Bluffing in Small Stakes NL Holdem

I find that if you are playing in anything less than for a $20 buy-in, it is almost impossible to bluff well because ALOT of donkeys will call you anyways even with bottom pair. Is it totally true that you CANNOT bluff "bad" or inexperienced players?

Are the donkeys the ones calling or the ones trying to bluff the calling stations?

Impossible to bluff? Hardly so. At the lower lefels you need to pick your spots for bluffs. Anyways, if it would be impossible to bluff why would you want to, if you know you're getting paid off everytime you hit hard?

Depends how they play, I usually play low stakes as I'm better suited for them if I tilt too much. But I don't bluff in ring games (unless I'm playing Razz), just usually tournaments.

WVHillbilly hit it on the head. Even in a high stakes game bluffing, like everything else in poker, depends on your opponent. It also depends on your image at the table. If you bluff alot then maybe it's not such a donkey play to call you with bottom pair. After all bottom pair is better then nothing.

vinny34119 said:

I find that if you are playing in anything less than for a $20 buy-in, it is almost impossible to bluff well because ALOT of donkeys will call you anyways even with bottom pair. Is it totally true that you CANNOT bluff "bad" or inexperienced players?

Click to expand...

Yeah i agree with this,at the low level games i rarely get away with a successful bluff coz as u said ur gonna be called with crap anyway,however when i try the same thing at higher i find myself stealing alot of pots or blinds pre and post flop.
Generally i prefer to play the player rather than the cards anyway so bluffing is important aspect of the game.
Yes at low levels i don't do so much unless is late in the game when blinds r high.

yea you have to be wary of the player...trying to bluff a calling station is idiotic...you take money from a calling station by value betting your made hands. Tighter players you can make money from semi-bluffing them off pots, because they don't hang on to pots without hands, and staying away from them when they have a hand etc...

I agree with the "Are the donkeys the ones calling or the ones trying to bluff the calling stations?" statment.

vinny34119 said:

It is totally true that you CANNOT bluff "bad" or inexperienced players.

Click to expand...

Fixed, and yes.

So stop bluffing!

If not, bluff on flop, bluff on turn and bluff a lot on river... I have exactly the same experience as you by the way, but I didnt know it went all the way up to 20 dollars, I thought the donkey calling stopped at 1/2$ but I might be wrong.

But ask yourself, are you bluffing so frequently that actually some of these donks actually got some kind of a read on you?

I mean if I hit the bottom pair I got no problem calling a minimum bet and start fishing for the second pair or maybe even trips. I wont go all in unless I have a very good read on the guy, have done that a time or two, and then I am usually ahead, and if he gives up on the betting on turn and a minmum bet on the river I usually makes the call, and when this happens I win in more of 60% of the hands

WVHillbilly said:

Are the donkeys the ones calling or the ones trying to bluff the calling stations?

Click to expand...

This is true. STOP BLUFFING

ive never even bluffed. i dont even know. i mean. wat.

Lol there's no real point in bluffing a person if you can get good dividends from value betting. At low stakes its best to just sit back and wait for your hand letting the other people take themselves out while you can get a feel for how they all play. In the 3 or 4 SandGs ive played that were low stakes on Pokerstars there have been times I've tried to steal by betting almost 10* the BB with AK because the board reads 3 4 J 9 Q and I get called with ducks.....so yea the whole "I got a pair!!!!" mentality is definitly obvious in the lower level tables it seems