Suddenly He Bets HUGE -- Is it a Bluff?

Suddenly your opponent bets huge. Why?

It's a bluff. Not likely, but its possible.

His hand just improved. Like picking up trips (invisible) or 2 pair (invisible) or a flush or straight (generally pretty visible)

Aces or other royalty just hit the table, and out of a bunch of limpers, suddenly one suddenly speaks with a strong voice.

He had a strong hand all along (slowplaying) and decided now was the time to cash in or risk losing it.

Was he perhaps waiting until there was enough money in the pot to be ABLE to make a decent bet -- or bluff?

Why? Did a second heart or diamond suddenly hit the stack, or a 3rd card in a possible straight? See if you can figure out why he wants out NOW! This gives you a very good idea what hand he may hold.

More garbage hit the table. His hand became stronger by default. Does your opponent often do this, a predictable march from $1000 (flop) to $2000 (turn) to $4000 (river?)

He's bluffing. Well, was there a check around, more garbage, someone placing a very LOW bet and everyone else simply calling it? What else might "trigger" a bluff in this situation.

He's semi-bluffing. He's holding two pair and hoping, praying for a second ace to fall to turn it into a full house, and hoping to drive you out in the meantime.

He's stupid. He thinks this is a hand where the player with the higher two pair is going to win when in fact trips or a straight is going to win it.

So many questions, so few answers. But remember, bluffing paranoia WILL destroy ya. It's ok to lose a pot to a(nother) bluffer since you only contributed 20% of it, it's NOT ok to lose 100% your entire stack trying to bring one to justice.

And here's the other thing about trying to trap bluffers. Unless you have a pretty much unbeatable hand (straight, flush, trips.) you shouldn't have even still been IN that hand! Quit playing weak hands!

bluffing about your skill level -- reprint

You can bluff about being a poker newbie as well

http://www.positivearticles.com/Article/A-Guide-to-Better-Bluffing/39659


There is only 1 reason to want poker players to think you are a beginner and it is to take their money. Here are some ways to make them believe you are in a casino poker room for the very first time.

Looking impressed when being escorted to a texas holdem poker table in the casino's poker room would be a sign that you have not been in the casino. The closer you get t the table the harder the other players will be checking you out. When you get to the table make a stupid joke, it will make you seem stupid and will help you pull off the "I don’t know what I am doing" look on your face. This will make sure the other layers will not give you any respect and this is what you want. You want them checking you out and looking to see what are your tells and how good a poker face you have.

In an online poker game you do not have to worry about making faces or noises of pleasure when you get a good hand unless you are on webcam, but when you are playing texas holdem in a casinos poker room the other players are watching you to see your expressions during the deal and when the communal cards are being turned over. When you have a really bad hand and are going to fold make sure to let it show on your face. Then when you fold people will think they have a read on you and will always rely on your face to show what you have this can allow you to bluff them from time to time.

During the game, eventually you will get a good hand, when this occurs you should start betting big and keep raising the bet, then if someone challenges you try to raise the bet past the table limit. This will make it obvious that you have very little experience in a casino. The point is that you need to win this hand, so do not start raising the bet unless you are sure you have a good chance of winning. You should make sure to have at least a full house in your hand at the time, but if you do lose the hand it also lend credibility to the illusion that you o not know what you are doing in the poker room.

When you first sit down at the poker table you should just play bad. Stay in the hand with just a high card. Raise the bet when you only have a pair or are hoping that you will get a good hand after all the cards are turned over. This is a great way to make people think you are a first time or inexperienced player.

They way you dress can tell people how good a player you are. If you go into the casinos poker room and sit at a texas holdem poker table dressed like someone who is a professional player at the cheapest table in the house, with all the sponsors on your shirt, a hat pulled low over your eyes an a dark pair of sunglasses, everyone would not only assume you have never been in a real poker room before, but they will think you a fool and laugh at you. They will not suspect you to be a hustler, but make sure to play badly at first. If you dress like that and you start winning right off people will think you to be a professional player.

Always Remember you want people to think that you are a first time player, but you also want to win some money, so playing foolish the entire time will make them think that you obviously do not know how to play, but you are not going to win any of their money and they are going to go home with yours. This is not the kind of thing that you need to set up for the next time you are at that casino. It is also good to keep in mind that if you

Bummer of a Birthmark, Hal

Don't you hate getting bluffed? You've got a medium strong hand, you bet reasonably, and then ka-wham! The player next to you bets AS IF he's suddenly got Quadzilla.

Here's how to keep bluffers from thinking you're the easy "mark" at the table.

1) Paradoxical betting. Betting AS IF you're weak when your hand is strong, and strong if your hand is weak. In this situation, when a bluffer attacks, you're in position to torpoedo him.

2) Erratic betting. I probably go too far with this, but NOBODY is going to get much of an idea what's in my hand from my early betting. Sometimes I'm overbetting, sometimes underbetting, and sometimes right on. Folks might say I'm paranoid, but...

3) Wonderbra betting. It seldom hurts to bet 50% bigger than what you actually have. Sometimes a slightly larger bet turns into a successful bluff.

4) No pre-flop information giveaway. Soon as someone raises pre-fl0p I know they've got royalty in their hand. When the board shows 3-6-9 and I've got a 9, they're MINE.


Think about your own bluffing. You're probably not picking a mark as much as you are picking a hand to bluff, and the mark is simply whoever's left in the hand. Or maybe you are. Maybe you have this player on the run, you've beat them the last 3 head-to-heads, and you think you can scare them into beleiving you've done it a 4th time.

The Math of Bluffing - Reprint

Here's a truly terrible article on the Math of bluffing, from "The Dummy's Guide."

I'm only posting it here to remind myself to write a better one with more realistic numbers. This is obviously for a limit game or else the author never played poker.

http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/Mastering-the-Art-of-Bluffing-in-Poker.id-1003,subcat-GAMES.html

Suppose the pot contains $90, and your opponent makes a $10 bet. That pot now contains $100, and the cost of your call is only $10. Even if you figure your opponent to be bluffing only one time in ten, you should call. By calling, the laws of probability suggest that you'd lose a $10 bet nine times, for a loss of $90. Although you'd win only once, that pot would be worth $100. After ten such occurrences, you'd show a net profit of $10. As a result, you could say that regardless of the outcome of any particular hand, each call was worth one dollar to you.

Here's a better clip:

For bluffing to be profitable online, the pot odds must be higher than the odds that your opponent will fold. Let’s say you figure that your opponent will fold 1 out of 3 times you bluff in the situation you’re currently in. That’s 2 to 1 odds that your opponent will fold. If your pot odds are higher than 2 to 1 then bluffing is profitable.

Here's another thought:

Think of it this way; If you are sitting at a 6 seater table, each player has an equal chance on getting good or bad cards. Each player according to simple math should have the best hand 1 in every 6 hands, therefore if all the players were of the exact same standard, in the long run nobody would lose, and nobody would win.

Comment:
As usual, not true. Many, many hands will be misplayed. The player who makes fewer mistakes of play will win far more than the others. Making fewer mistakes will put a lot more in your bank than bluffing ever will.

Are they bluffing or not?

Look back at your own experience. More than 50% of the time you called what you thought was a bluff you were wrong. And it cost you a LOT more than if you'd just folded.

So WHAT if you're percieved as a passive player who "always folds when raised large." Screw it, you make enough winning with cards and your OWN bluffs.

Why are you trying to stop THEM from bluffing.

It takes enough brain cells just to bluff your own hands. Trying to determine when THEY'RE bluffing takes 5X as many.

But you're determinted to try, aren't you.

Ok. What signals did you and the other players give. Did you provide a likely opportunity for this person to bluff?

What are the bluffs this player "always" tries. Hey, if they're succeeding, you might not even know!

How much does this player usually bet when he or she bluffs. A fixed % of the pot, a lot but not all-in,....point is, you don't know, DO YOU!

Is the players bet consistent with earlier betting or is a miracle, hit trips on the river kinda thing?


I just don't think you can ever gain enough information on another bluffer to try and call them. If they're aggravating you, switch tables. Or avoid head to head showdowns. Let them bluff, just keep watching and learning.

But give up on trying to call their bluff(s).

Spotting an Online Bluffer -- reprint

http://pokernerd.blogspot.com/2006/12/five-ways-to-spot-poker-bluff-online.html

Discussion below:

Five Ways To Spot A Poker Bluff Online

Bluffing in poker is part of the game, but if you have taken advantage of the numerous poker bonus offers available online you will want to know how to spot it when it occurs. Here are five of the easiest to spot bluffing techniques used by online poker’s most consistent fibbers.

1. The person bluffing frequently uses the room’s “chat option” and believes it will work to his advantage. He may encourage you to go all-in even if he may not have anything in his hand. If you play a game with the table chatterbox, pay close attention to what they do rather than what they say. Are they busy raising pots while openly complaining about having no decent cards, only to show down with an AQ suited? In all likelihood they are using the chat feature to help them bluff.

No, I would never do this, Never, ever ever. Nope. Not me!

2. If a player pre-flop raises and the flop doesn’t reveal much, such as a 3-3-9 and they re-raise instantly, you may be against an opponent trying to bluff all the way to the river. Before you call, you should be confident you can take the pot with the cards you are holding.

[Yes, but what about the player holding a pocket pair of Jacks, Queens, or Kings. They live in terror of an ace hitting the table. They're going to instantly try and take the pot when garbage flops. The only defense is, "does this player raise pre-flop for lots of reasons or ONLY when they're holding pocket pairs." So I give #2 a thumbs down.

3. The player with the lowest chip stack goes all-in with absolutely nothing you can see as an immediate threat. It is likely they are bluffing and thinking “it’s now or never” to get themselves back into the game.

[I almost always bet against the player with a short stack who goes all in]

4. A player who bets confidently on the flop and then checks on the turn needs to justify himself with chips. If you have a good hand, be self assured and don’t give them any free bets, make them bet some more chips.

[Frequently when I don't have the nuts I'll stop, look, and listen at the turn to see just how strong the other players think they are. Not sure how this helps identify a bluffer]

5. You may be up against a really loose player who bets every hand. Just who are they trying to kid? Nobody has it that easy in poker!

[True, but never bet against the person on a winning streak. Yes, 1 out of 3 of their bets are bluffs, but WHICH ONES?] Believe me, I learned this lesson the expensive way.

Inducing a Bluff? -- Reprint

Mike from Illinois writes:

(posted at the Church of Texas Hold'Em, a very humorous place indeed
http://www.church-of-texas-holdem.com/

...

Most players are not tricky. Therefore, the hand should play out as a story. If something in the story does not make sense, it normally means the opponent is bluffing.

Consider the following scenario. [Preflop] You raise in middle position with AQos and get two callers behind you. The flop brings Qs9s3h and you bet out, and get one caller. The turn brings a 5h. Faced with a couple of draws, you bet again and again get called. The river brings a blank - 6d.

Figuring your opponent is on a draw, or possibly had a QJ type hand, you figure they won't call much. Now you may be able to induce a bluff. By checking, you invite a bluff. If your opponent takes the bait and bets out big, you have two possibilities: the opponent was slowplaying all along, or bluffing.

Most of the time, most players are bluffing in this situation. Unless your opponent is known to slowplay, they will also likely be scared of draws and will want to raise on the flop or turn. Be prepared to make a brave call in this situation.

***

How do I feel about this. Well, it sorta feels like trying to be too tricky for one's own good. If the villan was slowplaying, you just set yourself up for an even bigger loss. Why not minimize your risk, bet and take a smaller win?

On the other hand, I've many, many times experienced what he's talking about. The "story" another player is "telling" doesn't make sense. And yet, often it is my own ignorance at work, something I didn't see, and not a bluff on their part.

For instance, somebody with a low pair doesn't bother to bet on the flop, but when the turn gives them a second pair, and nobody else has shown any strength, they go big, since it's a low two pairs.

At this point, all I can say is that an inconsistent story is a warning sign, that may or may not be a tell-tale of someone bluffing.

the check-raise bluff

What can I say. Most times people check-raise when they have VERY good cards -- and want to get as much money in the pot as possible b4 any players fold.

But most of the time, from what I see, the players already invested call the check raise.

So a check-raise might be the first stage of a bluff, but I wouldn't very often try and use it as the last stage.

Hmm, what about on the river, never seen anyone try and do THAT!

The Size of your Bluff

In general, I've found realistic sized bets work far better as bluffs than huge amounts, even though they're easier to call.

They're also a lot less expensive when you DO get called.

But that's not the whole story.

You need to adjust your bluff to the size of the pot. If there's a big fat pot and everyone else seems to have lost momentum at the turn or river, consider the pot in making your bet, and not just what the nominal bets are for a straight, flush, or whatever.

I've stolen some good pots just by throwing out 25% of whatever was there.

One woman player called two of my bluffs in a row. And they were both reasonable sized bets.

So the third time I bluffed her (can you believe my audacity?) when I missed a flush or whatever, I went ALL IN.

I never go all in. Anybody who watches me play knows that.

She folded.

If you always bluff a fixed amount,a fixed percentage, you'll be telegraphing your bluffs. And I've caught players after observing them doing that, they always bluffed 50% of the pot or whatever.

Board Texture and Bluffing -- Reprint

Here's an interesting article on bluffing. What I noticed was that it discussed board texture when bluffing, something I hadn't thought about.

http://www.thepokerforum.com/runehansen7.htm

The Nature Of The Board

The nature of the board greatly affects the chance of a bluff succeeding. For instance a board presenting a lot of draws is usually not a good spot to bluff, as someone is bound to have some kind of a hand or a draw. Also the higher the cards, the more likely it is that someone has hit the flop, as people tend to play higher cards more frequently the low cards. But this might in turn provide a good bluffing opportunity against a small number of opponents, where you feel that your opponent is on a draw.

After I think about board texture some more, and play some more while thinking about it maybe I'll have something to add.

Well, ok, here's one thing I've noticed about board texture. An extremely VISIBLE possible straight, where the table cards are actually laid out in order, 5-6-7 works far better than 7-5-6 where SOME players might miss the fact there's a PS.

My Regulars

When I play online (always for monopoly money) I usually play at a table that has 4 or 5 "regulars" at it. People I've played with dozens of times.

I do this more for social reasons, but it turns out it's very advantageous for betting as well.

I generally know what they regulars are going to do.

Two of the regulars are grinders. If they bet big, I fold. These two seldom if ever bluff. Another will take a chance, but I don't have to immediately fold if she bets.

I only have to worry about the newbies at the table. They're the unpredictable ones. And since I only end up head to head with them one out of five or so hands, I don't have to sweat it as much.

By playing with some regulars at the table I don't have to try and study all 8 players simultaneously and determine who's a bluffer and who isn't. Who slowplays trips. Who'll instantly fold if presented with a whopping re-raise, and who are calling stations.

Usually us "regulars" chew up and spit out a long series of newbies. Either one of the grinders beats them with big cards or me or one of the other bluffers takes their money.

Online, I can always choose to sit down at a table of fish, or newbies. I'm a better player than many. But for the first 30 minutes or so I don't dare call large bets I believe to be bluffs because I don't know anything about these players. Often I'll go in with a short stack so I can call what appears to be a blatent bluff. (And usually, it's not, I'm wrong)

It's a lot of work because without a few regulars in the game, I'm having to study everyone.

Bluffing Exercises

Here are some bluffing exercises you can do -- and "Monopoly money" online tables are the best places to do this.

Decide before a hand is even dealt what cards you're going to pretend you have. Say a pocket pair of Kings or Queens.

Play the entire hand AS IF those are the cards you actually held.

OR

See the flop, THEN decide what hand you're going to pretend to have.

Want to change your mind, change your hole cards? OK, AS LONG AS your new ones are consistent with the betting you've done up to this point.

How many times do I have to tell you, your opponent CAN'T SEE THE CARDS YOU DON'T HAVE.

He can't even see the ones you DO have.

Spend your time and effort trying to figure out what the other players at the table have.

Instead of actually playing, just RAILBIRD and try and figure out what hand every player has.

When it comes down to two players at the end, you'd better have a pretty good idea what both have, like trips versus a flush draw.

The greatest "tool" you can have in bluffing is an uncanny ability to "put" players on cards. Work on that more than anything else.

Money Management

The players on the "Monopoly Money" tables I play are some of the worst money managers I've ever seen. Part of it, indeed, is the fact it isn't real money.

Part of it is just stupidity.

I found I could increase my winnings at least 10%, maybe 20% , simply by tossing a small to medium sized bluff out on the river every time I found myself here holding a weak hand.

Usually the other guy was too, and when I bet, he folded.

The risk to return or whatever you want to call it on this bluff is simply enormous. Often times your opponent is tired, disappointed his hand didn't improve beyond that one lousy pair and really just wants a good excuse to get it over with and get on to the next hand. Hope springs eternal.

And yet players will do absolutely stupid things with their chips, like getting involved on huge pre-flop raises on the HOPE that they're the one that wins the big pot. Betting on all sorts of "maybes."

Instead of putting a few chips in places where they can do an enormous amount of good.

Maybe you should consider 20% of your stack "bluffing fund." Every time your stack goes up, so does your bluffing fund. When it goes down, you don't dig into your primary.

My Hold'Em strategy has ended up being something like "Enter every unraised pot you can, stay in raised pots only with royalty or a pair of suited cards, and fold immediately if I didn't have top pair or better on the flop. Chase flushes, but never straights. Bluff when the opportunity arises.

And INTELLIGENTLY manage my money! Don't waste it chasing clouds!

Money mangement really isn't a bluffing topic. But I see so many players wasting chips on long shots instead of using them where it can make a difference, I had to say something.

Reversing Your Mindset

Let's say there's a possible straight on the board.

If you don't have it and bet it, or bluff AS IF you have it, but instead check...

You just lost that pot. At least 70% of the time.

What motivation is there for someone "downstream" of you not to bluff? You already told them YOU didn't have it?

Unless you're "setting a trap" for them or "lying in wait", their raise immediately takes the pot.

Most players either aren't sneaky enough, or are too greedy, to lie in wait and checkraise the person foolish enough to try and bluff them. Oh sure, trips get slowplayed constantly, but...

You have a pair or two pair, and you're terrified they have the straight.

Guess what. Chances are THEY'RE just as terrified as you are!

You've got to quit looking at scare cards and being scared and instead look at them as the opportunity to terrify your opponents into folding.

Only an idiot downstream of YOU will check after you've already told them YOU don't have the straight. Yes, there are a fair number of idiots, but you're going to be playing with non-idiots real soon after reading this.

So what's the worst case. You bluff the straight. They actually HAVE the straight. If they had huevos rancheros, they'd re-raise, and you'd promptly fold. But most don't. They just call.

The point is, it's smart to lose when they DO have the striaght, it's stupid to lose when they don't have the straight just because you failed to bluff it!

Random Bluffs

Most humans are far too logical, and rational, to make good poker players.

They pair an ace on the flop, they bet $1000. Two pair, $2000. Flush, $4000.

Even more predictable is pre-flop betting. Pocket Pairs of royalty or A-K or something "good" and they raise the blinds. Like clockwork.

All they're doing is giving YOU information about what's in their hand because the flop is just as likely to be 2 7 10 as it is A-K -4.

When they're dissapointed is the absolute best time to bluff them. They just want to get this miserable hand over with.

So to throw off the scent, sometimes when I have 7-2, ostensibly the worst hole cards in poker, I'll raise pre-flop. Or some other garbage.

Sometimes when I have absolutely nothing on the flop I'll toss in a big raise.

And jeez, you wouldn't believe how many times you bet big on garbage it either hits on the flop or everyone folds.

And even if they don't, and you lose, you've made yourself unpredictable. And that's a good thing.

Bluffing Mojo

Sometimes I'm just too tired to bluff. I don't have the psychic energy.

So I just play the cards I'm dealt.

I bluffed one player, a small bluff, only 10% or so of my stack, and he took forever
to decide to fold, in fact, even asking for additional time. I sat there and agonized.

I just didn't have the energy to bluff him again.

You can't bluff successfully when your mojo is somewhere else.

If you're tired, just suffered a bad beat, whatever, skip the bluffing.

Bluff when you've just won several hands, you're up, loaded on caffeine and winning, and
have the world by the tail and just exude confidence.

The Bet That Dare Not Speak It's Name

Bluffing is like masterbating. Almost everybody does it at one time or another but it's not something most people talk it, no matter how good it may feel.

Especially when you "succeed."

If gambling is the lure of easy money, bluffing has cherries and sprinkles on top.

Some people feel VERY embarrassed when they get caught -- bluffing.

Just as I've REPEATEDLY told others "there's no apologizing in poker" I have to remind some "there's NO shame in bluffing." And I'll have players argue with me, telling me how virtuous they are because they don't bluff.

Personally I have no shame about it -- bluffing, that is. Getting caught is a good thing. A terrific thing. For an hour afterwards people will call ANY bet you make.

I will lie through my teeth about whether or not I bluff. "I NEVER Bluff" I will say until you begin to believe it. If they say, "Well what about that hand, I caught you red-handed!" I'll lie again "I was on a draw" or "Actually, I misread my hand."

Decide if you want a reputation as a big bluffer, a little bluffer, or a straight shooter, and answer accordingly. People have an amazing ability to rationalize. And just like bluffing, claiming you never do probably provides your highest EV+ (expected value)

The better bluffers never, ever show their cards with an "Ha! I bluffed you!" sneer. They always leave their mark the rationalization, "Well, maybe he/she had good cards."

Cause nobody likes being bluffed.

In fact, the most vexing players I come up against are those who are better bluffers than I am. I may know to the core of my soul they're bluffing, but they knew I had crap for cards, and knew I wouldn't dare call them.

I find, even at "Monopoly Money" games nobody talks about bluffing, except those who claim they don't ever do it.

Bluffing, like sex, is an uncomfortable subject for a lot of players, both those who do it and are good at it and do it frequently, and those who aren't.

I've never heard (or read, in a chat box) two players discussing their bluffing techniques. And why would you, if you've got one that's working, you're going to keep your mouth shut about it.

The majority of the articles I read about bluffing are so incredibly simplistic they're not worth reading. Which is a large part of why I wrote this.

Why can't people discuss bluffing, laugh about it when they get caught, and enjoy bluffing as an integral part of the game.

Most people enjoy playing against better players than themselves, and those are the players that bluff more. Everyone IMAGINES themselves sitting down at the WSOP and somehow being able to hold their own, just as they IMAGINE they could drive at Indianapolis if ONLY someone would give them a race car.

I don't know, but they don't.

Why Bluffs Fail

Maybe the title should be Why YOUR bluffs fail.

Looking carefully at when and why YOUR bluffs fail is the key to making them better.

Ok, let's look at the really stupid bluffs.

Betting big when you were the big blind (aka late position) and no one before you raised. It's too damn obvious.

Bluffing too much.

Trying to bluff the entire table.

A truly stupid bluff like a big bet out of nowhere on the river.


If any of you readers are guilty of any of these, go back to the beginning of the blog and start over.

Now, let's look at some REASONABLE reasons why bluffs fail -- when, at least in theory, they should have worked.

One). The other player has strong cards. He or she may suspect you have better, but they are willing to "Pay to See." Just try and shake someone with trips/set off with a bluff on a possible straight. Ain't gonna happen.

Two) You didn't, or couldn't make it painful enough. I can recall ONE time when a guy with three queens made it too expensive for me to try and complete my flush. Once. I make a whole lot of my winnings on flushes other players "allow" me to complete.

A player with 3 tens got me today a different way. I bluffed a straight, but with his minisucle short stack he had nothing to lose (and everything to gain) by calling me all-in. Wish I'd noticed his stack before I pushed large!

Three) You're making your bluffs TOO big. Cant' tell you how many times just a medium sized bluff at an opportune moment did the trick. They're more credible. Save the big bets for when you WANT people to think you're bluffing.

Four) Calling stations. If you haven't identified the idiots who'll go to the river with a pair of aces by now, you'll lose when you bluff.

Five) Repetition. I'm not saying bluffing too often, but repeating the same bluff over and over, the other players aren't idiots. One guy bluffed every single time a pair hit the table.


These are just some ways a bluff can fail. What you need to do is look at why yours fail, sometimes, regularly, never, and adjust.

Re-bluffing

What do you figure, 30-40% of all bets placed from late or next-to-late position are bluffs, attempts to steal the blinds, whatever?

Especially when the board contains a pair?

Re-bluffing is playing with dynamite, because they can re-re-bluff.

The only time I'd even consider it is if a habitual bluffer is late, one who REGULARLY backs down when someone calls his or her bluff.

Re-bluffing can quickly turn into a nuclear arms race, consuming every chip in your bank. Decide if it's worth it.

After you get caught

What do you do after you get caught bluffing. Not MAYBE caught, but publicly exposed, humiliated, maybe even a snide remark in the chat box?

Tighten up? Try and restore your credibility, by showing your cards after hands you win.

Is that really the best response?

Isn't that exactly what your opponents will expect you to do?

I'm not saying it isn't, I'm just asking you to think about it.

How about making an outrageous bluff on a small pot instead, TRYING to get caught.

Your reputation as a bluffer can be invaluable in getting people to later call you all the way to the moon when you DO have the cards. Getting caught twice in a row will CEMENT your reputation as a bluff-a-holic.

All I'm saying is, "Think about it!"

A Reason to Bluff

Got a reason to bluff? You need one. A VALID one.

from:

http://www.stealtheblinds.net/page/3/

Longer version: In The Book of Bluffs, Matt Lessinger argues that you should always have a reason for bluffing. “I thought it might work,” or, “I was trying to pick up the pot,” do not constitute valid reasons. You need to have a reason why you think your bluff will actually succeed. This hand illustrates that point in my not particularly humble opinion.

In a 1/2 NLHE game at Foxwoods, a player in early position open raised to $7, and after two callers, I called from the button with 5h3h. The blinds folded, leaving $30 in the pot. The flop was A-9-8 with two hearts, giving me a flush draw. The preflop raiser checked, the next player to act bet $20, and the next player called. I called $20 with my flush draw, and the preflop raiser folded, bringing the pot up to $90. Everyone involved in the hand at this point had over $300 in front of them.

The turn was an offsuit 2, adding an inside straight draw to my flush draw. At this point the flop bettor bet $20 again, and the flop caller called. Action was on me. Time for some explication.

I had seen the bettor bet the same amount on the turn as the flop once before. The time before he had a weak made hand and was basically betting scared and trying to keep the pot to a manageable size. The caller was an agressive flop player, leaning heavily towards a raise-or-fold mentality. For him to be calling suggested a weak draw. He probably would have raised a weak made hand or a strong draw. The bettor was a pretty active player, and I think the caller was just calling because he didn’t really know where he was in the hand and hadn’t made up his mind to commit to the hand.

I raised to $100.

The first player folded, showing a pair of 8s. The second player laughed, said he shouldn’t have even been in the pot in the first place, and folded, showing a K-T (!). And I showed them my 5 high, declaring, “Well, it’s not quite the nut low, but it’s pretty close.” Ordinarily I would never show a bluff like that, but I was leaving in a half hour and had already decided to protect my win from that point by playing very tight. As such, it wouldn’t hurt to create a loose image, as any hand I was involved in from that point onwards I wasn’t going to be betting unless I had the goods.

Good times.

Posted by Beck as Poker, Poker Strategy at 12:55 PM PDT

More Links about Bluffing

http://chrisleesblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/desperate-river-bluff.html

This one's good. Another player, a friend, told me I was "telegraphing" that I was on a flush draw, and he knew to call me on the river. He was RIGHT!

Avoid the desparate river bluff! Hopefully I'll tell you how in a later blog.

Here's another good one by the same author, tells you how to THINK THROUGH a bluff

http://chrisleesblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/thinking-out-no-limit-bluff.html

Here's one on the paradox of betting, betting as if you're weak when you're strong, etc.
http://www.pokerhunting.com/en/article/easiest-way-to-spot-a-bluff/25/

Here's a good one:

http://www.beatthefish.com/poker-strategy/how-to-bluff-no-limit-holdem.html

http://www.blindbetpoker.com/strategy/bluffing-strategy.html
that one's good for people who play at B&M (briks and mortar) casinos

Here's one by someone who's obviously not very good at bluffing or hates it when they get bluffed. Attributes it all to luck.

http://www.thepokerhowto.com/myth-of-bluffing-in-poker/

The above is a lousy article, but my title said "Links" so I needed several. Right? Don't be bluffed into reading it. Or is that itself a bluff?

OFF TOPIC -- Why are they calling?

Whenever you think you've got the winning hand and start betting, and someone calls your bets, you've got to SLOW DOWN and ask yourself

WHY THE HECK ARE THEY CALLING ME

followed by

WHAT COULD THEY POSSIBLY BE HOLDING

If you don't have a pretty firm idea of what they're holding, you've already made the first mistake.

If you don't stop and figure it out right now, you're making your LAST mistake.

STOP, LOOK, THINK!

Is there a straight you didn't see?

What about pocket pairs they could be holding.

WHAT IF ITS THE SAME THING YOU HAVE? Who's got the bigger kicker.

Ok, maybe sometimes you can't figure it out, or they're just being stupid, or bluffing.

But at least 70% of the time you should be able to figure out what they have.

Bottom line, if you don't know why they're calling, you'd better slow down and figure it out, because the ONLY VALID reason they SHOULD be calling is because they're so focused on what THEY think are winning cards they haven't taken the time to figure out what YOU could be holding.

So do you want to make that mistake, or allow THEM make it.

***

Actually, there's one other reason why they should be calling with an inferior hand, and that's because they believe in their heart of hearts that YOU'RE BLUFFING.

And if you've read and put into practice anything I've written so far, that should DEFINITELY be a possibility in their mind.

Shutting down a bluffer

I've had guys taunting me, daring me to call their bluff.

One time my response in the chat box was "I call bluffers when I know I have them beat, not when I maybe have them beat."

These were guys who were bluffing right and left. Every opportunity that came their way.

Sometimes you gotta let them bluff.

Let them beat you. Even though you know to the core of your soul they're bluffing.

You've got a pair of aces, they're bluffing trip 8's, and all you can do is lay it down.

Because it's too expensive if you're wrong.

Wait until they try it and you hold the nuts. Then give 'em both barrels.

Quit trying to be the table policeman, like the US tries to be the cops of the world. Let someone else call their bluffs. Let them clean out the sheep at the table who are too scared to stand up to themselves. Yes, that should be you money, but for now, evil's gonna prevail.

Your hand will come, and you'll get most if not all of their ill-gotten gains in one fell swoop.

Favorite Little Bluff

Quickly becoming one of my favorite bluffs is one I call the "little bluff."

Say the flop contains K-7-2. I'm first to bet, and I bet small, indicating to players I hold either a 7 or a 2.

Often someone with a King will raise to a large bet.

(The thousand dollar Ace (or king) is how I refer to it, since in the 100/200 pot limit (play money) tables I play on, the "standard" raise for a pair of aces on the flop is around $1000.)

At least one times out of four, a second 7 or 2 will appear.

I immediately throw out a bet worthy of trips.

Do it too often, they'll get on to you, but now and then it's lethal.

Game Theory

Courtesy of Tim Hartford

What von Neumann showed in his ground-breaking 1944 book, A Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (written with economist Oskar Morgenstern), was that you should bluff only with your worst hands, rather than with something half-decent.

The reasoning is simple enough. A modest hand may beat another modest hand, so it’s worth limping along to a low-stakes showdown. A bad hand will only win anything if the opponent folds, so bad hands should be played aggressively or not at all; indeed, when the best players are caught running a huge bluff they are often holding the most atrocious cards. Von Neumann’s model also highlights the other benefit of bluffing: it forces the opponent to match your bids frequently, and so wins more money with strong hands.

Von Neumann’s book was hugely celebrated, but academics were soon disillusioned: they found that game theory was too narrow and too difficult to apply to the real world. The book sold poorly, although a few copies, as the Princeton University Press noted sheepishly in 1949, “were bought by professional gamblers”.

What to make of this? Clearly, one should fold one's worst hands as quickly as possible.

The old dictum, when unsure whether to call or fold, RAISE might apply.

Consider this, a jack and a king appear on the board. You hold a jack. If your opponent holds the king, you lose. Betting AS IF you hold the king makes sense in this situation; if he folds, you win. If he holds the king and calls, you gained information about his hand.

To me it makes the most sense to bet large when you probably hold the same or similar cards to your opponent. If you both hold pairs, a medium or large bet tossed out on the river, provided it's consistent with your earlier betting, will often get them to fold.

Chips as Weapons

99% of the time I play the cards, and what I do with the chips reflects the cards I'm dealt, etc.

Once in a great while, I break out of that mindset, and start using my chips as weapons.

Unfortunately, I usually lose while in this "careless driving" mode but while I"m doing it, it's an incredible feeling. Rather taking like an ego-enhancing drug spelled C-ocaine.

I "probe" with bluffs. And darned if everybody else doesn't fold, or the next card shows up and it's the one I needed.

I go all-in (pot limit) with a small pair, just to see how many people I can make fold.

One characteristic of better bettors is that they ALWAYS use big bets to reduce the # of players they're up against, and then look for one sign of dissapointment, weakness, and pounce.

Especially on the "Monopoly Money" tables I play online, people tend to call forever, hang on.. you have to be really big to drive anyone off.

I dont' know what else to say about using chips as a weapon, instead of letting your cards controlling all your betting.

Bet like you mean it?

Just practice good chip management and after your wild ways empty your bank, don't run to the ATM for a reload. Take a chill pill.

Why You Shouldn't Call that Huge Bet

When someone places a huge bet, one thing is certain. They think those chips will be coming right back to them. In fact, they're CERTAIN.

When someone does this, suddenly you have to consider possibilities beyond the normal realm of betting. Like pocket pairs. Sets. Quads.

Normally we ignore the possibility of quads, and bet full houses, even flushes, without regard to the exceedingly remote possibility someone holds a pocket pair matching a pocket pair already on the board.

How good a player are they? Do they see the full house or flush on the board? Do they really think you don't have it?

I'm guilty of calling huge bets mostly because I'm blinded to the pocket kings or American Airlines (A-A) I'm holding. Give me a white cane, please!

Assuming some player who has been playing normal, reasonable, logical poker up till now has suddenly become a bluff monster will hurt your pocketbook severely.

It really doesn't even MATTER if they have the cards or not. Faced with a huge bet, unless you hold the nuts at that stage of the game, you have to fold. Period.

It's just like folding in the face of a possible flush or straight. You win at poker by winning the hands you have for sure, and folding the iffies, because you can always win more but what you can't afford to do is lose big. Big and dumb.

Excessive Bluffing

So I sit down at an online table, and see a player with the handle "Alwayzbluf."

"What an idiot" was my first thought.

Bluffing works best in very small doses, at advantageous times and positions, against limited #'s of opponents, bookended on both sides by hands in which you actually had the cards.

And sure enough, this guy proceeded to try and bluff every available opportunity.

Didn't take the table long to get onto him, and since seven people were tired/annoyed of his attempts, he got called constantly. His money was quickly gone, often taken by people who otherwise might not have stayed, chased, and drawn the miracle cards they needed. If enough people chase (just like in 2/5 bet limit tables, where people will call anything to the river) at least one out of the six will always get lucky.

When to Bluff

When to bluff.

Pretty simple. When you have a pretty good idea what your opponent's hand is, believe that yours is better, and are pretty sure THEY don't know what your hand is.

Classic situation: Setmining.

Someone who raises big pre-flop usually hold AA, KK, or something similar, maybe AK suited.

You've got a mere pair of pocket 4's.

The flop comes, 4-7-9. Off suit.

Instead of holding back to see what you do (depending on position) they push in a huge stack.

At which point you call them, or re-raise.

Re-raising they might fold, but calling, as long as another A, K or Q doesn't show up on the turn you've pretty much got then.

So now the question becomes, someone pushes a big stack out, are they bluffing you?

The one thing,the ONLY thing I can say with certainty is, they're not expecting to LOSE those chips.

They're either expecting me to fold, or they believe A, B, and C. A) They have a good idea what's in my hand, and B) They hold something stronger, and C) Don't think I realize it.

Got it?

Levels of Poker Play

Give a beginner a pair of aces, pocket or otherwise, and they'll call all the way to the river even if they were beat on the flop.

That makes it rather hard to bluff them.

Who are the players at your table that fail to fold when the PF appears, and someone bets hard?

Kind of hard to bluff them on scare cards they fail to see.

Knowing what level your opponent thinks at is pretty important to bluffing successfully, wouldn't you say?

Check out this fine article on levels of levels of poker thought.

http://pokerworks.com/article-925.html

More on the Henon Bluff

Turns out the Henon bluff is known as "floating." Here's what another site had to say about it.

The most common example of a pure bluff is the increasingly popular "float." Essentially, "floating" involves calling your opponent with nothing, with the intention of taking the pot away from him if he shows weakness on a later street. Typically, this move is attempted when you have position against a single opponent who has raised pre-flop.

WN Note: Beginner and intermediate players consistently raise pre-flop with broadway cards, and are consistently dissappointed. Isolate the pre-flop raiser and you've got good idea what cards he or she holds.

After raising pre-flop, most players make a standard continuation bet on the flop - whether they've improved their hand or not. However, comparatively few players are willing (or capable) of firing a second bullet (on the turn) without a real hand. Against opponents such as these, floating the flop can be very profitable.

To execute this move, simply call the continuation bet on the flop (independent of the strength of your hand - this is a pure bluff, remember!) and wait for your opponent to act on the turn.

The typical player tends to abandon the pot (checking and folding to a bet) if they've missed the flop, made a continuation bet and been called. They simply don't fire a second bullet often enough. This weakness is exploitable. Float the flop; then simply bet the turn if your opponent checks and fold (if you haven't got a hand) if he bets.

If you don't have position, you can fire a small "probe" bet on the turn, and if merely called, make your bluff on the river.

The goal is to force your opponent to reveal the true strength of his hand on the turn and act accordingly on this information. This is easier to do when you have position.

More on the "float"

http://www.parttimepoker.com/poker-strategy-articles/072007/floating-no-limit.html

Four Prongs of Bluffing

Like the tines on a fork, successful bluffing has several prongs.

Or so it appears, having been stabbed with all of them repeatedly.

First is narrowing the field. Whether with a bluff on the flop, or pre-flop, the successful bluffer always reduces the number of remaining opponents to a manageable number. Like one. Maybe two. Seldom 3. Never, well, you get the idea.

Number two is "putting" the intended victim on a certain set cards. Like a garbage pair. 9's or lower.

I regularly see players "bet out" three of a kind or a straight into a flush, "just to be sure" you're not bluffing.

Number three is scare cards -- a PS, PF, two pair, or even a pair of royalty that provides them a credible reason to believe you have something better than they do. Although they may "buy" your story simply with #4; personally I find what THEY have is far more powerful in convincing them to fold than what I PRETEND to have.

Number four is a bet large enough that they don't want to lose. The fear of loss, at least in most players, seems to be slightly stronger than the desire to win, perhaps because Hold'Em is mainly a defensive game -- taking assured wins, and avoiding possible lossses.

There are certainly other "prongs" like position, being later is almost always preferable, but those are the four biggies. Or so it appears to me at this stage of my poker career.

Playing at a higher level

Maybe it's self confidence. Maybe it's cocaine. I don't know.

But one time, I had a dose of it myself.

During one brief 45 minute game, every hand I played won.

I'd take a long shot, calling a medium sized bet, and sure enough, I'd hit my straight. And I never complete straights.

So what did I do. I ratcheted up every bet. I raised every blind to at least triple what others would have made it.

It drove out the people with garbage who normally kill you.

If I had a pair, I bet like I had trips.

I scared off a lot of other players who probably had a pair or even a better pair than I had.

When you're winning, not only can you AFFORD to do this, it becomes self-fulfilling.

It was like I was playing with a stack of $500 chips and all anyone else had were $100's.

I won so much other players became terrified of me and folded right and left.

I'd mix in twice as many bluffs as I could normally get away with, and they'd all work.

I don't know HOW you get on this level on a regular basis. I see a few players do it.
They simply play at a higher level than us mere mortals.

Is it years of poker experience, a genetic lack of fear, or drugs, I don't know.

But when it's working, it's amazing.

The Henon Bluff

Henon's a player I come up against online on a regular basis.

He or she, I don't know which, is a far better player than I am.

By FAR, Henon is a better bluffer than myself, and the majority of the players around.

It seemed like everytime I had a good hand, a decent, but not a GREAT hand, Henon would throw out some enormous raise.

It felt AS IF Henon was looking at my cards.

S/he didn't have to.

I finally figured out what Henon was doing, which is SO DAMN lethal.

Just watching my (and other players bets).

Some lousy flop comes out, 7 - 9 - 2.

One or more players pairs one of the cards on the flop, and places a bet worthy of a low pair.

The turn and river come out, and whether they're A-K-Q or just more junk, the player doesn't suddenly increase their bet, go astronomical or in any way indicate they've improved their hand.

At which point Henon throws out a bet (bluff) worthy of a full house.

Every time.

S/he's not bluffing that he has SOMETHING GREAT, he's merely bluffing that he has something BETTER than what you have.

One clue that this is what Henon was doing was that I'd look at the table, and there'd be no PF, no PS, nothing to explain his sudden moonshot.

If felt like s/he was looking at my cards it was so uncanny. I didn't dare call that humongous bet s/he placed, often half of his bankroll.

This is perhaps the finest bluff I've come across, and I salute Henon. It won't work against ME anymore, but it will certainly work for me.

Henon, I salute you.

Pair on the Flop

A pair shows on the flop.

Statistically, around 40% of the time a player has just made trips.

Any player except a total beginner will try and slowplay those trips, unless there's a possible flush (PF) or possible straight (PS) showing.

Many good players will immediately fold if they don't hold the 3rd card of the trip, unless THEY hold the PF or PS.

Usually, this stupid "dance" begins where one (brave or stupid) player throws out a timid bet, to see if it will go all the way around, as if saying, "See, it's ok to go back in the water!"

Sometimes the timid better IS the holder of the trips.

Next, the person holding the trips invariably has to double or quadruple that bet. No self control, from what I've seen.

But wait! I said only 40% of the time does somebody actually make trips.

Would a GREAT bluff be one that worked 50% of the time or more? You bet! Or rather, you should bet!

Whenever a timid bet is tossed out after appearance of a pair on the board, always take the chance if you can be the first to re-raise.

If someone actually HOLDS the trips, you'll find out soon enough, and lose your bluff money. Or some other player may have enough faith in their PF or PS to stay with you.

It's a bluff that's only gonna work, it total, maybe 30% of the time.

You can improve your bluffing odds by only doing it when YOU hold a PF or PS, in essence turning it into a semi-bluffing situation. You can win either way, if your hand improves, or if everyone else folds.

With reasonable pots, especially where the pre-flop was raised this can be a very effective bluff.

He's Not Bluffing!

I seem to have hit a plateau in my poker play. It's because I STILL think people are bluffing when they aren't. Mostly I'm calling into straights instead of folding.

I still see bluffers everywhere. "They're EVERYWHERE, they're EVERYWHERE!"

Calling all-in to flushes, well I seem to have finally quit that after SWEARING I'd never do it again.

Tonight I had a little insight.

People bluff when everyone else looks weak. When they check-around or bet small amounts.

When people RAISE big after you've been betting heavily against them, it's probably not a bluff. They know you have something. The odds of them successfully bluffing you when YOU'VE got cards is low.

It would take a pretty confident bluffer to do that more than once.

So I think the thing for me, at least, is to fold in the face of big fat raises UNLESS everyone still in the hand has send signals of weakness.

Taking Time to Bluff

You've got pocket Kings and a third one appears on the turn. Do you sit and think about whether to raise or not?

Of course not, you're so excited you can barely wait to throw a pile of chips out there.

If you want to bluff that you've got trips, or any other powerful hand, you'd better bluff just as fast and eagerly.

If you have to sit there and decide whether to bluff or not you've already reduced the chance of your bluff succeeding by 75% or more.

This, AGAIN, is why you have to bluff often. So it becomes second nature. So you don't have to think about it. So you don't get all emotional about it. So you recognize bluffing situations the second they appear and seize them.

Unlike the headline of this post, you CAN'T take your time bluffing.

Fear

Bluffing is about fear. Managing yours and taking advantage of theirs.

The player with a King lives in abject fear of losing the pot to someone with an Ace.

A better player will always fold when an Ace hits on the turn or river and a player who'd been calling up to that point suddenly turns aggressive.

Why don't people bluff? Fear. Fear they'll either lose their bet, or I suspect MORE often, fear they'll get caught.

Umm, who cares? Getting caught is a GOOD thing. It makes sure when you really HAVE the cards that the player who caught you out will call you all the way to the end.

You have to bluff a certain amount to know that bluffing is only going to work some percentage of the time.

It's a calculated wager, just like every other bet you place. If I bluff five times, and it costs me X to bluff, and I win Y in the 2 times it works, am I money ahead?

I've told you before, bluffing is (usually) not some huge, all-in wager when you're in a showdown at the river. Its a series of moderate bets here and there that nobody even recognizes as a bluff.

Seen in this light, getting caught, or losing your bet is no big deal. It's just part of the cost of doing business.

Bluffing has to be as routine as betting when you do have cards. You have to spot bluffing opportunities as quickly as recognizing when you have the nuts and act quickly on them. Fear has no place in bluffing; it's business as usual.

The only fear in bluffing should be the fear you put into your opponent's heart.

The First Player to Bet

Poker, especially Hold'Em, is a positional game.

Late position gives you a lot of information about your opponents' hands before you are required to act.

Being early has it's own advantages.

The more I play poker, the more I realize it's mostly a defensive game. All you can do is prevent losses while waiting for cards. The winners are the people who grind it out, folding, folding, folding for hours until they draw winning, if not unbeatable cards.

If I've got 2 pair, I literally have NO CHOICE but fold when a possible flush (pf) appears on the table and someone bets as if they have it.

Whoever is in position to bet first after scare cards hit the table usually win that hand, regardless of whether they have the flush or not. (Unless, of course, someone ELSE ACTUALLY does and CALLS THEIR BLUFF)

You can't ALWAYS be the first to bet every time scare cards hit the table, or your crediblity will evaporate quickly.

But if you're medium or late, and no one else has bet, with only 1-2 players "behind" you, it's a helluva great bluff opportunity.

Breaking the Rules

Online, I have found myself in card games where I couldn't tell up from down.

Games where the bets seemed to have no basis -- players betting AS IF they had a full house when the most the flop offered was two pair or trips.

Huge bets, or raises, out of nowhere.

All-in's immediately after the flop. Sometimes before.

It was like the worst example of players using play money. Going bezerk.

In most poker games, players follow an unstated set of rules. If there's A-7-2 on the flop, you expect a player to bet more for matching the Ace than matching the two.

It's as if they are saying "Since you've been watching me awhile you should know if I bet this amount it means one of my pocket cards is an Ace". They're "broadcasting.

(sometimes to throw people off I'll toss out a bet midway between my medium and large bet).
I don't want to be TOO predictable.

Play with that person awhile, and you can pretty much know what they're saying. 90% of the time the're telling the truth. I don't know if that's because most of us are basically honest, or if it just provides a framework for an enjoyable game of poker.

Not so in these games. Some of the players seemed to be insinuating they had matched every Ace, had made every possible straight or flush.

I found it impossible to come up with a strategy to win in this game. It was too unpredictable.

Huge sums of money went back and forth across the table. One or more players was all-in on every other hand.

I suspect it was simply because I hadn't played with any of these characters before. I didn't know what their favorite bluffing situations were. I didn't know what they considered a small, medium, or large bet. I had no way to "read" them.

If you find yourself in a game gone wild, players out of control, sit out. Watch. Tighten up to playing only royalty, and staying only hands that are the nuts after the flop.

Otherwise you're gonna lose.

Because if there are no rules, you get no clues about how to play.

Imaginary Cards

I asked my friend Dave, "What if I didn't even look at the cards in my hand. What if I only played the hand I wanted others to believe I held."

I would look only at the cards on the table, and mentally "invent" a hand based on what was there, and if it was the turn or the river, a hand consistent with the actions I had taken on the flop, or the flop and the pre-flop.

Figure only 30-50% of the time do the other players take you to a showdown, where your cards are actually exposed.

The rest of the time, I could bet AS IF I had pocket aces despite holding 2-3, and they would never know the difference.

Provided the "story" I told them, through my actions, was credible. If I pretended to have pocket aces more twice in a row, I doubt many players would fall for it a 2nd time.

If I pretended to have trips everytime a pair fell on the flop, that wouldn't work so good either.
Now and then it's a great way to steal the blinds.

You only need cards, you see, if the hand goes to a showdown.

Well, technically, a showdown is only between two players, I think, but you know what I mean. A hand where all the hands get exposed at the end to determine the winner.

Let me give you an example. Sometimes a flop will contain A-x-y or K-x-y. Now I could bet large on the ace or king, and narrow the field. That's a good strategy most of the time. But what if I have a lousy kicker.

Sometimes, however, I'll pretend I have one of the lesser cards. Instead of betting like I have an Ace, I'll bet like I have the "x" or "y" card.

When the turn is another "x" or "y", so there's A-x-y-x, suddenly, I can bet AS IF I now have a set of trips, and it's not inconsistent with my earlier bet.

I happen to like this trick. Worst case, I've still got a pair of Aces or Kings. Best case, nobody else has the trips, and they all fold.

I'm playing with their minds, the cards they THINK I have, not the cards I really have.

Imaginary Cards.

Three Bluffers I Know

Bogos, LordVZ, and Billum probably mean nothing to you. They're the online handles of some people I play poker with online.

And they're all magnificient bluffers.

I swear, VZ spends more time looking for weakness, bluffing opportunities, than he does playing his own cards.

Sometimes I could swear that EVERY SINGLE TIME the table shows weakness, out comes an outrageous bet by VZ. And having already "told" him they had nothing, they have no recourse but to fold when he tosses out a big pile of chips.

(The only recourse I found, was to slowplay trips and flushes and wipe him out)

Billum used a divide an conquer approach.

If he matched high card on the flop, whatever it was, he'd raise so much that anyone not holding that card felt compelled to fold. Usually he'd end up with only one or two opponents. After any other high card came up, say an Ace or King, he'd raise ridiculous. Unless the other player also hit on that ace or king, they invariably folded. Like the wolf and the sheep, his goal was always to get one off to the side and come in for the kill.

Bogos, ahh, Bogos. Took me a while to figure out his game. Seeing as 70% of the time, the winning hand on the flop was the winning hand at the river, whenever he matched the high card on the flop, he went nuts with the betting. He never, ever bluffed "naked." He always had at least a pair.

There are others, like Chicataks. What I discovered about her bluffing is that once she began a bluff, she never laid down. She'd go all-in on the river, if necessary, to throw off an opponent.
She also got wiped out with this strategy now and then.

Consistently these bluffers all did a couple of things. One, they looked for weakness. Two, they bet or raised well beyond the "norms" for that stage of the game. Three, they waited till enough was in the pot that they COULD throw in an extra-large bet. Four, they usually were late.
Five, they usually had a lot more chips than the other players at the table and could threaten a lesser player's entire bankroll with only 10-20% of their own.

I'm sure there's more, but I haven't learned all their secrets yet.

Weakness

The flop shows J-7-6. Two players check. Then someone places a bet that seems like about the right amount for either a pair of Jacks or a pair of 7's.

In late position, a player throws out a bet more suitable to a straight, a set of jacks, or a pair of pocket Queens. Or (a bet) considerably larger.

You're sitting there with nothing. What are you going to do. Fold, of course.

What will the player holding a pair of two's or sevens do? Fold.

Will a player holding Jacks call? Would you, faced with a bet that suggests a pocket pair or better?

Maybe all the bluffer has is a Jack, but with an Ace kicker. If you're holding J-4, are you going to risk that possibility?

Hold 'Em is a positional game, and in late position, with other players having demonstrated weakness, this is a prime time to bluff.

Your Bluffs aren't Working

Your bluffs aren't working.

Either your bets are too small, or you're bluffing too often.

Only half of your bluffs are going to work under the best of circumstances. Against a single player or two.

But at least one person is calling ALL of your bluffs. Sometimes more.

What about when the WHOLE table calls your raise. Well first of all, what are you thinking, trying to bluff the whole table? It's nearly impossible!

Sure, the player with a bankroll the size of Kansas can sometimes pull it off. Not you.

I find hope springs eternal, especially in play-money games.

In fact, placing a medium size bet often encourages other players to stay, to call, because the pot odds improve dramatically when everybody does.

Most players are willing to endure a little pain if there's even a CHANCE they could hit two pairs, get trips, complete a straight, flush, whatever.

You have to make the pain of calling your bluff excruciating for them to even try. That's right, excruciating.

Are you trying to bluff the entire table? Won't work. Are scare cards showing? If not, it won't work. Has everyone shown weakness, the betting checked around or only a small bet thrown out?

Beware the slow-player. Not just the player you've seen slow-playing trips, but the player who pauses a long time before checking. The alternative to checking isn't folding, it's raising. So in a check-around, someone who pauses a long time may be slowplaying good cards.

If you're gonna bluff, bet like you've got the scare cards and are ready to collect a high toll from anyone foolish enough not to fold.

Timid bluffing doesn't work.

You Keep Getting Bluffed

You know they're bluffing. Hand after hand. But you seem powerless to do anything about it. You can't afford to call their bluffs, and the one or two times you tried, they actually had something and you lost.

You're not going to like what I'm about to tell you.

It's your own damn fault.

You're playing garbage. K-6-3 shows on the flop and by placing a small or medium bet , you're telling this bluffer "I don't have the King."

Checking, or placing small bets signal weakness.

And that's what the bluffer is looking for, for the betting to go around the table with either no betting or only small bets.

That's when they throw down a big bet.

You need to quit playing garbage. Once every four or five hands, MAYBE you play garbage, YOU do the bluffing. Bet AS IF you have the King.

In the mean time, it's "Fit or Fold." If you don't have winning cards, check, and fold when the bluffer raises big.

Quit calling or raising on garbage.

Once you establish a reputation as the player who sits there forever waiting for winning cards, and always wins with them, THEN you can pull off a bluff now and then playing the six or the three.

Frieght Trains

You're gonna get run over by freight trains now and then. Someone with a pocket pair makes quads while you're going-all in with a full house.

Ouch.

You slow-played your trips only to find out they made full house on the same pair.

Ouch.

There is literally no way to defend against a set, where their pocket pair matches something on the board.

In these situations, chip management is the only thing that can save you. Not having so much on the table that going "all in" bankrupts you in real life.

Being willing to give a few up to someone who's a better bluffer than you. Maybe they don't have quads or a fh. Are you willing to risk your bankroll to find out?

In fact, the only mistake you can make in poker, realistically, is to underestimate what your opponent has in his or her hand.

Feels like getting hit by a freight train.

Five Bluffs you can make Today

Need some help getting started? Fine, here are five bluffs you can make today.

Anytime the flop includes a pair, throw out a medium sized bet. If someone raises you, fold immediately.

Anytime the betting hasn't been strong on the turn, and the river card is 2-8, throw out a medium sized bet. Most people were probably dissapointed with the river, holding onto an A or K hoping to pair it, or holding a low pair. A medium or large bet and they'll fold like laundry.

I was amazed at how many times I could steal the pot AT the river.

Anytime a pf -- possible flush-- appears on the board, throw out a medium or large bet. At least half the time everyone else will immediately fold. The other half -- you lose!

Ditto for a ps -- possible straight -- when there's no royalty, and no pf on the board.

Anytime the board goes around twice with only small bets, toss out a good sized bet and see what happens.

Exploratory bluffing. There's A-K-x on the flop. You hold a King. Toss out a large bet and see if anyone calls. Better to find out NOW than let them slow-play you all the way to the river.

Absolute insane bluffing. Anytime there's no royalty at all in the flop, throw out a huge bet regardless of what's in your hand. Most players will assume you're working on a pocket pair. This works better if you raised pre-flop.


But when will and won't these bluffs work? Clearly, if you're losing, they're not gonna work. Bad karma or whatever. Do it when you're mentally "up."

Don't bluff for a LONG WHILE after you get caught at it. for some reason non-bluffers can't stand bluffers, and will sacrifice life and limb to catch you out a 2nd time.

Obviously, the fewer players you're up against, the less the chance one of THEM actually has the card matching the pair on the flop, or the pf.

Dart-throwing, coin-tossing, bingo, whatever you want to call it. You match high card on the flop (A-K, whatever) and go all in, or nearly so. Wild players use this technique to double their bankroll at the beginning of play. 70% of the time, the best hand at the flop remains the best hand at the river. But that 30% can be deadly.