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The best poker players have a multitude of skills in their armoury which include a penchant for number crunching, supreme self-confidence and the ability to keep their wits about them when the going gets tough. Mastery over these abilities comes with time and dedicated devotion to honing such skills. In order to get to those levels, every aspiring poker player must have a hold over a few elementary skills that are absolutely necessary for any poker player to make the switch from amateur to poker pro.
One of these elementary skills is the art of the bluff. When pulled off properly, the bluff is a masterstroke achieving the twin benefits of winning a hand from a position of weakness and also leaving the victim second guessing his moves from then on, something which is a fatal flaw in a game of poker. Although a potent weapon, it must be remembered that the bluff has the potential to backfire with extremely disastrous circumstances and should always be used keeping in mind the potentially damaging backlash from a failed bluff.
Good judgment and the knowledge about the right time to use a bluff comes with practice; a teacher can teach the ABCs but it is up to the student to decide what he does with it. Similarly, this article will expand on some of the most practices used by the best of bluffers which can be employed in poker to great effect. But beware, these practices are common knowledge with the regulars and one may be caught with their pants down if not careful.
#1 Never try to bluff the table
This is the golden rule of bluffing and it where a majority of aspiring poker pros go wrong. Full of over-confidence and brimming with inexperience, the amateur thinks he has already made it and tries to go on and bluff the entire table in what is a kamikaze manoeuvre. The entire table is never going to be bluffed and is only going to result in the seasoned pro on the table calling your bluff with his clearly superior hand.
At most, one should try and bluff a couple of people and never more than that as all of the players on the table are never going to be scared away by it and one of them is bound to have a table killing set of cards which he will bet on. Bluff selectively and efficiently. It is not a game of bluff you are playing, it is poker and this game has a lot more variables than bluffing alone. Bluff, but remember to play by the strength and choose your targets wisely.
#2 Selectively playing hands
A common error made by those new to the art of bluffing is that they try the same trick in every round. It is like the boy who cried wolf and eventually you will be caught out and the bluffs will never be believed again. Pick and choose your moments wisely. Do not be afraid to fold when you clearly have a weak hand that will not stand a chance against even a moderately strong hand.
Failure to abide by the rule often results in catastrophic failure and loss of some hard earned dough. Some players ignore the virtues of patience and start bluffing the moment they are dealt a weak hand. The problem here lies not in not having the ability to fold but in the boredom that lies in wait once the hand is folded.
This often results in heavy losses as the stakes keep getting raised higher and higher. It is also important to not err on the side of caution all the time as the table will recognise a pattern and result in smaller earnings everytime a successful bluff is called.
#3 Bluff like you own the winning hand, every time!
A bluff must always be called with a winning attitude as one of the main aims of a bluff is to fool the other player into folding his hand in spite of being in a stronger position. A winner’s attitude must be on show every time you call or raise the stakes. This is the only way you are going to unnerve the opposition into folding away their weaker hand, leaving you to walk away with some easy winnings.
A player should also be careful to not waste bluffs on larger pots as the temptation to win more money would often result in them having a lower likelihood of folding their hand. So keep in mind the fact that other players on the table are also humans and just as likely as you to become greedy with ever larger sums of money.
#4 Do not try to bluff the noobs
A fatal mistake often made by amateur poker players is that they try to show off their bluffing prowess in front of those who are so new to the game they wouldn’t recognise a royal flush when they see one. Such players often call or fold regardless of the strength their hand holds and bluffing against such players who do not know the game is pointless, really.
Fueled by optimism, poker noobs will often call bets with vastly weaker hands not knowing what they are getting into and lack the ability to fold in time to avoid damage to themselves and in this case to the person trying to play a bluff. So remember, against the noobs, play it straight, avoid the bluffs and spare yourself the blushes.
#5 Play Low Bets
Bluffing playing the low bets is a useful tactic not only when one holds aces full of kings but also when the bets are low and one has a decently strong hand. Such a bluff will most likely tempt your opponents to add higher sums of money to the pot and eventually result in you winning as they slowly lose their hopes of gaining anything from the round.
Also, attention should be paid to the reactions of those who have already folded their cards as they are more likely to show emotion on their faces than those still involved in the round. For example, a player who has already folded and looks upset with himself should indicate that you now have better chances of walking away with the round.
#6 Limit the bluffs
Earlier in this article, we mentioned the boy who cried wolf and in poker parlance, the words “boy” and “wolf” can be replaced by player and bluff. Excessive bluffing will always result in the table catching on to your tricks and picking up patterns which will make further bluffing attempts unsuccessful. It is important to know when to bluff and how. Also, keep in mind that you will not master the bluff instantly, it is an art which takes the experience to master and is still likely to fail if someone reads through it.
Also, it is important to know that bluffing is not necessary to win. It is a useful tool to have but it is not essential to use it. Use the bluff wisely and when it is likely to cause most disruption and mayhem. You should never bluff on whims and fancies or if you just “feel like” bluffing.
#7 Bluff with a pair on board
Your best chances of pulling off an effective bluff lie when there is a pair on board. Such a combination is likely to result in reduced chances for other players on the table to land a flush or a straight as there are only two other cards in the set which could match them for a combination. The likelihood of other players landing a combination is thus reduced while also making them more susceptible to your bluff.
In such a case, chances are that the other pair is still buried or has gone to different players on the table or have already been folded by the player pre-flop. Statistically, the chances of a player rivalling your bluffed “strong” hand are lower and the chances of you sweeping the table become higher.
#8 Represent your previous bet
If you had played a little extra safe and missed the flop after a pre-flop raise with a decent hand in the previous round, you could now play the same bet with a comparatively weaker hand and it would, in fact, be a good idea to do so. This is a not only an effective mind game, but it is also possible that a better hand could be created with subsequent cards.
This might help create the impression that now that you are strongly bidding, you actually have actually been dealt a better hand this time around. This will pressurise the others and possibly make them fold what could be better hands. But remember that you should never try to fool the entire table target your opponents wisely.
#9 A strong opponent hand
It is always a good idea to not bluff if indications suggest that an opponent has an obviously stronger hand. If the temptation to fool around is still too strong to resist, you can always semi-bluff, which is the practice of bluffing backed up by a decent poker hand.
While an aggressive move, the semi-bluff is still low risk compared to the true bluff and likely to yield more dividends.This bet could be made with the intention of avoiding a showdown and if a showdown did occur, you would still be able to do something about it, which is not the case with a normal bluff.
#10 Play the same trends
If your bets show a consistent trend, it would be a good idea to back them up with a bluff on similar lines. For example, if your pre-flop was raised in a round holding a 6-6 and the flop showed an ace, queen and a 5, this would be the best time to bluff as it would maintain the consistent trend.
One should also be careful while undertaking such bluffs and not bluff too frequently as this will make the other players notice the trend and catch you off-guard.The secret of an effective bluff is to always keep your opponents second-guessing you and themselves and not being sure whether you were bluffing or not during the entire game.
