It’s arguably the best feeling in poker – making an audacious bet without the cards to back it up and then watching your opponents fold, surrendering the pot to you. This may be a $5 tournament but, for 30 seconds there, you were James Bond.
But while a successful bluff is thrilling (turning a losing hand into a winner is one of the main attractions of the game, after all), the mistiming or overuse of bluffing in poker can see your chips melting away faster than a footballer’s superinjunction.
Bluffing should be an essential part of your poker strategy but, as a beginner, when and how should you use it? As an online player, you’re in the perfect place to practise – you can develop your bluffing techniques for relatively low stakes… and no one can see your sweating brow and thundering pulse when you’re telling a poker porky. Here are some things to consider…
Position
You’ve watched the World Series Of Poker on TV and seen Gus Hansen play a very aggressive game– but when you’re just starting out, it would be wise to be a little less swashbuckling than the maverick Great Dane.
Raising with poor cards when there are still several players can be very expensive in the long term. In general, bluffs make more sense when you’re in a late position – when you’re on the button (the position of the dealer) or one position before.
If everyone before your turn has folded, or not raised, go ahead and raise to three or four times the big blind, regardless of the strength of your hand. If you get a caller or two, and your hand misses the ensuing flop, be prepared to make a continuation bluff bet of around the same amount.
But if you face a re-raise from the blinds before the flop, or from your remaining opponents after it, get ready to slow down and fold (with a bit of Oscar-worthy agonised pondering first, naturally).
The profits from your occasional successful nibble at the blinds should outweigh the losses from bluffs that run into trouble.
The Semi Bluff
Ok, so we’re talking about betting with nothing – but it always helps if that nothing is made of something. Bluff-raising with hands that could come good after the flop (eg suited or connecting cards, or small pairs) puts you in a position to make serious profit when you get a bit of luck.
Five things to keep in mind when bluffing…
1) Make your bet make sense. Keep your poker ‘lie’ consistent. If you bluff bet $100 before the flop and $1000 immediately after it, your opponents will get suspicious.
2) Pot luck. Always keep the total pot size on the table in your mind. If you bluff but the pot offers your opponent too much value not to call, you’re going to get called.
3) Image is everything. Getting called on a failed bluff isn’t all bad, as it means you’ll get more action later, when you do have a monster hand. Try to keep your table image central to your poker strategy.
4) You can bluff with the best hand. Reverse bluff by checking, rather than betting, a winning hand to lure your opponents into a false sense of security.
5) Let your imagination run wild. If you’re pretending that your 7-2 is really Queen-Queen, then convince yourself you really do have Queen-Queen. Go on, imagine those lovely ladies under your thumbs, it’ll make your bluff bets much more convincing.
Good luck with your bluffing!
In the next article, we're going to move onto the maths of poker. That may sound scary but actually the maths isn't that hard. And if you want to make a profit consistently, it's essential that you get to grips with the basics. So check out Getting to grips with poker maths.
