Of
all the qualities of poker,
bluffing is the most outspoken
about. For good reason it
is one of the only sports
to have bluffing in its purest
form. Bluffing is the manifestation
of psychological warfare,
and it will seem like that
at high levels of play. At
first glance bluffing may
seem a simple proposal but
the complexities behind it
have been studied for hundreds
of years. The implications
of a bluff need to be coupled
with the situation to render
the best effect and this is
where you get good players.
There are first and foremost
those that can call a bluff
and then there are those equally
gifted people who can bluff
amazingly.
Within this articles
scope is the act of bluffing,
and hoping to cover the standard
styles and their effects.
For one thing examining a
bluffer: When is a good time
to bluff? One thing that newer
players do is create patterns
of bluffing, patterns that
more experienced players are
apt to catch on to. Some players
will bluff nearly every hand,
and this is the most common
problem faced by newer players.
It comes straight down to
the question when do I fold?
And when do I chase them down.
This is forever an eternally
difficult question it depends
on too many factors. Bluffing
is really an art form and
must take into consideration
play styles of both you and
your opponent or opponents.
If you know your
opponent is an aggressive
player that plays loose then
it may pay to bluff a bit
and approach him in a more
aggressive light. However
at the same time you need
to recognize even though he
is aggressive, what is on
the table and how could you
represent a hand better than
what you have guessed his
to be. It is very hard and
requires hundreds of hours
to get good at. One thing
that helps very much is just
playing but while you play
thinking of all the possible
winning combinations using
the cards on the table. Very
good poker players use these
strategies at every hand,
it is what allows them to
amaze others by putting them
on their hand. After a while
you can realize bid patterns
that would suggest certain
hands.
The other huge
obstacle for newer players
while bluffing is: How much?
What many players see every
day is that new players that
are trying to bluff make bluffs
way over the top. Now the
opponent will know something
is up if you overbet, yet
on the same coin many players
will under bet and lose money.
It’s a fine line to
walk but remember if you do
in fact have the winning hand
bluffing can also mean representing
a weaker hand and doesn’t
necessarily have to mean you
are trying to represent the
best possible hand. The best
thing to do when bluffing
even if you do in fact have
the best hand is to underbet
if anything. Why? Because
there is a significantly higher
chance that the player across
from you will chase in that
situation, an over-bet will
just scare most players away.
Either way a bluff is used
to get you more money either
by scaring someone off or
pulling them in and when you
make a bet keep that in mind! |
