Play Bluffs In Your Poker
Introduction.
I said "Play bluffs in your poker" - not - "Play poker in your buff"!
Striking the right balance in poker between getting caught bluffing or not, or deliberately giving away a tell to get your opponents think they’ve got you figured – is a very fine balance indeed. So it seems only appropriate in this blog that’s here to give you some poker tips and advice that we should consider for a moment the art of bluffing.
Be a bluff tease.
The whole art of bluffing in poker can be pretty well summed up as winning that pot with a hand that really doesn’t deserve it. The problem with this of course is that because you’re bluffing – not giving away a ‘tell’ is really hard. The only way to tackle that is to have several false tells up your sleeve and use them sparingly. Tease your opponent into thinking you’re bluffing when you’re not. That way when you’ve got that awful poker hand and do bluff – they’ll be reeled in hook, line and sinker. Why use them sparingly, well there’s a saying in poker that “if you never get caught bluffing – you’re not bluffing enough”; and sure as houses if you keep on bluffing with the same old trick – you will get sussed and probably quite quickly, even with just 4 or 5 other players at a poker table.
If you get caught bluffing.
It is pretty well inevitable that you will get caught bluffing at poker at some time by someone – don’t panic! If this does happen, simply revert back to only playing the poker game – rather than trying to play games with the poker. Get it? In other words just play your hands as they’re dealt. If it’s good enough to raise – then raise; if you need to fold – then fold. Just let them think you’ve given up on bluffing. They’ll sit back all smug thinking you’re beaten down by them – only for you to pull one of those new bluffs from your sleeve. Also remember that poker players hate being sucked in to a bluff. To try and see that it doesn’t happen again they’ll go through a phase of calling down on your bets. If that happens and you are getting the cards then simply bet and raise yourself more often. It’ll get them really confused and concentrating more on your game than theirs – meaning they’ll make mistakes to your benefit.