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Bluffing in Poker

Bluffing is the ultimate move that can win or lose a pot in the blink of an eye. So much emphasis is put on bluffing in poker today that this topic probably has gazillions of threads anywhere poker is written about. Poker is an art form and bluffing would certainly qualify as an art. With the advent of TV poker shows and poker tournaments being played almost around the clock bluffing can appear a lot easier than it truly is. Unfortunately, TV takes a lot of things out of context due to editing. We see the great bluff to win the pot on the river but most of the viewers fail to recognize that this move took hours to setup along with several hands being played. Let's take a look at what the bluff is all about.

What is a bluff?

Simply put a bluff is when you bet out on a hand when you do not have the best hand and win the pot. Bluffing takes place in all forms of poker from Omaha Hi/Lo 8OB to Razz to No Limit Texas Hold'em. It doesn't matter whether you are in a cash game or poker tournament either. In order to be successful playing in tournaments or cash games you must be capable of bluffing and winning pots with absolutely no hand. Otherwise, you play becomes predictable and people will begin to take advantage of it.

I believe that many poker players bluff far too often and end up losing more chips in a hand than they have to in a hand.

When should you bluff?

Bluffing for the sake of bluffing is pointless as it only exposes you as a loose player and allows your opponents to be prepared when you do actually have a reason to bluff. Bluffing is the result of two things:

• Understanding your opponent and their tendencies
• Understanding and being able to take advantage of situations where bluffing is profitable

Many players have the thinking that you should always do certain moves in a certain spot. On the contrary, you must be prepared with your entire arsenal of moves when the scenario presents itself. That means it could happen early in a poker tournament, late in a poker tournament or in the middle of a poker tournament. But any way you look at it you are looking for situations where your knowledge and the right scenario make sense to make your bluff.

How much should you bluff?

Opinions vary from player to player and your chip count has a lot to do with how much you are willing to bluff as well. I tend to discourage bluffing early in poker tournaments, especially if you are a good player. The reason for this is because there is so much dead money that you don't need to bluff in order to build your chip stack. Once you do and begin getting involved in more hands you can make small bluffs at abandoned pots and usually people will simply fold their hands. Again, your chip count has a lot to do with how much you bluff. Usually, I like to keep my bluffs around 10% of my stack but there are situations where I will get up to one-third of my stack in the middle if I am confident it will win me the pot. So much of making good bluffs is about feel. You have to have a good feel for the flow of the table and your opponents to make bluffs work properly.

The story has to add up!

I cannot emphasize this point enough. When you are playing any form of poker and particularly no limit hold'em your story has to add up. The way we as poker players tell our story is through the way we bet our hands. For instance:

Opponent1 [Js][Th]

Hero [Q][9]

The flop comes down [Kc][9c][2s] and your opponent checks the flop.

You bet out and your opponent flat calls. The turn is [3h] and your opponent checks.

You then make a pot sized bet to take down the pot but get raised before the river. Now you have to think through the hand as follows. Clearly your opponent is representing a King here. Why would he raise now if he were on a flush draw? Wouldn't he have raised after the flop when I bet out instead of flat calling? If he had a King would he have re-raised the flop to push me off the hand?

This story does not add up and you make the call. The turn is a blank and your opponent checks and you check down and show the best hand and he mucks. That is why it is important for you to piece the puzzle back together. It also is important for the bluffer to make sure that the story makes sense. Good players can usually sniff out a bad bluff and make the correct call.

Summary

I don't have enough room in this article to touch on myriad of bluffing situations you will encounter but I do believe we have touched on the fundamentals of the bluff and when to make them. You can adjust that knowledge to your own game and apply it accordingly. Remember, you can't win if you don't bluff. Just make sure it makes sense when you do.