I always play tight until I get some chips, once you get chips you can bluff. Just need to learn how to play opponents hands. They see at the beginning you are tight, then you loosen up once I have chips to play with. Once you loosen up then they never know what you have unless they call. Then you also , have luck on your side at times.
First of all my friend try to relax, you say you were close to crying, that is an important clue, why do you feel so much frustration? Did you lose too much money? Do you have issues with your self image? What this bluffing thing represents to you? It is important to note that you need to be in a good mood to play good poker, while you are frustrated your must not play poker for real money, try to sleep, that helps. Best wishes.
Marius Ugle said:
If you want to bluff, also this is calculated. You have to know your opponents ranges and see how he reacts on your bets. You can't bluff every time. Also, when you bet on the flop with nothing you have to realize that it will be possible to bluff on all the streets.
For example a nit raise from UTG and you call in position with any two cards. If the flops cam 456 he bets you call, turn a 10, he bets you call and the river a 7 and he checks you can bluff if you didn't had a very aggressive image. Nits 70% of the time they will fold because his range is JJ+. He will never raise 33, 98s or A8, A3s from that position. He could have 88 a small portion of the time, but in this cases they like to bet.
Its not easy. Not many players master this ability (I haven't mastered it either). But the thing is that you have to bluff the right opponents in the right spots. Your opponent needs to have a range of hands that contains lots of hands that can be bluffed, but also your line throughout the hand needs to sell the story that you have a strong hand
Marius Ugle said:
Many people bluff and wonder why it dont work. The think is bluffing just to bluff is not the reason to bluff. When you bluff you need to tell a story with your bluff. You have raised with aces and been called. The flop is Ac 9s 2s. He checks and you bet 1/2 pot and he calls. He calls saying he has something but when you ask. The turn is a 3d and he checks and you bet pot and he calls. What can he have? a pair a or draw most likely since he has not raised you. You and your set look great and the river is a 9s and he checks and you bet pot but then he re-raises you pot. what makes sense here? a set? no unless he hit on the river with pocket 9's. 2 pair? maybe 97, but i doubt any better as you know where 3 of the aces are. A flush? That is what he is representing here. Would he call a raise on the flop with a flush draw? yes. The turn? most likely and the way you are playing the hand he should expect to get some value here. Would he re-raise the river here. Yes he would. This is a story that would get many players to consider folding there set. This could work.
Now lets try this. You have AdKs Same pre flop, flop and turn but the river is a now a 3cand you bet and he 3 bets you? you only have top pair but what is her representing. 2 pair makes no sense and only the A9 would be logical but he would have raised before the river. a full house, nope again as he would have raised before the river again. trip 3's is what he is representing. Think about the flop and what 3 would he have that would call you. What hand with a 3 did he call preflop with? A3? maybe but you know when 2 of the aces are. K3, doubtful. 93 or 23. Not calling you pre flop. So do you think he has a 3? nope, it dont make sense.
Next time you play dont bluff but think about what would be a good bluffing spot. Get comfortable about telling yourself the story and if it sounds like a true story. The time you play after that try a bluff. You might be surprised that you get a fold but again the story you tell must make sense. Just make sure also you are not against a calling station.
learn to play better with every hand in every position , fix the leaks/mistakes , this is good enough for beginners or players who have to get improved . If you don't know when a bluff might be profitable and has good chances to succeed , if you are not sure what you are doing when bluffing , better not bluff and lose money , play your A game and that would be good enough 🙂
The first thing that I feel is important for selling a bluff is knowing your opponents. I don't think that you will have too much success with a bluff if you try to bluff someone that calls every hand. Also a bluff sometimes doesn't just start with the hand you are trying to win, it's starts at the beginning of the game, you have to show the table that you are capable of winning hands.
The art of bluffing takes time! It should be something that is not overused and you should still have a hand that has potential, post-flop. Those are the 2 simple rules I try and follow. Also, I find that the buy-in dictates many players risk aversion. The higher the buy-in the less likely they are to call bluffs with anything but a strong hand. Those are my thoughts, for what there worth!
I began serious bluffs in tournaments versus cash game where I'm more nit. I play low stakes. Most of bluffs are usually the c-bet flop. If, however, I get a sense of my opponent being on a draw from the flop, I'll do a 3 barrel (betting all streets from flop to river) increasing my bet amount based on the pot size to make it seems as of I'm already having the "nut". Only works in position for me though. There's some tells online such as the bet amount, the speed of a call or a bet and of course, there's trackers but that doesn't tell me much when it time of bluffs. It's more about following the player you're about to bluff. Knowing his/her type of play.
You just cannot bluff a complete unknown player since you have no way to know of they're calling stations, loose or nit.
Also, there's tempos in tournaments. Beginning, bubble, early itm, mid itm and late (5% left, Final table). You're bluff strategy must adjust at all times.
It won't work everytime, so always think about why you're bluffing and what's the worth and cost.
Poker is a story telling game, you can lie your way through it or tell the truth, but at the end of the day, the goal is to make your opponents believe whatever comes out from your game style.
You just cannot bluff a complete unknown player since you have no way to know of they're calling stations, loose or nit.
Also, there's tempos in tournaments. Beginning, bubble, early itm, mid itm and late (5% left, Final table). You're bluff strategy must adjust at all times.
It won't work everytime, so always think about why you're bluffing and what's the worth and cost.
Poker is a story telling game, you can lie your way through it or tell the truth, but at the end of the day, the goal is to make your opponents believe whatever comes out from your game style.
To bluff an opponent you have to be careful on the table you are playing to see if it folds to the paid or only increases, make a note of the players at the table to see who is the weakest and bluff against him, one more tip not bluff much as it will cost a lot of chips at some point of the game gl at the tables😎
Key points:
Table image:
Table image:
- You need to play good hands first to show others that when you're in it's because you got something big.
- I try to avoid (as much as possible) to try and bluff deep stacked players when short stacked because if they suspect you of bluffing they can afford the loss. It's often tempting to try and make a short stacked player go all-in just to eliminate him from the table in case of MTTs or SNGs.
- You wanna avoid betting too much when bluffing in case you reach showdown and your hand didn't make it.
- Useless to try a bluff without information so try to do it SB or BB... at least in the beginning.
- Bluffing works better in a MTT or SNG when players risk their "tournament life" so they won't be able to rebuy if they don't have a strong hand. Time to steal the pot kinda thing.
haha this is a great topic
OK, The best way to bluff is to never bluff at all... make others believe you're bluffing is the secret to making opponents pay in to the pot but if they're biting the bait make sure you have an awesome hand... This way will keep you winning... frustrating others and pushing them to the point of tilt...
Secret is Don't Bluff!! 😱
OK, The best way to bluff is to never bluff at all... make others believe you're bluffing is the secret to making opponents pay in to the pot but if they're biting the bait make sure you have an awesome hand... This way will keep you winning... frustrating others and pushing them to the point of tilt...
Secret is Don't Bluff!! 😱
st_steady said:
I really like the points you touched on, especially table image. If you have the image of only playing premium hands, use that to your advantage and try betting in spots where you don't have it. If you get pushed off, then just fold. Always fun to try a different strategy.
