[johnf]

This is clearly the sexiest aspect of poker, and one of the reasons why so many people are attracted to the game. It's also the most misused tactic, and costs lots of beginners lots of money. I don't have years of experience, so I don't pretend to have any real answers. But I think it would be interesting for some of the members to post their thoughts on when, how, and why to bluff, and what is a good way to make this a profitable part of your arsenal.

My $.02:

Bluffing, while an important part of poker, is really just one minor part of a poker player's toolbox needed to be a winner. If you only get, on average, a hand that should win the pot 11% of the time, what separates the winners from the losers is the ability to win a greater share than that, when you don't have the best cards. However, there seem to be very specific circumstances in a game that make bluffing a profitable move, and the biggest reason why so many newbies get themselves in trouble is because they think they can just decide at any point to bluff, and it should work.

Would love to hear some ideas...

[chris]

I think one of the biggest keys is to know who you are bluffing and what his tendancies have been for a few dozen hands. It is very difficult to bluff someone on the first hand when you sit at a table. You don't know if he has a tendancy to slow play big hands or to call anything hoping to hit a draw on the river. After playing a couple dozen hands you can usually get somewhat of a read on what type of player you are up against and what kind of bluffs work.

Also you want to change your play up and be unpredictable. If every time you have a mediocre hand you are betting big and trying to bluff a smart player will pick up on that and call your bluff and make you pay.

A couple guidelines I go by when I bluff:

1. Make sure there is something scary on the board. If you get 3 or 4 limpers into a pot and the flop comes A-X-X and you think there are no other aces out there you can bluff and represent you have aces. This should scare others off. This is a bit scarier to do when there are three suited cards or three to a straight because there is a very good chance at least one of the other people is on a draw and will probably end up making their hand and screwing you.

2. I also like to make sure I have some sort of out, even if it is somewhat of a long shot. Say I am holding a 9c-7c or something in the big blind and get a bunch of limpers that aren't really representing something. Flop comes Ac-10h-6s or something like that. Once again I can bluff and represent a pair of Aces. From there I can (although it is highly unlikely) catch an 8 and hit a straight, pull 2 running clubs, or something like that and make a hand if someone calls my bluff. You won't win a lot of these hands when your bluff gets called but it is always nice to at least have a chance to win.

3. If your opponent has check-raise tendancies it is hard to bluff him. If you have seen someone check-raise a couple times in the past don't try to bluff him. Just wait for the big hand and take him down.

4. Don't "overbluff" by betting too big. You want to bet big enough to scare everyone but not so big that if you do get called you will hurt your stack. Usually a good sized bluff in NL is the size of the pot. Bet less than that and it is cheap enough for someone to call. Bet more than that and the pot-odds will dictate more callers.

5. Bluffing is much harder in limit than NL. If you are playing $3-$6 for example there will almost always be someone willing to call $3 even if they don't have much of a hand. Be much more selective about when you bluff in limit.

[lork]

This is Optimal bluffing strategy as Sklansky outlines it in Theory of Poker:

- bluff 1 in 7 times on avg
- almost all bluffs should be SEMI-BLUFFS unless the odds of you successfully bluffing are favorable to the pot size.
- bluffs should be for the most part random
- NEVER bluff fish
- The bigger the pot/more oppenents in the hand the less you should bluff
- dont bluff at the river
- steal blinds more at tight table and loosen up preflop tighten up postflop, visa versa for loosetable
- when vs. tight players in the blinds it almost always correct attempt to steal those blinds w/ any two cards, although folding occasionally as to not let them know this

Bluffing is way overrated especially online. I dont like to think of it as bluffing, rather as "aggressive play" and exploiting weakness.

[pritz]

consider implied odds... if this bluff works 25% of the time, is it profitable to this situation.

I agree with previous post also that the bigger the pot/ more players in the pot, less chance for success.

It is important to know who you are trying to bluff. You have to know their betting habbits. You need to know that when they take the time to contimplate a call, its not staged, but that they truly might not have a decent calling hand and are truly having a hard time deciding what to do.

[razor]

bluffing is situational.

it mostly depends on cards on the board and not in your hand. betting a pair on a board or a flush draw is usually a good bet

for example, here is advanced play i use sometimes.

if the flop comes two of the same suits and I called a raise preflop I bet like I am 4 flush.

I check the flop, call a bet and raise on the turn if I get the flush.

unless the other guy has the flush (who usually wouldnt bet the flop with only a draw), you bet the turn and collect the pot.

ive done it tons of times and it works out if you make your opponent on high cards or a pp.

i acutally did it to this exceptional player at a casino in St. Louis and he said I played it perfectly but was mad he layed down top two pair to me with a pot around 200 bucks.

[DeepBlue]

Lorks posted some good rules, and I especially go along with not bluffing too frequently, and don't bluff with nothing if at all possible.

You will be down to situations where you've stayed in longer than you should hoping to make a flush or whatever, and a large bet at the river might just take you a free pot. It won't always work, and there are no guarantees with bluffs.

Also, try to make your bluffs coincide with something on the table. Don't call, then go over the top if someone raises, that looks suspicious. Instead, raise originally if a high card or something comes down on the flop that may contribute to a big hand. This will make it look far more likely that you actually have something other than you're just bullshitting.

Don't take it lightly, and it's by no means essential - you can be a good player without bluffing at all, and just playing solid, mathematical poker. Bluffing just mixes your play up a bit and can win you more pots than you have rights to.

[ThomasR]

Agreed, bluffing looks like an art when executed well, especially when they turn over nothing having just taken a pot unchallenged.

Personally, even if I have just bluffed a pot, I don't make it known. Besides, why would I want people to think I lied about my hand? I want them to think if I bet I've got a good hand. Not quite the look for those that want table image, but hey, I want the chips not the women when playing poker.