How often do you bluff?

[PlayedYou73]

I bluff more in tournaments then in cash games. And as for how much...it depends..
- on the blinds
- on the softness of the players
- on my position
- on the relative size of my stack

Its important not to bluff, just for the 'sake' of bluffing

 

[CaLL Me CraZii]

A lot.. I play the board not my cards, so if your playing against me just call my raise k.

 

[ludo90]

i would like to put my self in the name of "annoying players" , i seem to every time my opponent show weakness i take a stab at it.
Tho i usually just quit the hand if he decides to call. Reason for this is because when i 3 barrel i often get caught because i really suck at it .. always do it in that special timing where the opponent always notices it.

But my game is under reconstruction all day long!

Follow up bet <3

 

[yourguynow]

very seldom. usually in late position when i have seen the reminaining player or one of the blinds often fold when someone raises their bet

 

[nutshooter]

It depends on the game. If your in a low stakes game you should be okay bluffing more so than in a high stakes or tourniment. I probably bluff to much online and not enough offline. This is probably due to the fact that the people I play with will call anything with anything.

 

[CardConnoisseur]

For me, depends on the game i'm playing. In razz, I bluff when I'm down to 2 people, and I can steal the anti's, by just better with a better showing card. In NL, I'll generally only bluff when I sense weakness, be that from betting patterns, etc.

 

[Nate04]

I barely bluff at all online because players tend to call online more than in live games. I generally like to bluff early in tournaments and tighten up midway through or near the end.

 

[GivenWings]

Poker is renowned for bluffing - but how often do you bluff in reality?

I'm not really talking about semi-bluffs, where you have some type of hand but are trying to give the impression it's stronger than it is through a big bet.

I'm more thinking of betting big when you have nothing.

How often do you make this kind of pure bluff play? And in what kind of situations?

Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't have the "stones" to make a move in a live game, especially with a real tough crowd, but online I'll make about one absolute bluff per session.

 

[mig2169]

The only time i bluff is when i can lead the action. Bet pre flop and bluff all the way, u can't be afraid to fire three bullets. I do this once or twice a secission.

 

[NiceNisus]

You can final table a tournament without making many bluffs at all.
I think someone said they aren't going to win a tournament by waiting for the goods, but they'd be surprised what patience can do.
Bluffs can be quite profitable but only in the right situations, otherwise things become very messy.
I was reading a book, and it talked of bluffing in limit 5 card draw- it was very interesting. It mentioned for example having 4 cards to a flush and drawing 1. Said (on a game theory level), the optimal bluffing strategy was to pick a number of cards that would miss your flush and add them to your outs (i.e. you'd bet if you hit them).
So if you had A K 10 5 (all diamonds) and 7 (of spades),
(pot $100) choose all 2's that aren't diamonds as bluff cards and discard the 7.
so there are 3 cards you will bluff with of 47 remaining in the deck (meaning odds of you bluffing are 1:15)
(odds of you catching your diamond about 5:1)
so you bet 40, I give up this explanation, I'll mention the book, read it yourself I've lost myself.
(david slansky the theory of poker)- etorrent!
hah what a crazy useless post

 

[Poker Orifice]

i would like to put my self in the name of "annoying players" , i seem to every time my opponent show weakness i take a stab at it.
Tho i usually just quit the hand if he decides to call. Reason for this is because when i 3 barrel i often get caught because i really suck at it .. always do it in that special timing where the opponent always notices it.

But my game is under reconstruction all day long!

Follow up bet <3

WOW... this is super exploitable. I'd be really suprised if you're not getting floated regularly.

I'm kinda surprised by some of the responses on this thread although perhaps I shouldn't be.
When I started out online, my neighbours could probably often hear me saying "Please Fold! Please Fold. FOLD!! FOLD!!! FOLD!!!!" (3-barrelling with with air when my AK or AQs completely missed the board was a regular occurrence, lol). My game has changed considerably and now more often than not (10to1) I'm begging for a call as I'm predominantly getting my money in good, especially in micro buyin MTTs.
Listed right up near the top of many posts that list Top Mistakes newer players make in poker is "Bluffing way too often". It doesn't take long to peg a noob on a table, whether it be SNG, MTT, or cash (most making reference to tourney-style play here in this post though). Sure he buys a pot or two in early levels but same player is playing way too many hands and a pattern of POT bets (or larger) on turn and river become way too suspect. You see these guys getting trapped rather quickly and very often are out prior to the money bubble. I actually like it when they acquire some chips early because they're so easy to double thru or pick up a big pot from as the games goes on.
Contrary to what some others have said here in this post, I'm more apt to bluff in higher buyins (set up with a good story & table image) then in micro buyins where alot of time you're getting called down by loose passive players who are calling with any piece of the flop (ie. BPGK, MPMK, etc.).
I think it's a common misconception held by alot of noobs that 'poker is all about bluffing'. I've even heard this in the chat box alot,... players actually claiming that 'poker is all about bluffing and getting lucky'. Whoa... a pretty limited way of looking at the game.
Pure bluff... what percentage of the time? Really hard to say. Depends if you're including c-bets into the equation (I'm going to on average be c-betting 80% of the time, depending on flop texture, playing style of my opponent, stack sizes, stage of tourney, my table image, etc.).

 

[damon789]

to bluff or not to bluff

Poker is renowned for bluffing - but how often do you bluff in reality?

I'm not really talking about semi-bluffs, where you have some type of hand but are trying to give the impression it's stronger than it is through a big bet.

I'm more thinking of betting big when you have nothing.

How often do you make this kind of pure bluff play? And in what kind of situations?

Hey Fold, imo it really depends on your opponent never bluff a calling station(obv)just value bet him incessantly, also bluff the few not the many, and having position definatley helps.
My fav bluffing opportunity is when a scare card comes on the turn in Holdem and you are HU with position.Matt lessinger was quoted as saying in his great book " The book of bluffs" a bluff has to make sense a good bluff is like telling a story if u can sell it to the villan in a believable way he will fold. If your story has holes then the Villan will be confused and confusion leads to calls. Here's an example u call a middle position player in the cutoff with TdTh you go to flop (HU)flop comes Qs5s3c he cbets u call thinking he wiffed the flop turn is the 7s he checks u make a 3quarter pot sized bet representing a flush villan folds.A bluff makes sense here, because your story makes sense. Your call on flop indicated a drawing hand, so when he checks the turn u bet out, this will work a large % of the time. And the great thing about bluffs is they dont have to work everytime to show a profit. and even better if your bluff gets called that alters your table image so u can use that to get paid off if you hit a big hand soon after. one last point everyone has to bluff ocasionally especially if u play against the same players alot. If you dont bluff you will only win smallpots because people will get wise your big bets mean just what they represent A BIG HAND. hope u got a little outta these comments peace out Damon789 a.k.a Steamer107

 

[MrFold]

Thanks, Damon. That's good stuff. I particularly like the line about a bluff being like a story and you have to make the story consistent for it to be believable.

I think some of my bluffs have failed in the past because they have come out of the blue and haven't tied in with what is on the table and how I've played before.

Thanks also to Orifice - there are some sharp observations there.

 

[damon789]

to bluff or not to bluff

Hey bud, nps glad what i posted made sense. One other thing i forgot to mention is the high % chance of a bluff being successfully relating to the size of the pot sweeping up the small pots in position that noone has show interest in can def add significantly to your hourly rate. Gl at the tables champ

 

[stuventus]

I am playing poker at 5c10c.

I will make one continuation bet if I raise pre flop and miss. If I get called I just check down unless I hit.

I nearly never bluff other than that. Players at this level are generally incapable of folding any kind of hand / draw. And they also do not realise that you are representing.

I just play straight forward. Bet hands. check / call cheap draws and fold when the hand is not worth calling that particular amound

 

[Theblueduce]

I hardly ever bluff...Do not know the players well enough, too many of them, to know I could get away with it.

 

[PattyR]

i dont bluff near as much as i should be

u gotta bluff a little to at least attempt
to steal the blinds.

stealing the blinds is key to any tourneyment

 

[battlecat2828]

i bluff about 30% of the time, but i pick my spots depending on who im going agaist, exspecialy when u play the same people it gets tougher, but still possiable, or usally right after winning a big hand i think is a good spot.

 

[JDVB]

I bluff only with position. I don't do it that often. Only when it just feels right. When it feels like nobody has anything. I am not always right, but most of the time I am.

 

[lewis010]

just bluff when i feel weakness in all the players involved in the hand.. checking quick for example shows in most cases that this player doesnt hit anything in the flop so maybe with nothing, i can win the pot by betting...

 

[erinh]

Most importantly is knowing your opponent is even capable of laying down a hand.
Lots of different types of bluffs as well.

So true!

I always wait a while to bluff after I sit down. This A) gives me a tight image so that people buy it more easily, and B) lets me know who can be pushed out and who can't lay down a hand.

But as Poker Orifice said, eventually the knowledge of when to bluff becomes almost instinctual.

 

[Duccleman]

I don't bluff often but when I do l'm looking to make a big bluff. I'll look for a situation where I can exploit my table image and take advantage of certain scare cards

 

[jdeliverer]

There's no such thing as bluffing. You bet when you believe the combination of your fold equity and the equity of your cards when called is > the equity of checking. And all you can do is guesstimate both values anyway.

FYP

 

[Rockbuster]

bluffing is a poker tool......if ur bluff never gets called ur not bluffin enough if u get most or everytime u bluff ur bluffin too much sensing weakness on live action get er done.....Rockbuster

 

[oogadgetoo]

If you qualify my C-Bet as bluff then all the time. But I personally consider this an extension of my raise with 2 or less callers. Not a bluff so to speak. This is just automatic impulse and a no brainer.

I think of bluffing more as betting the scare card when I miss my striate and middle pair repeats or 3 flush card comes on the river and I think I might be behind. But this is almost always done in position and something I only do about 20% of the time a situation like this comes along.