The Poker Bluff
To become a successful player you need to be able to make a well timed bluff. The bluff is a fundamental part of the poker game, of which without it would become boring and predictable. The same can be said about your own game is you choose not to bluff meaning that you will make very little if any profits out of poker.
The time to bluff is when you have no chance of winning the pot or want to try and steal the pot before all the cards are dealt, in cash games there is a way to make in informed decision on whether a bluff will be profitable if you simply compare, the odds of making a successful bluff compared to the size of both bet and pot.
Meaning that another vital skill in playing a bluff is the ability to determine whether the player you are bluffing will fold or not.
Some factors that may need considering upon making a bluff are as follows
Type of opponent
Do not bluff weak players that will call anything as they will not fold to your bluff if anything they will raise on it or just call to see what you have, this will lead to you loosing more hands than you win, also try to avoid bluffing big stacks as they can afford to absorb a loss. Best bluffing opportunities come when up against short stacks as they tend to wait for a good hand to go and do not risk marginal hands. It is also profitable to bet against Tight players.
How many people are you trying to bluff
it is usually more sensible to bluff against the one opponent not only because it is just one player but also because the pot is generally smaller making it less desirable. And you have to remember the whole purpose of a bluff is to get everybody to fold.
How do you look to other players on the table
Many players will call your bluffs if you have a loose table image the best way to play successful bluffs is to have a tight table image, because if a player catches you out once they are more inclined to call again players that have played for a very long time know that good cards do not come across very often so if you are betting all the time they will call knowing that the chances are you have bad cards, on the other hand if you build your self a strong table image and show yourself to be the sort of player who throws away bad hands a good bluff can buy you a lot of pots.
Player “reading”
if you can “read” a player and the game this means that you can put opponents on likely hands, thus meaning you can identify good bluffing opportunities, being able to read players has to be one of the hardest skills of poker to master but is yet one of the most important.
Position
Always try to bluff from a late position because you have had the opportunity to see the play in front of you if all players are checking or folding then it is a good opportunity to try and steal a pot never try to bluff from a early position as you do not have a clue how the other players are going to react to the bluff and you could just be throwing chips away.
The board
Being able to read the board is vital to a good bluff if it looks like your opponents have hit or if there are straight draws present try to avoid a bluff as they chances are they will not be successful try to bluff a board without many draws or cards to improve opponents hands, there for if you can represent on of them hands you have more chance of making a successful bluff.
It is of the most importance that you consider all of these factors when deciding on whether to play a bluff or not.
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