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The Fine Art of Bluffing

March 10, 2008

There are many ways to tell your average poker player from someone who has the skills to win big pots consistently. It’s more than just a run of luck; it’s a set of abilities that few people understand who are just casually watching the game. One of those skill sets you need to acquire in order to become elite is really known when and how to bluff. Without it, you’re sunk.

It’s best to start out with some of the general guidelines for bluffing. The first is - beware of bad players. You may all the poker playing skills in the world and still be torpedoed by someone at your table who really has no idea what their doing. If you have someone like this playing with you, be careful about bluffing with nothing. If your opponent isn’t skilled with how or when they bet they will keep calling and calling until the end and you will lose with your no hand to a pretty sorry pair.

The second rule is - don’t be a One-Trick Pony.  If you are really good at bluffing, you can’t expect to live on it for an entire game. No matter your abilities, you aren’t going to bluff your way to a championship, so don’t try. And don’t always bluff in the same way. The key to poker is to make your opponents so unsteady that they are thinking about you more than they are thinking about their own cards. If they know you are an awesome bluffer, they’re going to see right through you. So, just like a championship boxer, you need to vary your punches. If you score a big win with a bluff in one hand, you need to go strong without a bluff in the next.

The next rule is a crucial one - bluffing isn’t for sissies! The best way to convince the other people at your table that you’ve got a great hand is to bet like you’ve got a great hand. There’s no better way to tell someone is an experience player than to see them go with nothing all the way until they’re called and them have them say they were bluffing. No, they were just playing badly, especially if they were checking each turn and only throwing in the minimal raises. For a true, skilled bluffer, you need to be laying out big bets on the table and daring the other players to figure out what you’re doing. Like any other poker prospect, it’s about controlling the table and you’re not controlling the table if you are half-heartedly bluffing. You have to go for the gusto with big, confident bluffs that put your decisions in the driver’s seat.

A rule related to this is - don’t bluff against sissies! If you are risking a lot with your bluffs, you need to be going after the big players at the table. It makes the stakes worth it when you are going after the players at the table who are competing with you to win, not someone who is on their way out. They will either lose, or you will try to bluff them with their chip stack is worth it. Otherwise, don’t waste your time or your bluffing skills on them.

Written by Tom · Filed Under General Poker, Poker Strategy |  

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