How to Bluff in Poker

Are you a poker player who dreams of bluffing but finds it unable to do in practice? Are you attracted by the thrill of bluffing but scared of the embarrassment at being caught while bluffing? This article deals with some of the tips for bluffing at poker. As they say, you cannot win without bluffing at poker! Having said that, it is no mean task to bluff in poker and it takes considerable finesse to carry it out!

Let us consider the art of bluffing in detail. In poker limit games, where there are limits on the amount of money that can bet, you cannot bluff randomly without being caught, whereas, in a no limit game - you can bluff on more than one occasion. You should not underestimate the power of position in bluffing. For novices who don’t know what position is - it is the place that you have relative to the button that goes around asking for the bets to be placed. There are three types of position in poker: early position, middle position and late position. Not to digress further, suffice to say that position as a concept has to be taken seriously when playing poker.  

This is because, when you are close to the button, bluffing becomes easier. This is because you were able to see your opponents play before you and state their positions, you are in an advantageous situation to cash in on the advantage.

Now, let’s turn to the equation of math in bluffing. If are you betting $3 in a 3/6 limit Hold ‘Em game with four players who are playing the small and big blind, it means that you have a potential to win $12 outright. Or, for a bet of $3 you can win $12. This means that you have odds of 4:1 which means that you have a 20% chance of winning the pot. So if you want to be profitable in this type of bluffing you will need to ask the question: Will I win this game more than 20% of the time? The answer to this question would determine whether you should bluff on this game or not.

The next thing to know in bluffing is when to scale up and when to back down. Continuing on the example above, supposing you do not win on the first bet, you have to ask yourself: should I continue to bluff and hold my hand? You should control your aggression and try and analyze exactly what your opponents are up to. Trying to stare down against a strong hand or pulling out against a weak hand are not the best choices you can make in this situation.

Finally, it is only practice and more practice that can fine tune your art of bluffing. Usually, players learn the hard way and there is no better teacher than experience in these cases. The trick is to learn from your experiences and not repeat the mistakes. You may be scared or nervous to bluff, but remember that only if you start bluffing can you learn how to do it. So start on a small scale, use your head, stay cool and don’t get overly aggressive.