Poker Bluffing

Generally, you should deduce why a bluff should occur, and then apply this to other players. Knowing a given player always helps in the deduction process. Here are reason as to why another Poker player may bluff:

• If there are only 2 players left, it is generally easier to fool just one person, as opposed to several.

• An opponent may keep his initial goal, even after receiving a less-than-stellar flop. If an opponent bets pre-flop from a marginal pocket hand, and the flop is poor, they may attempt to keep momentum going and bluff. More than likely they will have low drawing chances with an overpair or overcards.overpair. A re-raise could cause them to crumble, in this instance, and may give you a chance to recover.

• If Pot Odds are in an opponent's favor, expect a bluff. If players fold on the turn card, and there is a large pot, you can be rest assured that a bluff may be in the works. With the serious pot odds available, you may decide to stay in such a hand.

• If an opponent bets, and they make comments about how great their hand is, chances are it is a bluff, and you should try and stay in the hand.

• If The flop does not have any draws, expect a bluff. At times, a player bets in this scenario to remove the likelihood to obtain a draw . This occurs at times because the opponent may have a solid hand.

• If an opponent bets after the Flop, but checks after the turn, there may be a bluff underway. If a draw did not hit, they are probably looking at getting a free card. In this case, retaliate back with a bet.

• If an opponent, bet after both the flop and the turn, and checked on the river, a bluff may be underway. Similar to the last scenario, retaliate back with a bet of your own.

Reasons to Bluff in Poker

A big element of Poker is the art of deception. Poker Bluffing is a major aspect of the game of poker. Of course, the rationale of poker bluffing is to make your opponents believe that you have a better hand that you actually have. Many new players fall in love with the bluffing concept, and often tend to use it improperly. The value of poker bluffing will increase under certain scenarios that often are correlated to the information you believe to be true about the other poker players. This ambiguity makes it difficult to provide ironclad rules to bluff. However, we are providing some general rules that can be used to assist with the bluffing concept:

• If you have a late position at the table and all other players have checked, then there may be some potential for bluffing. It will most certainly force some players to fold, but perhaps, not all. This is a very common bluffing strategy, and some players may stay in the hand because of bet odds, and because they may anticipate that you are bluffing. This is a bluffing technique that requires you to be more persistent over severalbetting rounds.

• Another good time to bluff is When you are playing against tight players (those that have a tendency to fold quickly). If you bluff at an early stage of the hand (such as the pre-flop or the flop) against a tight player who does not fold, you should seriously consider not bluffing at this or a later round.

• Another good time to bluff is When there are few players left in a pot. Your chances of pulling off a bluff are much greater with fewer players than with a large number of players. Not all players will fall for the bait in this scenario, but your chances for success are good, especially if you perisistently bluff over the span of several betting rounds. Of course, this could turn out to be a costly mistake, if an opponent does not fall for your bluffing strategy.

• Another possible bluffing scenario is When the flop is less than desirable.

• Yet another good bluffing opportunity occurs on the river, particularly if a drawing hand does not materialize.

• You can bluff by betting pre-flop, and after missing on the flop, since your aopponents don't know that you missed out on the flop. This can be a dangerous maneuver, and you need to be aware of the board before you blindly get involved in this scenario.

• Another good time to bluff is When there is a pair on the board, and it is lower than an 8-8. Chances are that these low cards may have been folded already or may still be in the undrawn deck. This is one situation where you need to analyze things carefully, before proceeding. This is an excellent time to read the tells of the opponetns who are no longer in the hand. It is always easier to read a person's body langauge to give you a clue that they HAD a card, as opposed to knowing that a person still in the hand currently HAS it.

• An interesting time to bluff is when you have given your other opponents "the fear". This has to do with how the other poker players view you. If you win hands via cunning play, the other players will respect your game play, and will be more likely to fold against a bluff than to play on. A good tactic is to play a hand the exact same way that you played an earlier winning hand, to give the illusion of a repeat performance.

• If you are on the button in a Pre-flop scenario, and all others have folded, it may be a good time to bluff. This is usually accomplished against tight players that are to your left. It is a good scenario for you, because an early bluff can trun into a good hand, with a good flop.

Some Reasons NOT to Bluff in Poker

Everyone is always looking for a situation in which to bluff. Bluffing must be used sparingly, and there are certainly times when you should not bluff. The following are some scenarios when you definitely should avoid bluffing:

• Avoid bluffing when you have been recently caught bluffing. Your peers will have labeled you as a poor bluffer. At this point, you need to rebuild your reputation as a straight player. Then, and only then, can you then eventually try a bluff and get away with it.

• Avoid bluffing when opponents expect you to bluff.

• Avoid bluffing Against less than good players. As much as poor players like to bluff, they also like to nail someone who is bluffing.

• Avoid bluffing against a dangerous flop. If the flop contains an Ace, odds are that someone is carrying a pair of aces. Aces usually make it past the pre-flop, and players very often continue to stay in a hand that contains Aces. As a general rule, do not bluff against Aces. Additionally, you should not bluff against a flop contains things like K, Q, 10.

• Avaid bluffing when there a lot of players left in a hand. Odds are that one of these opponents has a hadn that they will stick with, and this is not worth the risk of bluffing.

• If you are in a blind position at the table, other players may believe that you have a less tahn desirable hand, and they will expect you to bluff in this position.

• If you just lost a big hand or a series of hands, do not bluff. Other players will surmise that you are on the tilt, so to speak, and will more willing to call or raise against you.

Semi-Bluffing Techniques

Semi-bluffing is a type of bluffing which you implore when you have a less than stellar hand or a drawing hand that could improve. When you are playing against players that have nothing, it functions similar to a bluff. Against players that have something substanial hand-wise, it serves as a type of aggression. It is an extremely powerful tool, since it can result in a very powerful hand if the cards you need actually come to you. It can also result in a loss, if it is ever misused or overused.

In Texas Hold'em, semi-bluffing is best used in bluffing situations. Its deceptiveness comes from the fact that opponents who are cognizant of a bluff will not always recognize this, when you make your draw. It is a more useful strategy against many players, as opposed to straight bluffing, since the odds tend to be more in your favor. Otherwise, you should use semi-bluffing in late positions, preferably on the flop or the turn, and when there are rather mediocre flops on the table. Additionally, use this strategy against less-skilled players.

Here are 2 examples of semi-bluffing from a perspective of both bluffing and odds:

• Assume that you have a Jack of Diamonds, and a Ten of Diamonds. The pre-flop betting round completes with 5 players making 2 bets each. The flop is Ace of Diamonds, Queen of Spades, and Seven of Diamonds.

  You have a middle position, and decide to semi-bluff. Why, you might ask ? Well, you have got draws ! Any King or Diamond will give you a hand. Whenever you have more than one draw, you have to think ahead about what would be ideal. If a Heart revealed itself, thenp you may have to be concerned about a higher flush draw, so you probably would covet the King of Diamonds, as this is the most likely to be in someone else's hand. A Queen of Diamonds would be suicide for you, since you might be staring at a potential royal flush draw versus a potential full house. Ideally, you will be hoping for a non-Diamond King and a resultant straight.

  To make matters simple, let's assume that in your analysis, either a flush or straight gives you a winning hand. You have 12 outs (do not include the King of Diamonds twice). Hence, that is slightly more than a 25% chance of hitting a winner on the turn. Check-raising or re-raising would be a nice strategy in this juncture, based purely on probability. Even if you were to miss out on the turn, it would certainly be in your best interest (based on players reactions, of course) to continue pursuing to bet.

• You have a pair of 6's in your pocket. Pre-flop eliminates all players but yourself and one ther player who has an early position prior to you. You get a rainbow flop of 4, 5, and 10. Here's a good opportunity to Semi-bluff, although in this case, you have to think of it more in terms of it being a bluff. If the other player played his hand in an early position, he probably has some overcards. You should go for the pot right at that moment. Most players will bluff as well in this case, even with just an Ace in their pocket. At this point, stick to your guns, and bluff.

  Your odds of receiving another 6 are small, and certainly not worth the odds. Your only real concern is that your opponent has an overpair and may match the 10. At this point, you really have to size up your opponet, as opposed to calculating the mathematical odds. You should stay aggressive here. You need to procure information about your opponent's hand. To accomplish this, bet. Also, an innocent semi-bluffing check-raise may be all you need to intimidate the other player if you think that they will bluff at the pot.

We Hope that this tutorial provides necessary knowledge into the art of semi-bluffing. With any bluff, you need to know your opponents, and you need to make sure that you do not over-use any bluffing tactic.