To bluff or not to bluff

What are peoples views on bluffing, when to do it - is it dependent on position on the table? How big to bet when bluffing? How often should you do it?

Help me out with some advice and spread your knowledge.

You are going to have to be way more specific than that. Post a hand and we can discuss it but: stacks, image, type of game, position, the size of the pot, previous actions in the hand, what stage of the hand are you at (ie, turn, river, flop, preflop). All those things are very important.

It depends on what type of game you are in. I can tell you when not to bluff more than when to. Don't bluff much in a freeroll, especially early. Same goes for low buy-in MTTs. Only people who can be bluffed are those who are willing to fold a hand.

I play low-medium limit cash Hold 'em. They call it 'No Fold 'em Hold 'em for a reason. Folks don't fold, EVEN WHEN THEY KNOW THEY'RE BEAT. So, don't bluff in low limit cash games, no one will fold based on your bet. Low limit is designed to go to showdown, so low-med limits are NOT the places to bluff.

Personally, I never bluff*.

It really depends on the game you're in though. If it's a full table of unobservant LAGs who'll give action to your good hands, you pretty much don't need to. Just wait to get a good hand, and expect to get paid off big.

If it's a short table of nits, however, then the cards you're dealt almost don't matter.

In general, you'll be bluffing more against tight opponents and at short tables, and bluffing less at full tables or against opponents who call a lot.


* Disclaimer: I may, however, value bet nine-high from time to time and play 47o as phantom aces.

I think you only should bluff on the weak people with short stacks or with a small roll at the table. You should only bluff once you are comfortable with it i think. Its a big risk when youre bluffing. And dont bluff with 2 7 because even if hes bluffing as well. You want to have a good kicker.

I have to agree with everyone else on this one. Do not try it at all in low limit games and freerolls people just do not know when to lay it down. They will play any two cards because they saw someone on TV do it. With out a understanding of how long that person may have been playing to set up that bluff.

Is there a bluff frequency/pecentage for balance?

I only like to bluff short stacks when its close to the bubble or maybe semi bluff cause I want a chance at least to hit something, it's sometimes hard to push a short stack off their hand if they hit anything.

I agree with others that bluffing in low limit MTT's, cash games or early in freerolls is a good way to exit early.

i also agree that in free rolls and low cash games people just keep going hoping for their cards to fall.

I tend not to bluff very often, do people finsd the more experienced they get the more they bluff?

Wow yea you could get into tons of possiblities on bluffing and not bluffing.
All depends on type of tourney, players attitudes and usual play tactics, position, cards on table. There are endless way to calculate if you can bluff or not. You just gotta figure in you head percentages of ur oppenents hand strength and if they have the balls to do it. Personally i bluff till i get caught.

I would say a lot depends on your experience.

If you are new to poker you are better playing a "by the book" TAG game - play big hands and play them strong. If u r playing low stakes most people won`t notice what u r doing.

With all due respect, the way u r asking this question I don`t think you should be bluffing much

When it comes to bluffing alot of peoples strategy is "hey they have all checked to me twice therefore they must be weak, I have position on them so what the hell, lets just put a bet out there and hope for the best".

To bluff successfully you cannot just throw out a bet or raise without thinking about why. When bluffing you must consider how your bet will be percieved by your opponents (what could they think you have). For example: On a JJ2 board if I was to bet $1,000 into a $600 pot my bluff would not very often be successful. Obviosly if I had a Jack I would not be acting so strong.

I like to set my bluffs up by playing the hand exactly like I would if I actually had the hand I was representing. In the JJ2 example above if I was planning to run a bluff I would check call the flop and then lead out on 4th street with a half pot bet to try and take the pot down there.

Not sure if this is the most ideal way to bluff, but hope it makes a little sense.

#1 mistake begs have with bluffing.. IT HAS TO MAKE SENSE. Other than that position and table, in tourny, so many factors to consider.

A good shortstacker (which ill admit are few and far between) will own you for this. In cash games shortstackers play on their ability to get all in by the flop reguardless of the flop texture. They have no fold equity anyway so if you bet into them, and they push over you for barely more than a minbet your getting way to good of odds not to call.


@OP: Bluffing is very table, opponent, stack, etc dependant. But like said above, if your just starting you should be playing a straight forward TAG game and not worrying about running bluffs. Especially at the lower limits

I am no good at bluffing, everytime I try it I get called and lose. So to me it isn't worth losing my hard earned cash.

my partner is always bluffing and stealling blinds and the pot, i dont know how she gets away with it. Everytime I try i get someone who goes all in or matches my bets and either being double bluffed or folding.

Theres an interesting question - How do you know if you are being bluffed back?

For me my bluffs are only successful when I decide prior to making any bets in a hand that I'm going to play my 9-6 os as if I have the nuts throughout the hand. Most of my failed bluffs are hands that I have limped in and I bet at when no one shows any aggression.

Yeah usually early in the low stake tourneys....I try to wait on people to bluff at the hand....If I am strong sometimes I will slow play the flop wait for a bet on the turn and call or check raise then on the river when I bet the pot or overbet it....people cant get off thier bluff sometimes and call. Guess they thought I had to be bluffing as well due to lack of aggression

Personally I dont often but right now when I do have a hand I am still experimenting with the diff. betting amounts that will make people fold based on the action leading up to my bet. I figure that once I get a better grasp of this...I can start to bluff by telling the same story with my bets...just without the cards....lol...

Like others said you should play your bluff hand the same way you would play a strong hand or a hand that you hit a good piece of the flop...

Dont get into the habit of bluffing too much though.....

I am a tight player. Once you have that table image I like to try and bluff once in a while. It is something that I need to work on as I am not very good at it. A steal on the button works pretty good against shortstacks.

It is so much fun to show your 25os that not to bluff is a crime, but i think that to be able to bluff successfully you need to be able to put your opponent on a hand and then play your hand as if it is better. Experience will give you the knowledge and confidence to bluff.
One point about freerolls and low limit MTT's, i would not bluff early without a very good read but in the later stages of the tourny it is very difficult to survive without buying a few pots.
I would use the higher buy-in play chip SNG to practice and learn about bluffing.

I try to bluff as little as possible, I like to act weak instead and call those bluffs :P

i tend not to bluff too much till i get a good feel for the other player's at the table..but i still only bluff if i realy think i can get away with it..sometime's it work's out other time's :-(

It depends on two things really... The first is your strategy and the second is how your table is playing.

If your tight aggressive then you should only bluff to advertise weakness when your table has gotten ultra tight. You want to play a lot of small pots then show a crap hand to advertise your false strategy. Then play tight again.Then your more likely to get action when you do hit a real hand. If your table is action action action...then you do not need to advertise.

If your Loose aggressive then you make small bluffs to steal small pots to set up your big hands. There is no reason to make big bluffs since your going to have plenty of opportunities to catch monster hands and your going to get action when you catch those hands.

I agree, you should bluff players with smaller stacks.
Whenever i bluffed someone who had much more chips than me he called just to see what i had.
Whenever you bluff i think you should have an ace or a king.

You ask yourself: "Is it believable?" and then judge accordingly.

I know this is corny but its just like Negreanu said in his book Bluffing is like telling a story. Theres a beggining middle and end. If you leave any of those parts out the story doesnt work and the bluff will not work.

i dont bluff , like not at all i have been caught to many times ,so i just sit and play my hands ,and since i stoped bluffing i started showing my cards every time. thats what i do i showem so the people know not to call me. i show my cards untill the blinds hit like 1k then i start mucking and play a lil diff then i was i bet more and reraise more and bcuz i showed allthose hands in the game earlyer they dont call . and this has worked for me for about a half a year now and allmost allways place in the money .


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you cannot change the cards your delt just the way you play them RANDY PAUSCH

i bluff if i got cards in my hand hahaha thats the only time
and robert why would you not want people to call you? dont you want people to call your bets and collect more? or are you talking about just when your bluffing? but you said you never bluff so why you want people to fold??? let me know how you win when people just fold to your every bet cause the blinds aint usually gonna do it if thats all you collect.

I do not like to bluff until bubble time. Once bubble time rolls around people tend to be way more carefull and bluffs work much better.

i tend to try not to bluff unless im chip lead.. but if u must id say semi bluff

when playing no limit bluffing has a lot to do with instinct. continuation bluffs on turn an river make u look real strong.. low limiti hold em you cant bluff at all... tourneys you dont want to bluff or bully unless your the big stack