Bluffing
What separates Poker from other card games is that its not all about luck, its about skill. One’s skill is measured in their ability to bluff, to fool other into thinking they are holding a better hand than what they really have.
There is a art to bluffing, holding ones nerve and not giving anything away that you don’t want to, but giving certain things away when the time is just right, fooling your opponent into thinking the wrong thing.
To bluff you are placing a bet, putting up your own money on a hand which you know is inferior to other. Bluffing is an important part to any Poker players game and being a good bluffer with help you win more pots. Bluffing is a balance of when to bluff and when to simply fold your hand, bluff too much and you will get caught out and once your opponents know when you are bluffing, your Poker arsenal has been depleted and you are simply playing a game of luck, so its time to stop playing.
There are two basic kinds of bluff these are:
Pure bluff - When a player makes a pure bluff, he bets or raises with a bad hand that has little to no chance of improving. For example, if in five-card draw, a player has nothing but a king-high and raises, hoping everyone will fold.
Semi-bluff - When a player bets on a hand that is probably not the best hand at the moment, but has a chance of improving later in the hand, it is called a semi-bluff. For example, if a player has 4 cards to a straight or flush in Texas Hold’em on the flop and bets, that’s a semi-bluff.
There are certain times when you should bluff, and there are times when you really shouldn’t;
The Best Times to Bluff are when you can meet at least one of the following conditions:
- You are in late position and no one before you is representing a strong hand
- The board cards or cards you have showing make it possible for you to represent a strong hand
- You have a table image of a rock
- You have read other players’ tells and sense they are weak and will fold to a bet or raise
- You are facing only one opponent
The Worst Times to Bluff are:
- When you know a player still in the hand is the kind who never folds
- When a player has so much money in the pot that your raise or bet will not be enough to force him to fold
- There are still many players in the hand
