Joined: Apr '08
Location: Argentina
Age: 45 (M)
Posts: 748
Hola! Bluffing is really overrated, I'd say don't do it, or keep it at a real minimum But the idea is to tell a consistent lie, you can't just come out betting like crazy when a 3 falls on a A69 board for example. That makes no sense. The idea is that you have to represent a certain hand
Joined: Oct '09
Location: Spain
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 2851
Depends on a lot of stuff, espessially the image you create at the table (even on Internet!) A high card falls on the flop and everybody checks, try a small bluff, just to see how people react. Unless you want others drawing to a possible flush or draw to fold, then you raise (bluff) a bit higher. You raised pre-flop, but the flop is useless, raise again, they think you have a strong hand, unless somebody bets, then it's dangerous and forget bluffing. That's about it, unless I forget something. Oh yes, don't bluff with absolutely nothing, unless you've got a very tight table and great position. A question of experience really (not that I have sooooo much after 4 months). Just trying a lot of stuff. Bluffing works and is necessary to keep up in a tournament, and even more in cash games (if the players are tight and your image is good). Practice when you don't have a lot to lose is my advice. Good luck!
Joined: Feb '09
Location: Belgium
Age: 34 (M)
Posts: 686
Its all about representig something big (or at least, something better than your opponent) : you just must take a lil time to think : for example : its heads up (with an opponent having same stack as you) there is two spades on the flop (you dont have any spade in your hand) the guy make a consistent bet 3/4 pot ==> here you decide to call (not the best call but well, its an example ^^), so you call and if a spade hit : bang, you play like you have just hit a flush (you think your opponent dont like this draw because he bet big on the flop). If your previous read is correct, your opponent won't like this spade on turn : he might bet small/medium or just check. The best for you is a check. If he check, you might take the pot, playing like you had a flush. But again, take a lil time to think : he bet on the flop, he had surely a pair (at least some high cards), so he might have a king or ace of spade : he have a flush draw too! so even if he think he is beaten by the flush, he still guess that he can improve in a better flush on river and call your bet ! spade hit on the river too and you are in troubles !! This example show an interesting to bluff, but the difficult you might have too !
So here is what you must remember to make THE bluff :
1) Find a good spot to bluff (dont bluff when there is 5 people in the pot, you are sure to get two calls by drawers or idiots, dont bluff on a multi draw flop, dont bluff a beginner because he never fold, dont bluff a callingstation because he never fold too! Some flop are easy to bluff : for example : 229 rainbow : if u are bigblind and made no raise preflop, people will see you with a low hand and if u bet 1/2 or 1/3 pot on this flop, they might fold thinking "mmh, this guy have a deuce, im sure of that". Be careful, if you get call, you should calm down !)
2) When you bluff, you should avoid to make the pot big : because the more its big, the more it will be hard to make a continuation bet when your opponent make a call (i mean : will you make all in with nothing to bluff him?)
3) Dont bluff to much or people will fastly not believe you anymore and you'll get called by third or even 4th pair when you have nothing !
4) Think, think, rethink and think again : i mean, in poker, you should always think... but when you bluff you have to make particularly tough decision (because it depend of the cards of your opponent, not of your own cards. You are a bit acting in the dark), so you think yet more ! For example : when you want to represent a flush, just think about it : might my opponent have already a full house or a better flush. Its indeed useless to represent a hand that is already beaten... because there, your opponent will just wait for your chips!
5) Easy start : just begin with semi bluffs (its bluffs where you have still good outs : for example, reraise with a flush draw : u have nothing, but you still have some good chance to hit your card). its not exactly as a total bluff, but it should learn you to face tougher decisions and to feel your opponents.
6) Experience : play, make mistakes and learn from it
Joined: Nov '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 47 (M)
Posts: 2194
Posted by cyberbabel: can someone explain to me how to bluff with an example??? thanks
Bluffing is / should be some thing you DONT need to know, If you are bluffing you are putting your stack at risk for nothing! Why would you do that? If you are new to the game and want to get better fast I would advise you not to bluff at all, that way you will not get in to bad habbits like others...(me) A bluff should only be used if you have an improving hand or a hand that can easyly be improved to a much better hand like a flush or poss straight or both if you get the right cards and play them.
But if you are in a sittuation where it is possible to put some one off the pot i always find it better not to go all in. If you go all in it can show weakness (in my opinion) i preffer to bet, bet, bet, Flop Turn and River be making three bets you look to be strong in a hand. BUT and its a big BUT, if you get re-raised then you need to know your chances of hitting the card(s) you need so bone up on your outs and you can then either dump the hand or use a little calculated risk (dont ever Gamble)
BLUFFING IS FOR THE WEAK......(and i'm possitivly feeble)
Joined: Feb '09
Location: Belgium
Age: 34 (M)
Posts: 686
Posted by xxxbchxxx:
BLUFFING IS FOR THE WEAK......(and i'm possitivly feeble)
Noooooooo : bluffing is for experimented player that can make good reads ! you are right with the fact you can lose many of your stack, but if you are a good reader, it might be profitable. And it depend of kind of bluff you make too (if you always bluff making all in sure its not a good move)
Joined: Feb '08
Location: Ireland
Age: 53 (M)
Posts: 638
Ok i always bluff .... infact i loose count of the amount of times i bluff in a mtt ... Cash tables i try to limit my bluffs but as im mainly a stt and mtt player its hard not to bluff .... anyway was reading youre thread as i started a tourney on bigbet so i kept a few bluffs to show
First one is simple ... first to act min bets flop i have nothing but a overcard to board so call and next player calls ... why did i call to me a min bet is asking to get yourself in trouble so i called with the intention of doing something on turn .... turn comes K and he min bets again .... i reraise to 450 ... why ??? i want to represent the K also the straight thats possible .... there is a 9 , J , K on board so a proper bet makes my bet believable ...... now if he calls fine i see how the river comes ... or if he reraises or the other player reraises i fold .... but they both fold and i take down the hand ....simple bluff but i have done this with worse cards .... what makes it work is my believable reraise to a proper sized bet and also the reraise in itself gives strength to the play
Bluffs dont always work but i find they work more often than not and i win as many hands through bluffing than with hands that hit with the cards i have
------------ heres another bluff a semi bluff as i have a good draw .... he checks and i put in a strong bet .... i always bet strong i very very rarely min bet (1 in a hundred times min betting is very bad) he calls .... so i feel he has something maybe the Q .... turn comes another Q he checks and i bet again and he calls ..... river comes a blank ... he checks and this is the big one do you check or bet ..... i decided here to bluff ..... after he check calls the Q on turn i decide he dosent have Q so as i probably look like i was betting the Q i bet .... he folds and shows the best hand and another bet gets through.
------------ If you are not confident about bluffing learn at small tables ..... eg 10c 20c sng or mtt its hard to learn how to bluff at big buy in games .... thats how i learn and as i play a lot of these i get great practice so when i play bigger buy ins they come naturally and i dont even think twice about doing them .... oh ye went on to win that tourney it was the fast fifty freezeout .....
Bluffing should be part of youre game because if you dont bluff you are definitely getting bluffed out of youre chips by others .... if you do bluff its easier to tell when someone is trying to bluff you
Now that you mention it, I bluff more often then I thought I was. I semi-bluff alot I never (try not to) bluff calling stations I don't bluff at pots with many people in the hand I don't show bluffs often, keep'em guessing (unless I dislike the person I bluffed)
Joined: Feb '08
Location: Ireland
Age: 53 (M)
Posts: 638
ye showing bluffs is a interesting point i will and other times i wont it all depends on my gut feeling at the time ..... same with hands i win with im not inclined to show unless i feel i might benefit later ... youre right though ih8usukouts when you think about it you do realise how much bluffing you do and i really cant imagine anyone playing poker for over a year not being a regular bluffer
Joined: Aug '09
Location: Brazil
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 10
Posted by ih8usukouts: Now that you mention it, I bluff more often then I thought I was. I semi-bluff alot I never (try not to) bluff calling stations I don't bluff at pots with many people in the hand I don't show bluffs often, keep'em guessing (unless I dislike the person I bluffed)
Semi-bluff? that does not exist! or your bluff, or don't! even the continuatting bet is bluff...and everyone bluffs
Joined: Apr '09
Location: United States
Age: 33 (M)
Posts: 3
in my opinion the best time to bluff is on a 1 on 1, most likely if the guy raises preflop he usual just has high cards like ak aj, so if the flop comes out and the flop is 7 4 2, if he raises and u reraise there is a good chance he will fold
Joined: Jan '10
Location: Germany
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 1379
Posted by teteban: Hola! Bluffing is really overrated, I'd say don't do it, or keep it at a real minimum But the idea is to tell a consistent lie, you can't just come out betting like crazy when a 3 falls on a A69 board for example. That makes no sense. The idea is that you have to represent a certain hand
But again, just keep it in check
hmmm? I say you never win a tournament without any bluffs. No matter if you just push an Any Two for some blinds, or you contibet a Flop you didn´t hit... Somehow this all are bluffs.
Normally you cann bluff when a third suit appears, a nice chance to a straight or when an A,K,Q appers on the Turn or something. But for that you need to know about your enemy a lot
Joined: Feb '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 36 (M)
Posts: 703
Here s a simple example:
u raise in the button with JTo and i call on the bb with connectors like 67o for instance,
Flop comes Jh Kc 4h I check and u bet 3/4 of the pot to see if ur jacks are still good. I simply call. Turn 2h and i check. Now this point u start wondering "did he called with a pair of K but with a horrible kicker or did he catched his flush". So now u basically check river comes blank and i bet. So now u have a hard choice since ur pair of Jacks with T kicker can be easily beated. U fold i show my 67o and say " Ship it baby"
