The Art of Bluffing in Poker

There are only 52 cards in a deck of cards. There are, of course, many combinations of cards that can come up in a poker hand. But the overwhelming majority of them are poor hands. Strategy handbooks for beginners all stress the need to fold poor hands.

So when you do bet, everyone knows that you have a good hand, right? If that were so, poker would be a very boring game indeed. What makes poker exciting and challenging is the art of making your opponent think your hand is different than it really is. This art is called bluffing. Bluffing is considered by many to be the key to successful poker playing.

Everyone bluffs, even people who don't realize it, are bluffing. If you are playing low stakes and make a small bet with a poor opening hand, you are bluffing.

As players gain experience, they learn how and when to play marginal hands. This means that a hand that you would certainly have folded early in your poker-playing days may now seem to have potential to take a pot.

Position plays a major role in determining your action. Many players fear betting marginal hands in early position. New players who are starting to get comfortable with the nuances of betting are often encouraged to bluff from early position! This is more likely to mislead an opponent than if you bet from later position after the others have checked.

The game you are playing also is a big factor in your betting decisions. It may be harder to bluff a game like stud where so many cards are seen.

The skill level of your opponents will affect your play, as well. Although you may be ready to begin bluffing more often, the people you play against may not be ready for a bluffing game. It is not unusual for a bluff to go over the heads of the other players.

Finally, but also extremely important, are the stakes and the size of the pot. It is much more difficult to bluff in low stakes and limit games. Players are simply more likely to call to see another card. Also, if the pot is relatively big and the call bet relatively small, an opponent is likely to call your bluff.

The Pure Bluff - As its name describes, this is a bluff where you have little or no hope of winning the pot unless your opponent folds. It works with savvy opponents because inexperienced players won't realize that you are bluffing.

The Continuation Bluff - This is a strong bluff. You raised pre-flop or pre-draw. Now you bet aggressively. Thinking players will imagine your closed cards to be stronger than they are.

The Check-Raise - In some friendly home games this move is called sandbagging and is expressly forbidden. The players don't want to have to deal with such a powerful betting maneuver. In casinos this is a strong bluffing play. It tells your opponent that you have suckered him into betting after you checked and now you will milk him for all he's worth unless he folds.

The Semi-bluff - This refers to a bet when you must hit on the river or on the draw to make a winning hand. If you've been having a run of luck, your opponent might fold in the face of your flush or straight draw. The chances you'll make your hand are not good but the opponent is also not sure that he has you beat even if you don't make your best hand, so he folds.

The Post-Oak Bluff - This is a super-subtle bet, not really a bluff, as much as a quiet inducement to others to stay in the hand. It is usually made on the river or the last card in stud. Astute players will think that your relatively modest bet indicates a made hand and will fold. Clearly, this play only works against the most observant and experienced players.

While you can always play poker without bluffing, you will still be bluffed out of hands by others. Learning to bluff is a skill that all serious players try to master. The fact that so few master it shows how difficult it is to learn.

You will lose many bluffs. You have to learn how to read your opponents for signs that they can be bluffed. You have to understand the relationship between pot size and betting limits on the feasibility of a bluff.

Finally, you have to stay within yourself as you learn to excel at this most-deceptive of games. You can't hope to be able to compete with seasoned players before you are truly advanced enough to move up a notch in the quality of your opponents.