To Bluff or Not to Bluff: Your Ultimate Guide to Bluffing in Poker

[akmost]

In one of the great ironies of poker, good bluffs tend to actually work better against better competition.

This is the resume for me. You can't bluff too much, you can't bluff at all.Both are styles full of weaknesses. Know when to do it and whenever you try to fire the bluff don't be afraid to go hard. You can't cbet 1/2 pot on the flop , 1/2 pot on the turn and fire 1/10 pot on the river, it is like you are screaming I am weak.

Serious players protect their stacks way more than weak ones and wait patiently to find a better spot to gather some chips. One thing I didn't read in the article is the flatting on the flop in order to outplay your opponent based on the turn / river card.

Very nice article but you can't cover the whole topic here plus the dynamics are keep changing and based on the individual opponent.

 

[kowrip]

It is crucial that you have some bluffs in your game. At a minimum, you should be able to execute the easy ones like c-bets, 3 bets and semi-bluffs with a strong draw. It takes less skill to pull them off because they are more likely to get an opponent to fold. I also think that these are enough to allow you to be successful in your game. The triple barrel bluff with a garbage hand requires a lot more thought and should only be attempted if your bet tells a believable story and will likely get an opponent to fold. I don't believe you need to be able to pull off these types of bluffs to be successful and you will see that even the professional players don't make these moves very often.

 

[ccmonrivah]

lol my sisters are very good bluffers,i m not,i told them im not a liar,no offense to anyone,but im learning,just not comfatable doing it,call me silly

 

[makisaa]

Βluff is essential in poker and you cannot go far without bluffing. We could say that poker is like two games together. A card game and a betting game. I t is impossible to have the winning hand all the times, so bluff is needed to cover the spaces! Another important thing is that bluff gives a lot of fun to the game and makes it more exciting. Poker is like a battle. If you read the history of the greatest battles you will find there, in real life a lot of bluffs that leaded to a victory!

 

[jj20002]

It depends in multiple factors. First of all, the opposite player, if he/she is a calling station do not try to bluff. Some calling stations will call you even with a draw in the river (seriously, it has happened to me many times).

Then it depends on the stack sizes, if your opponent has a average stack then is easier to make them fold because they tend to protect more their stack than the short stacks.

Third factor, it's your image, if you get caught just bluffing, the opponents will start paying to your bluffs more often. So try to balance your game.

 

[Spaceman]

Nice article. Although its a pity that this legendary bluff is missing from the videos with best bluffs

I like semi-bluffing if I dont have a read. But dont you love it when you know that the other player is bluffing, but you cant call him because you dont even beat his ten high and he is now pot commited and calling anyway? I always find those situations funny.

Ps. First time I hear that saying "If you don't get caught with your hand in the cookie jar every once in awhile, you aren't bluffing enough!" Completely true.:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

[scubed]

David Sklansky wrote about semi-bluffing and bluffing in "The Theory of Poker." There is a thread with the summary of the entire book https://www.cardschat.com/forum/learning-poker-57/back-books-theory-poker-sklansky-375355/

OR

Check out semi-bluffing here: https://www.cardschat.com/forum/lea...heory-poker-sklansky-375355/post-4440235.html

Check out bluffing here: https://www.cardschat.com/forum/lea...heory-poker-sklansky-375355/post-4635603.html

Hope the information is helpful!

 

[silentbovo1]

I used to always play tight poker and almost never bluff with air. This grinded down my bankroll at higher stakes as players obviously got used to what I was doing. Unfortunately, sometimes I was too short stacked against those higher stacked players.

 

[Miguel Chacon]

Like people say ''If you never get caugh bluffing probably you're not bluffing enough or at all but if you get caugh too much bluffing you're probably bluffing too much''

Poker without bluffing just isn't a successful strategy... every good poker player have to know when and how to bluff I really like the article pretty much I knew it all already would have loved find it six months ago hehehe.. for me the most important thing is your image at the table but of course always picking the best spots and know which players can be bluff cause some player won't fold their bottom pair sometime Like I once heard ''Against bad player you must have a hand'' cause they generally are calling stations that call with bottom pairs like i said heheheI think I have learned lot about bluffing this last two month but always like to read about it and improve my strategy

 

[ELPRIIINCIPE]

for me the bluff is a dangerous tool, necessary for every poker player but it never ceases to be dangerous for your stack, now, although it is a dangerous tool, it is necessary that every player uses it from time to time, I read in a comment that the bluff should be something planned, I would not say it that way, although it can be used in a premeditated way I think it will not always be like that, there are also bluffs that arise spontaneously when you open with a good hand and the flop does not go with you or it does not happen as you wanted it, then there goes from being a good hand to being a bluff in execution, also the hands that since it opens, it is with the intention of bluffing, but for this you must already have a wide information about your iponentes and their call and folds ranges.

 

[neiroob]

I rarely bluff mostly against just one opponent, against a few bluffing is useless.

 

[steve22055]

Good article. I see a lot of players who try to bluff from early position and it typically does not end well for them. The other thing I might add is bluffing the bluffer. Someone that is playing a lot of hands and 3-betting frequently CAN be a good target to add a good amount of chips to your stack late in the game. Of course, it depends on your position, stack size and number of players in the hand. The down side is if the villian has hit a hand, you can be pushing a lot of chips his way so must be used sparingly to be effective. It also has a tendency to tell the villian that you aren't afraid to go head to head and may slow his game down a bit opening up other opportunities on the table.

 

[Federal_001]

Dwan is a very strong player)) I often review his famous hands)))

 

[islandlake7]

I like bluffing other players

 

[smknginmaine]

Well timed bluffs are a great way to buildup a stack near the money and/or decent pay jumps. In big pools sooooo many players play to cash not to win.

 

[smknginmaine]

Nice article. Although its a pity that this legendary bluff is missing from the videos with best bluffs

One of my two fav Dwan bluffs! This hand and the hand where Tom has 7,2 vs Sammy George. Check it out

 

[whiskers77]

This article is pretty much detailed and good written. It covers most topics of bluffing in my opinion.
I usually also try to use my table image, when I am bluffing. Especially on late positions.
But I also think, the most people come to a bluff, unintentionally. Mostly it is kind of semi bluff. Then they try to bluff. And the most bluffes are done at turn in my opinion.

But I have one funny story about this. It happened in a CC event. I was a bit short of chips and thought, now bluffing would be good. I was late in position, like always of course. And I had 47o or 42, something like that, lol.I raised preflop like hell. Then it was call, call,
I continued like this, but the funny thing was, that I got the nuts with this crappy hand. Others tried to reraise me, cause they probably was sure, that I have some high cards...
When I was winning, other guy also said something, "no, no not you are doing this. unbelievable", "this was really great play, because nobody expected of you"

It was kind of intentioned bluff, that turned out somehow good for me.

 

[krisi77]

bluff is an art that if you master it, it will be of great help to you, and you are becoming more unpredictable

 

[CallmeFloppy]

Bluffing is an important part of the game. Waiting on hands is not going to yield you enough profit alone and your opponents won't pay you off when you do have that solid hand. Its important though to ensure your bluffs make sense with the action that has played out in the hand. If you make a bluff that just seems to come out of left field, its going to seem suspicious and is more likely to be called.

However on the on the hand, I will make some odd bluffs at small pots. If the bluff works, great!, I won a pot I shouldn't. If they catch me, fine, this helps to encourage my opponents to call with weaker holdings and I can make more off my bigger hands.

 

[PHX]

If I was explaining how to bluff I would include these topics from article: Image is everything, Pick your spots, Size matters, Laying the foundation, Following through, Knowing when to quit.

So article is pretty comprehensive well done by whoever put this together.

Knowing when to quit is so challenging you never know when one final bullet will get the job done. Sometimes you just beat and unluckily ran into a monster.

Plenty of the don'ts section I do often - floating, bluffing while short or bluffing multi-way.

You can also bluff when holding a key card or blockers.

The most important to me about bluffing is to have your actions tell a credible story.

 

[irishdara]

I play tight in the beginning, especially when on the same table, then every now and then I throw a bluff in. 8 out of 10 times it works.

 

[vovqa93]

About bluffing

When we talk about bluffing, our action depends on alot of factors!
It is different in cash game vs MTT/SnG, but the more focused you into your games, the more details you can remember and observe, and use in this bluff spots we meet.

With some opponents nothing matters, with some matter every detail (Your history, opponent's history, your both playstyle and image you thing about opponent and his about your(if he do haha). ).
But for sure, if we talk about online poker, it's a way harder to make so good read's about image then in live game, so very often we pay attention on hand history and overall stats/dynamic at the table. Alot of people abuse stats of Holdem Manager and other track programs, so they don't care about board texture, that is big mistake and makes bluff success in micro/low stakes alot lower because of bad calls/shoves

 

[Helloween]

Bluffing is definitely an important weapon in poker, but I like semi-bluff more. Since after each action you need to have a plan for positively for yourself outcome. And if you have a lot of outs on a good combination - then go ahead! )))

 

[frnandoh]

If I could back to when I was starting to play poker (about 8 years ago), I would have saved a lot of money because there are a bunch of info that, nowadays, I know (thank you https://www.cardschat.com) and I think every beginner player would have to do. That article is very important to teach people that bluffing is not a random gambling matter but there is a skill for it supported by substancial information turning the risk to lose a hand smaller and even losing, profiting in the long therm.

 

[BentleyBoy]

Great article once again CardsChat. Thank you!

The act of bluffing is an art that must be practised and mastered. There are few better feelings than a true and well planned bluff working out.

I think that one of the most important points made in the article is about knowing your opponents. A good bluff needs to be well planned and knowing who your opponents are and how they have been playing is vital to success. This links to the important aspect of patience and concentration in poker.

The most important type of player in my mind to identify is the player who doesn't really know what they are doing. The basic principle is that you cannot bluff a player who does not understand the game, or more importantly, does not understand bluffing. Weak players will keep their pair of twos all the way to an all in pot hoping, yes, merely hoping, that they will come good. Against your bluff, they will win every time!

If you are going to bluff, and i would suggest that in the right (and even at times the wrong) places you should be bluffing, make sure the person you are trying to bluff understand what the game is about and knows when they should fold.

If you have never bluffed, follow the principles in the article next time you are playing and see how good it feels when it comes off. Don't worry when it goers wrong....it was a risk that you should have been prepared to go wrong!

Thanks

BB