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.