Hello Poker fans,
The bluff is a play that I do not try too often but find very exciting. In cases where I have a good chip stack and the situation is favourable, I may throw a bluff.
I would mostly use a bluff on
hands where I place my opponents on a range and I believe the flop missed us completely, followed by a blank on the turn. Of course, my bluffs are disguised as value bets; most times I would have to fire two or even three bets, each a little larger than the last, before I can get the opponent to fold.
As you rightly pointed out, some people bet big out of the blue, sending a clear message that they would like you to fold. Good players mix it up and are hard to read since they would purposefully make an overbet to disguise the nuts or a monster hand. I also try to bluff when I believe the opponent is ahead and I miss a semi-bluff but the river washes up a beautiful scare card. Very often the situation just presents itself and I take a stab at it.
I avoid "calling stations" like a plague, as well as hyper-aggressive players. Against these, I exercise an abundance of caution and would need a monster hand or flop to go up against them. There is no bluffing them!
