I love poker, but I suck at bluffing. WHAT DO I DO?

[veronica]

I think you have to analyze the game yourself, if you see that yours bluffs do not work, it would be good that you take some time to sit and watch these mistaken you, sometimes you have to change, mold and accompany the play with something else.

 

[GWU73]

Read "the book of bluffs" It really helped me.

 

[dsk1231]

When it comes to bluffing you need to take a few things into consideration. What are your reads on villians? What's villian's hand range in this situation? What is villian's image of you? What is the board texture and what would you be representing with a bluff? How often is it going to work vs bet sizing compared to pot and stack sizes? There is an art to being good and profitable at bluffing. I'd be willing to guess people have posted some links by this point in the thread for you to look into. Good luck.

 

[daredeviljo]

Well, here's 5 tips on bluffing:
-Don't bluff every hand.
-Don't ever play a hand preflop just to bluff.
-Play as if you have a certain hand (or certain group of hands) when bluffing.
-In most cases, do not risk to many chips when bluffing, as your stack can be critically damaged as a result of this.
-Sizing bets is importing when bluffing. Don't just bet the minimum when bluffing, and don't always bet your stack or the pot.

Semi-bluffing is also a good way to earn chips. Look into this link, by cardschat for info on semi-bluffing: https://www.cardschat.com/semi-bluff.php

 

[bracadelija]

To be a good bluff to bluff you less if you choose to bluff should play cool and safe! I never lie and then I have to lie well good

 

[coolDadJimbo]

i'm still pretty new to poker, but i rarely ever bluff.... maybe if i've been tight and won with some good hands that my opponents have seen, then i will bluff against a single player... maybe 1/2 pot to full pot, depending.... some players are obviously tight, or shortstacked, and they are the ones to bluff against...

if you have some loose guy who is raising pre-flop every time (with hands like Q2) then don't bluff because he will likely call (i hate losing money to these guys!!).... he will be the bluffer.... so, slow play premium hands with this player and let him build the pot for you...

if you are seen as a bluffer who plays lots of hands, i will wait for the right time and stack you without betting myself... or wait to the river to re-raise pot size.....

it's better to exploit the loose bluffer than be the bluffer.... bluff rarely, and only with good hands/draws against a tight player who has checked to you and you have a tight table image..... if they call, then try a min-bet on the turn and see what happens.... if they call, maybe don't 3 barrel...

here daniels thoughts on buffing: [ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA59iZ3-yjE&[/ame]

 

[SloPowers]

I love poker but I have no luck

If you have no luck, then my advice is to hone your skill! It works every time!!

 

[billyboy313]

A ton of good advice up there. I feel bluffing big is a mistake. Make the bet a size that says "I want called" not a bet that says "I don't want called"

 

[letsdothis1]

when it comes to bluffing u got to have established a solid hand playing range and not in alot of pots, bluffing using the same bet range when got the nuts that have been shown is a way to pull it off, also what type of player is in the hand with you, if its the ill keep u honest type of player then bluff him 0% of the time......if i sit at the table a long period in MTT i might bluff 1 in 30 hands but really its semi bluff, maybe pair with one over card but never with nothing exp with full table

 

[A92]

It is often said that you have to tell a convincing story that makes sense. One of the worst things you can do is bet on the river after having limped into the pot and having checked the flop and turn. C-betting with air on the flop is fairly common (but could be used against tight players) so a 3-bet in this situation may succeed against loose-aggressive players. Just learn to get a feel of the players around you and you'll improve.

 

[atlantafalcons0]

I always try to tell a story when I bluff. If you attempt to bluff spur of the moment your opponent is likely to call. If you represent a strong hand from start to finish you can make your bluff more believable. This is more difficult to do because you have to be committed to the bluff and you also have to know when it's time to shut down.

Also, if you think you are giving off cues or tipping your hand to your opponent - try to think of how you act or feel when you have a monster. Sometimes I actually focus on my cards and make myself believe that I have it. This works believe it or not!

 

[carsguitars777]

if you are giving tells than first thing you need to learn is how to keep a straight face, I dont think this can really be teached but it can be learned from practice, if the problem is is when you should bluff and with what cards then you need to know what hands you could represent and this you can learn from others or reading material on poker.

 

[suvorov17]

Bluffing is important to fold equity when the opponent fold the better hand

 

[Frontiere]

Bluff

For good bluff you need position , then position , and chips on last place.You dont wanna bluff chip leader on table , because they call you with garbage with no problem. Try to bluff players with smaller chips ammount , and allways look on position. And offcourse , when bluff dont work , fold and try again . Or dont bluff att all.

 

[veltins]

only Play in Position if u are scared to bluff, n then when everyone checked to u after the flop , then u bet 60 % of pot no matter wht u ve unless it s dry board.. dont worry u ll win most of the time..

 

[iflylight]

to have a sucessful bluff you need to stick with the story you telling commit to it and make sure it looks convincing

 

[oooo]

You actually do no need to bluff at all. It sure will help you mix up your game, but if you are beggining at poker, just play premium hands and get know as the guy who never bluffs. After that has settle down, you play w/e hand like if it was a premium hand, and your opponents won't ever know what hit them. Just be carefull if you sense a Strong hand, that might caught you with your pants down. Hope it helps you.

 

[nsinalis11]

I give you an advice that might save you stop bluffing!!!

 

[glenn6971]

Bluffing is an art. When I figure it out I will give advice.

 

[heatonmania]

I've gotten a lot better over the past few months. Thanks for all of the support and tips guys! It is funny because with practice of bluffing, it seems that I naturally getting more confident as well. I am playing online poker nowadays and it's going great! It improves my poker intuition and it helps with my live poker games.

 

[curtinsea]

you can only bluff a player who knows when a situation requires him/her to fold