Bluffing is poker’s magic elixir. It’s the sleight of hand where high art and drama reside. It’s the place where myths are made. After all, what’s a western movie without a poker scene with one player trying to bluff another out of a big pot? To those who do not play poker or who have only a nodding acquaintance with it, bluffing is where those folks focus most of their attention when they think about the game.
What is Bluffing, Anyway ?
Ask most poker players to define bluffing and they’ll tell you about betting a weak hand with the hope of driving other players out of the pot. After all, without bluffing, poker would be a boring game. Bets would be made and the best hand would w\n. Always. The cards figure to break even in the long run; without the possibility that someone is bluffing, then each player would have the same expectation - and when all was said and done, no one would win any money.
But some players win most of the time and some players lose most of the time. And it’s often bluffing - or more precisely the possibility that one’s adversary might be bluffing - that goes a long way toward separating the winners from the losers. Bluffing, after all, is merely a form of deception - and deception is an essential component in winning poker. After all. if your omonents always knew what cards you had they’d be tough to beat. Deception is the art of kkeping others off balance.
Different Kinds Of Bluffs
Bluffing comes in several forms -the reason for bluffing frequently depends on the cards you hold, what you think your opponents have in their hands, and what you think they believe you have. Betting - or raising - with a helpless hand. With this technique, you have a weak hand but act as if it’s a strong one. The maneuver is
reversible, too: You can act weak when holding an extremely powerful hand in order to lure opponents into a trap. Betting or raising on the inexpensive betting rounds. You use this bluff in order to get a free card later on in the hand -when the cost of bets double. Betting with a semi-b1uf.C Noted poker theorist David Sklansky, who coined the term, defines the semi-bluff as " . . . a bet with a hand which, if called, does not figure to be the best hand at the moment but has a
reasonable chance of outdrawing those hands that initially called it." With a semi-bluff, as opposed to a bluff with a helpless hand, a player has two ways to win:
His opponent might think the bluffer has the hand he’s representing and release his own hand. If the opponent calls, the bluffer might catch the card he needs and
beat his opponent that way.
Keep ‘em guessing
We have no easy answer about players who bluff some, but not all of the time. Opponents who bluff some of the time are better poker players than those found at either end of the bluffing spectrum. Better players, of course, can keep you guessing aboot whether or not they are bluffing. And when you’re forced to guess, you will be wrong some of the time. That’s just the way it is. Of course, you might be able to pick up a tell (a revealing gesture) and know when your opponent is bluffing, but that’s not too likely in most cases. The sad truth is that players who keep you guessing are going to give you much more trouble than predictable opponents.
In most low-limit games, players bluff much too often. After all, when you play fixed-limit poker, all it costs is one additional bet to see someone’s hand. And the pots are usually big enough, relative to the size of a bet, to make calling the right decision. Here’s an example: Suppose the pot contains $90, and your opponent makes a $10 bet. That pot now contains $100, and the cost of your call is only $10. Even if you figure your opponent to be bluffing only one time in ten, you
should call. By calling, the laws of probability suggest that you’d lose a $10 bet nine times, for a loss of $90. Although you’d win only once, that pot would be worth $100. After ten such occurrences, you’d show a net profit of $10. As a result, you could say that regardless of the outcome of any particular hand, each call was worth one dollar to you.
The threat of bluffing
The threat of a bluff is just as important as a bluff itself. A good player - one who bluffs neither too often nor too infrequently, and seems to do so under
the right conditions - has something else going for her too. It’s the threat of a bluff. Does she have the goods or is she bluffing? How can you tell? If you can’t, how do you know what to do when she bets? These answers don’t come easily, and even topnotch players are not going to have a terrific batting average in most cases. As a result, the threat of a bluff combined with the bluff itself, is designed to help a player win some pots that she would otherwise lose and to win more money in pots where she actually has the best hand. After all, if you have the best hand and come out betting, your opponent won’t always know whether you’re bluffing or not. If there’s a lot of money in the pot, she’ll probably call. That’s the less costly error. After all, if she were to throw the winning hand away and relinquish a big pot, that’s a much more costly faux pas than calling one additional bet. Bluffing and the threat of bluffing go hand in hand. A bluff can enable a player to win a pot she figured to lose if the hands were shown down. The threat of a bluff enables a player with a good hand to win more money than she would if her opponent knew she never bluffed.
The Bluffing Paradox
A successful poker player has to adopt a middle-ground strategy. This means that sometimes you’ll be called when you bluffed and lose that bet. Other
times you will release the best hand because an opponent successfully bluffed you out of the pot. Neither scenario is enjoyable. Just remember that making errors is inevitable when you deal with incomplete information. One can call too often or not enough. One can bluff too often or not at all. And the only way to eliminate errors at one extreme is to commit them at the other. Very cautious players, who never call unless certain of winning, avoid calling with a lesser hand, but often relinquish a pot they would have won.
Players who call all the time win just about every pot they can possibly win, but find themselves holding the short straw far too often when the hands are shown down. The paradox is that good players make both kinds of errors some of the time to avoid being a predictable player at either end of the bluffing-calling spectrum. After all, there’s a relationship between risk and reward. If you are never caught bluffing, you are either the best bluffer in the history of poker or you are not bluffing often enough. If you are caught almost every time you bluff, you’re bluffing much too frequently. If you call all the time, you will never lose a pot you could have won, and if you seldom call, your opponents will learn that they can win by betting and driving you off the pot unless you have a very strong hand. Bluffing, after all, is much like mom’s advice: "All things in moderation."
Not All Bluffs Are Created Equal
If the hands were to be shown down, you know you couldn’t possibly win. So you bet. "Nothing ventured," you think to yourself, "nothing gained." If someone
calls your bluff, you lose a bet you would have saved had you checked. But checking, of course, is tantamount to relinquishing your opportunity to
win the pot. If you bet, there’s always the chance that both your opponents will fold. If someone doesn’t call you, then you win the entire pot. Suppose that pot contains $100 and the cost to bet is $10. Your bluff doesn’t have to succeed all of the time - or even most of the time - for it to be a good decision.
If bluffing fails nine times and succeeds only once, you will still be a winner in the long run. You’ll have lost an extra $10 nine times, or $90, but you will win
$100 on one occasion, for a net win of $10. That net figure may not be a spectacular profit, perhaps, but enough to prove that bluffs have to succeed only
every now and then to be worthwhile.
Bluffing with more cards to come
When you bluff with more cards to come, you usually have two ways to win. The bluff might succeed on its own merits, causing an opponent to lay down
the best hand. In addition, you might catch the card you need on a succeeding round and actually make the winning hand. Imagine that you’re playing Hold’em and you raised before the flop with KvQv, and two other players call. Suppose the flop is 5 4 6 ~ 4If~ y.ou come out betting on the flop, you have any number of ways to win this pot. Your opponents could fold, and you’d win right there. But even if one or both call, you certainly shouldn’t mind. After all, any of the nine hearts in the deck can complete your flush.
Bluffing Strategies
Bluffing is tricky business. You never know for sure if you’ll be called or if you’ll be able to steal a pot out from under your opponent’s nose. The next time
you’re inclined to perform larceny at the poker table, keep these tips in mind:
-Be aware of how many players you’ll have to bluff your way through. While one or even two players can be bluffed, don’t think about trying to
bluff more than two opponents unless you really have strong reasons to believe you’ll succeed.
-Understand that a bluff doesn’t have to work to make it the correct decision. After all, you’re usually just risking one bet to win an entire pot
full of bets. Bluffing has to work only some of the time to be the right choice. And even when you’re caught, a bluff can be successful if it causes opponents to call when you are betting a strong hand.
-Avoid bluffing players who are either experts or brain dead. Instead, aim your bluffs at good opponents. Poor players will usually call " . . . to keep you honest," while experts are more likely to see through your chicanery.
-Don’t bluff for the sake of bluffing. Some players will bluff just to "advertise." There’s no need to do that. Bluff if you believe you have a reasonable chance to succeed. You’ll get plenty of advertising value because some of your bluffs will be picked off regardless of how well you assess your chances for success.
-Never bluff a hopeless hand when there are more cards to come. Instead, think about semi-bluffing, which allows you to win the pot two ways: Your opponents may fold, or you might hit your draw.
-Take the opportunity to bluff if all of your opponents check on the previous betting round. It’s even better if they’ve all checked on an expensive betting round. But your chances are diminished if any newly exposed cards appear to have helped one of your opponents.
- Imply specific hands. Bluffs that seem to represent specific hands, such if as flush or a straight, have a much better chance to-succeed than bets
that appear to come out of the blue.
- Zero in on weak players. It’s much easier to bluff players who have shown weakness by checking, than to bluff those who have shown strength by betting on the preceding round.
-Strive for a tight, aggressive image by playing the kinds of starting hands recommended in this book. This kind of image has a much better chance of running a successful bluff than a player with a loose image. If you are seen as selective, tight, and aggressive, your opponents will not suspect a bluff when you bet. When you have a license to steal, use it.
-Attempt a bluff occasionally when all the cards are out and you have nothing, but don’t overdo it. But if you have enough to beat a draw, save that additional bet and try to win in a showdown.
