Poker: Bluffing.

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The Art of Bluffing:

When beginners discuss poker, they often make reference to the ‘bluff'. But what exactly is the ‘bluff'? During the course of a game you can classify under the term ‘bluff', such instances as when a person plays a weak hand as if it were strong, in order to make his opponents throw their hands.

The ‘bluff' is not always an easy and uncomplicated action to undertake. The higher your skill level (and that of your opponents), the more difficult and important the ‘bluff' becomes to control. Before playing a ‘bluff', make sure you take the time to study and judge the game-plays employed by your opponents; are they slow to play good hands (the slow-play) in order to ‘bluff' on a poor hand? Or on the contrary, do they play as if they are not experienced and then sting with a good hand? This last type of player is the worst enemy of amateur players, because they will lull you into believing they are in-experienced and it will take a while to cotton on to the fact that they know what they are doing.

In effect, the majority of beginners are known to be ‘calling stations', individuals who will pay every raise if they believe they have a good hand, even if they rarely have a good hand. If you are a beginner, you need to keep in mind the long game, and the fact that poker is in part a game of psychology; you must try to create an image of the type of player you are and then use your opponent's beliefs about your techniques against them.

Attacking for a better bluff:

In poker attacking is a significant part of the game, it is often said that players should attack at the earliest opportunity, before getting into a difficult encounter. If you can sense that your opponent is weak, because he does not raise or only raises a small amount and seems to doubt his hand, carry out a counter-raise, orchestrate a ‘bluff' that is persuasive enough to make them throw their hand.

This is especially relevant when you have a moderately good hand. The ‘continuation bet', which consists of making raises even if you have no significant cards in hand, in order to make your opponents believe in the validity of your game, is a very useful techniques for attacking when you are the first player to speak at the flop (effective but dangerous), or the last to speak (this is less effective, but also less dangerous). This will mean that you will not be able to lose as much in the pot, as you have already raised pre-flop. By this method of ‘bluff' or ‘semi-bluff' you will simultaneously make your raises look respectable and dissuade your future opponents from entering into a game if they only have a moderate hand.

The further along the game advances, the harder it will be to make your ‘continuation bet' seem imposing when the flop contains high value cards. Try to be even in your bluffing techniques; if you raise before the flop, 4 to 5 times the big blind, continue your bluff into the flop if you can sense that your opponents are in a difficult position. Never let your opponents see one of your private cards, if they want to talk about their own lucky cards, make them pay, enough so that they are hesitant, but not too much so as not to lose your money on a bluff that has paid and then failed.

How often to bluff:

Obviously, the ‘bluff' is only one aspect of the game; it should not be used as your only technique when playing poker. In general, you should vary your game-play and disappear into the background if one of you bluffs has been noticed by your opponents, even if it was respected and nobody followed. In such cases, tighten up your game-play and show some hands in an intelligent way, do this to impose a new credibility on your hands.

A person who is experienced in the art of bluffing will most often use the semi-bluff; they will play low value pairs because they have noticed that no high value pairs have yet appeared. They will raise high when the dealer has dealt in suit or in colour if they feel that none of their opponents has a strong hand; they will try to pass average cards for high value cards. The experienced bluffer knows when to stop in order to minimise any losses he may incur.

Intelligent game-play in poker lies in not paying your opponent when you sense that their bluff has not been successful or when their hand, before they began dominating, was on the way to being lost. One of the most important factors in bluffing is the rise in the value of the raises that you have schemed; do not risk all your chips at the beginning of the tournament on a bluff which is a little weak if the result will only be a few additional chips. If your bluff or semi-bluff possesses the possibility of gaining a really weak pair, do not put into play any more chips than are present in the pot, this will constitute a too greater risk.

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