Its fair to assume that you won’t be blessed with Aces in every hand, so you will need to learn to work around that and play the cards that you are given. This is where bluffing comes in handy. Bluffing is the art of making other around the table think that you have a better hand than you really have. But beware!! Too much bluffing at the wrong time or getting caught bluffing will mark the beginning of your loosing streak.
Bluffing in it’s simplest terms means to fake what you are actually holding in your hand. In Poker, to “bluff” is to bet or raise with an inferior or weak hand. Bluffing is an essential skill for a good poker player, and one that they practice vigorously so that it goes unnoticed until the reveal. As well as practising the art of bluffing without a tell, it’s also important to understand how and when to bluff.
There are two kinds of bluffs:
Pure bluff – When a player makes a pure bluff, she bets or raises with a bad hand that has little to no chance of improving. For example, if in five-card draw, a player has nothing but a king-high so raises, hoping everyone will fold.
Semi-bluff – When a player bets on a hand that is probably not the best hand at the moment, but has a chance of improving later in the hand, it is called a semi-bluff. For example, if you have 4 cards to a straight or flush in Texas Hold’em on the flop and bet or raise when you don’t have the hand to back the raise or bet, but you have a good chance of improving it to a much better one.
The Best Times to Bluff:
-The board cards are showing others that you could have a strong hand
-You have a very steady table image
-Sensing that the opponent is weak and will fold to your bet or raise
-There are only two of you left in the game
The Worst Times to Bluff are:
-When you are playing someone who you know never folds
-When you don’t have enough chips and any raise or bet won’t be enough to force a fold
-Too many players still in the game
-If you have an obvious tell
Here some top bluffing tips:
- Look for players that need a reason to fold, betting big usually makes them think you have a hand they can’t match.
- Watch your table and learn each players habits. New players tend not to get the bluffing right and are easier to spot. The more experienced player is watching you, so caution is needed.
- Bluffing an in-experienced player is risky as they may not notice that you could hold a much higher hand than you have. They tend to call more often or don’t know when they are beaten and keep going.
- Bluff high limit tables only, as betting small amounts means they have less to lose and could lead to someone calling your bluff.
- Bluffing too often leads to mistrust around the table and may lead to you creating a pattern others might spot. This is a good time to find out if you have a tell. If so can you hide it? If not can you use it and create a double bluff.
- If you get caught bluffing, make sure you turn your cards over so that other players can see you had nothing. This may just give you the edge next time you have something and they think otherwise.
Having a tell
If you have a tell in Poker and your bluffing always leads to you getting caught out, then you need to look at what you done and work on a way to lose the tell. Sometimes the simplest things stand out, so learning the strengths and weaknesses of your own game is a good way to understanding how someone else might play or more importantly, view your play.
When playing at a casino table or in an off-line tournament, having distinctive body language at the poker table is a killer if you don’t know you are doing it. You need to be as non-readable as you possibly can and try playing the same way for all hands good or bad. An easy way is help disguise your tell, is by wearing sunglasses when playing (if permitted) and regardless of how good or bad your hand is, stare directly down on the table and try to be as non committal as possible. All easier said than done, so practice within a group of friends or a GirlClub.
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