Basic Information About Bluffing In Texas Hold Em Poker

Bluffing is an extremely important part of many types of poker, i.e. for the live, multi-player games like Texas Hold ‘Em. Not everyone thinks of bluffing as a technical skill. Perhaps memorization and calculation can be counted as “skills,” but bluffing is just something you pick up, or know how to do in your gut. Right? Well, yes and no. To an extent, bluffing does depend on charisma and experience. However, bluffing can also be learned and taught. It is not just a matter of learning techniques and gestures, but of developing the right attitude towards bluffing itself. This article is to help show people how to use bluffing to their best advantage in a game.

Why

Understanding the motivation behind bluffing is the key to doing it well, since you might compromise your position by doing it for the wrong reason. Whether you are playing in land based casino or online like situs judi online, this strategy is very crucial. Some people might bluff simply because they find it fun to deceive other players. However, the only real tactical reason to bluff is because you want people to believe you have a better hand than you actually do. That is all.

When

Now that we have set out the “right” reason to bluff on Party Poker, let us talk about the right time to do it. Some people might assume that it is always good to try to fool other players. Actually, it is not. Bluffing tends to be harder when there are many players, because it is likely that somebody will have the cards to prove your bluff wrong.

It is usually not a good idea to bluff when you are one of the first players to be dealt cards. You will have a disadvantage vis-à-vis players who get their cards later and thus have more time to see how everyone probably feels about their hand. Furthermore, you should probably save your most aggressive bluffing until after the flop. Otherwise, you might just be wasting your effort on people who will suddenly change their minds once all the cards are on the table.

Also, focus your attention at smart, experienced players. This might seem counter-intuitive. After all, aren’t good players the most likely to spot your deception? Actually, the truth is that the bad, inexperienced players are usually the real waste of time. They are likely to not even understand what a bluff means. After all, the point of bluffing is to exploit the rationality of the other Poker Stars players. If the other player does not play rationally, there is no set of “rules” or “signs” for you to use and twist.

Therefore, optimal conditions for bluffing tend to be when you have some good players, are late in the hand, and if the flop has already been dealt.

How

In its most concrete form, bluffing involves betting aggressively even though your hand does not really warrant it. Players with better hands than yours will (hopefully) believe you have a better hand than you actually do, and fold. You should bet/raise large amounts when you bluff, because small amounts might just appear like “normal” betting. If you aim for the pot of a particular player twice and he/she refuses to fold, he/she is probably doing quite well for himself/herself. Let that player alone and fold. Poker strategy involves not getting caught up in individual hands.