Bluffing is one of the most key elements in being a good poker player. It comes down to this, if you do not bluff: there’s no way that you can be successful. At the same time however, it is an art form. It should not be; it CANNOT be overused.
In Texas Hold’em, the opportunity to bluff usually comes when a player is close to the button or last to act.
Here’s an example: You’re on the button in a 3/6 game. There are 3 players on the flop, including yourself. The flop comes [A 9 2]. The first and the second players check. Being last to act, you decide that since your opponents checked before you, you may be able to take the whole pot. You bet $3 and happily see that both your opponents fold, and then to pot is yours.
Here’s another example: You are playing in a $3/6 limit Hold’em game with 4 callers on the flop: both small and large blind, and one limper on yourself. This makes the pot $12. The blinds and limpers check to you – should you go for the pot?
If you bet out, it involves risking a small bet of $3 to try and bluff the pot. If you win, you will be up $12. This means the pot is laying you 12:3 odds, or 4:1 odds.
Since the pot is giving 4:1 odds, this means that you must win this pot 1 out of 5 times in order to break even with your bet, or 20% of the time.
To figure out whether or not it will be profitable to bluff in your position, you combine this little bit of math against your own poker skills and intuition to ask yourself if you bluff now, can you still win 20% of the time? If the answer is yes, then you want to bet. If the answer is no, then it’ll be a losing proposition.
The hardest part in bluffing is knowing when to really bring the aggression and when to slam the brakes. Trying to push over an opponent with a good hand or standing down to an opponent with a weak hand are the two worst mistakes to make while bluffing, because they’ll cost you the most money. This is why you want to try and analyze exactly what your opponents may be holding – always make sure that you do a good job, reading your opponents.
Bluffing is something that you really have to have a knack for. It’s true some have it and some don’t, but it is still a skill which may be learned to some degree, empirically. No matter what your strategies are, everyone is bound to learn the hard way at one point or another.
And remember, of all else: a mad player is a bad player. Don’t get nervous, keep your cool, and give bluffing a shot.
