Bluffing is part of any poker player’s toolkit. It can help you take down pots that you would have lost had you only played for value, but you have to curb it or else you’ll get caught.
Think about what your opponent might have (or might think you have), what impression do you want to give of yourself and your hand, and what will your bluff affect your reputation after this hand in any way?
Game of chance
Bluffing is part of poker that every serious player should have in their arsenal, as it allow players to control the action, make better decisions at the hand level, it maximises the expected value and profit from a hand – but also you need to realise that you shouldn’t care about them and they don’t work all the time.
If you know what your opponents are thinking and feeling, then it will be much easier for you to try and bluff them. The only problems arise from relying too much on detection strategies: good players might be good at hiding the way they feel and make bets, which makes it extremely difficult to detect when they are bluffing, or when they aren’t. And, of course, there is also the question of timing: the best time to bluff is right at the moment when you think your opponents are going to fold, but it must be just before they fold or you will give away your plan!
Make your bluffs smaller to increase their effectiveness by making them more believable and thus less likely to get called. Likewise, refrain from bluffing against an opponent who has raised twice or three times over the course of a hand, as you are more likely to get a useful call.
Game of skill
Besides being strategic and long term, this kind of bluffing (which is the kind I’m interested in teaching) relies on an ambitious blend of artistry and psychology. Most importantly, it requires the ‘bluffer’ to exude confidence while keeping emotions in check during rapid decisions that are made under pressure and with limited information. The ‘bluffer’ must have an idea of where an opponent’s head is at in that moment, and have enough influence to change it – so that the ‘bluffer’ gets the edge in a shifting game of attrition.
While bluffing is an integral part of the game, you may also end up risking your guts bluffing, so you better be cautious. You may end up bluffing your way to the opponent noticing your tell and make you pay money or time you for not bluffing properly. The best way to avoid yourself from running into such predicament is knowing how to bluff and practising the skills. Known as bluffing technique, the best form of bluffing involves creating action scene, picking out the right opponent, and finding the perfect betting spot.
A tough looking bet may make your opponents less willing to call your bluffs. Big bets may even raise eyebrows; so choose bet size carefully, not only with your value bets, but your bluffs too – the goal is the same: having your opponents more likely to call your bluffs – bet size should be similar to that of your value bets; if it’s the same slider on the range, then so be it. Announcing bluffs may betray nervousness or weakness and make your opponents less likely to call your bluffs in the future – don’t do it.
Game of psychology
Good players can deceive the other players into thinking the game is something different than it really is, forcing bad behaviour, and especially costly mistakes. Poker psychology is often even more important than strategy; players must read their opponents based on their body language and betting patterns, all the while avoiding their own tells.
Bluffing involves decisions about timing and the right mix of frequency and value betting. You also need to make adjustments for how table dynamics and the history among players in a given situation – a group of nit- playing tight and conservative opponents, for example, are much more likely to take aggressive actions at face value, so it makes sense to try to bluff them.
Creative bluffs require bets that threaten just enough to make other players fold, without arousing suspicion; a plausible storyline that must be hammered into the baffling puzzle of human motivation. Calculating their calling and folding probabilities; adding a pinch of sway to the whole mix, the external pressures like quivering lips or a palsy that might influence decision-making calculus – like when your own physical demeanour suggests poor hands to your opponents, which increases the chances of calling out your bluff.