely to have players call your bets, rewarding you with a bigger pot.

Some circumstances have risen as 'typical' bluffing situations. They can be used to your advantage, but veteran players may recognize the play and use it against you. Typical bluffs include:

- Sitting in late position pre-flop. Everyone folds before you. You then bet big, knowing that there are only two players competing against you and that they didn't bet because they liked their hand. They bet because they had to. The players may interpret your big bet as a sign of strength and simply fold. You will have "stolen the blinds".
- Betting big from last position after everyone else has checked. You can interpret their checks as a lack of confidence in their cards. They may interpret your bet as a strong hand and fold.

Bluffing is an art, and it spices up the game of poker. Make bluffing a part of your arsenal, but not your only weapon at the poker table.

Written and Contributed By Robert Marinelli
Copyright ©2004 - 2005.

it is also good to semi-bluff when u have maybe the 2nd or 3rd best possiable hand like when u have a pocket pair that would quilafy as a 3rd or 2nd posiable good or best hand

Bluffing from the small-big blind post flop can take down people trying to win your blinds with marginal hands like King Ten or pocket 4s or so. Late in tourneys when raising the minimum is a big deal you can take advantage of pots with antes in them and regain your blinds back for another 10 free hands.

This is especially true if the flop is completely crap like 9-6-2 or 3 of a suit. If you were raised don't bluff it incase they were suited, if they just called they most likely are off suit mid-to-late in tourneys.

Thanks for the tips Nick. Lately i have been having trouble bluffing, hopefully these tips will help me.

bad players are almost impossible to bluff they think anything suited is worth an all in bet so many sites i raise big wk/a suited get re-raisedf by 4/8 hearts and loose to luck of another it's impossible to avoid at times.

sometimes it works to try to put a bluff looking bet out on the table against a loose or bad player when u have a good hand

NICK U COULDNT HAVE SAID IT BETTER about bluffing bad players they NEVER fold they dont care about their chips (fake ofcourse) so its no loss to them.

Playing tournys down the the 3rd hr/ or for real cash I wonder how these tips will work?? Might just have to try them sometime

THANKS NICK

PEACE
CHAD8

Thanks Nick. This really helped. Was having alot of trouble with the bluffing.

yes bluffing is an art works alot better when you know who you are playing and there tendencys,it is great when it works!!!!!!!

Thanks for this post Nick I don't bluff a lot cause I dont know how. I will use these tips as a starting point.

Hi Guys ,

i tried to bluff yesterday and it didn't work....

I got 10/2 of suit and the flop came 2/8/6 different suit.

i bet 600 out of my 2400 i got. Guy call me , rest fold.

Turn cames a J.

Bet another 600

River another 8.

I push all-in.

And the Guy call-it with a KING HIGH CARD.

What did i do wrong ?

Yeah I can be bluffed fairly easily early on in any game pretty much but as I settle in I almost always catch the guys who got away with it early. Very true about not bluffing low limit will not work. Won't work at most sites at low NL although if you find a passive table you might can snag a few pots.

in order to bluff , you have to mix up your game, if you dont , all players will read your plays

The best bluff for me is when the board has paired up. With three or fewer players you can usually pick up the pot by betting. If someone goes over you big usually just let it go. I have been in games where this worked 4 hands in a row. I usually don't bet more than 1/3 of the pot...most players think I am trying to trap them. By the way if I have the set I play it exactly the same.
HD

bluffing is a good tool in poker, i try using it when i'm in the first position pre-flop, bet strong and no matter what falls bet like it hit your hand...its works better when u notice ur at a table with tight players, with strong 1st first bet u'll rid the table of the crappy starters and if the flop is crappy you can still play as if you hit your low pocket pair. Its also nice being on the big blind (with no big raise pre-flop)and a have a bad flop, like 9 6 2 and coz being on the big u could play like u had crap, but hit ur crap on flop.

gee, i would love to master the art of bluffing but it seems like if i try it someone always calls me, and then i look stupid. even if that person checked all the way around and then i bet 200. 300. chips they will call with a pr of 8's and win. its not to say i havent done it and got away with it,,,, but more times than not,,,it just dont work. i have to be patient and wait for "that" hand to win my chips. i did get tired of one person bluffin one day and starting callin him and i won hand after hand, but i think i just got lucky.seems like no matter what site u play, their is always that one person in there that will call anything, so whats a gal to do???

I find bluffing can be near impossible early in the tournament because you get the people who call with anything and everything

bluffing takes skill and time to develop. i win 95% of someones bluff. cuz if they raise with AK. and the board comes up with sa 4,5,10 if u check to them they are gonna bet into it most of time. if u have pair at all most of time can get them in trouble

Its always good to have two ways to win your hand,either with your bet or with your hand.Bluffing is to me added insurance(not to be used often).This is in relation to playing small pairs.

I like when you get caught bluffing before and then a few hands later you end of slamming the same guy with a monster full boat or straight to the ace... You see his face when he pushes all those chips you just game him over to you is the greatest!

i find it that all-in bluffing works good against good players, while 3x-4x pot works best agaisnt poor players... is it any good?

to counter this...when someone raises on the button and i have decent cards, i like to re-raise them to make sure they dont take my blind freely

I also will tend to raise equal to the blind in the big blind position. It will cause many players to fold, and you can get yourself a lot of free pots.

Bluffing works fine but i think if u game is focus in the bluff, u have a lot of chances to lose a lot of chips if ur opponent had a strong hand.

nice thread, interesting.