by Al Sousa (site owner)
Bluffs and semi-bluffs are a very important part of poker. If you
never bluff then you become predictable. Being predictable means
your opponents know pretty much where you are most of the time.
When you bluff or semi-bluff it changes your play making you more
unpredictable. Even getting caught bluffing is a good thing as it
will make your opponents second guess themselves next time you bet
or raise.
Generally most of the times your bluffs will have a small chance
of success, 10-25%. But if the pot is large enough your bluff only
has to work a small percentage of the time to be profitable. Getting caught bluffing can be profitable also. If you get caught bluffing it will make other players call you down on other made hands more often than not because they might think your bluffing. So eventually you make the bluff bet back.
Usually when you do bluff you will be semi-bluffing. This means
that even though you don't have a made hand you have outs to win.
A pure bluff is harder to pull off.
Keys to a successful bluff:
Opponents: Generally you should try to make bluff attempts
only at one to two opponents, preferably one. Bluffing a large field
is difficult, but can be done on occasion.
Pot size: Make sure the pot is a good size in relation to your chance of success plus your chance to draw out (semi-bluff). Betting into small pots
is generally not advisable also unless you are sure your opponent has
nothing and will fold.
Using the board: Make a bluff that makes sense with the
board and possible hands out there.
Poor players: Don't bluff poor players that call down
with middle or bottom pair. It never works. But what you can do
is value bet on the end with a marginal hand to get more money from
them since they call down with many weak hands like ace high.
Low stakes games: This goes back to poor players. Low
stakes games are almost impossible to bluff at. It is common that
even if a player knows they are beat they will still pay the last bet just to see what you beat them with.
Betting into a large field EXAMPLE: Your in the
big blind with trash and 3 early and middle position players come
into the pot, you check.
The flop comes 2
4 7
with 4.5 small bets into the pot. If the limpers play standard reasonable
hands in the early and middle positions it can be profitable to
bluff here with hands like 68,
5 2,
or 63.
Even though these hands are terrible normally in this situation
they may actually have value. Consider that all the limpers came
early in the pre-flop round so probably they have high cards. There
are no flush possibilities and you could have as many as 9 outs
to catch in these situations, any pair, backdoor flush, gut shot
straights. The pot is offering 2:9 odds so this bluff only has to
work 23% of the time to be profitable. But even if you do get called
you have outs. Only 2 hands you would really have to worry about
calling here, two face cards that are suited to one on the board,
like AT,
or a pair like 8 8.
But the chances to win right here are well worth the pot. Against
an over pair your chances are very small to win, but against a hand
like AT
you have many outs to win since they do not have a pair and
both your cards are live. Also by betting you might eliminate some
of the players increasing your chance to win.
Betting into a small field EXAMPLE: 2 players
limped and you call with T9
in the cutoff position, the big blind checks.
The flop comes 8
2 7
with 4.5 small bets into the pot. All check to you. Do you take
the free card or bet? In this situation I would bet here. Betting
here may win you the pot right away. This bet also disguises your
hand if you hit your draw on the turn. Now lets say you bet and
get called. Most likely they will check again on the turn. If you
missed your draw you can check behind getting a free card on the
turn. Most of the hands calling you in this situation you have plenty
of outs. Perhaps your opponent has the sucker end of the straight
(65). Betting also may get hands lik K9 to fold giving you an extra out, the 9.
When NOT to bluff EXAMPLE: A typical poor player
in early position raises, 2 players cold call and you call in the
big blind with 99.
The flop is AT5
with 8.5 big bets into the pot and you check. The early position
player bets. All fold to you. What should you do, its heads up? There
is practially no way to bluff at this pot. You are dealing with
a player that even if he has ace with a medium kicker like a jack
or a wired pair of kings under he will call you all the way down. Even if some kind
of possible inside draw comes he can't put you on that hand so he will call you down anyways.
Good bluffing situation EXAMPLE: 5 limpers in
the pot you call with 78
on the button, small blind calls, big blind checks. No read on any
players.
The flop is 54Q
with 8 small bets into the pot. All check to the player just before
you to act who bets, you call getting 9:1 for your gut draw and
backdoor flush. Everyone else folds so its heads up. Turn comes
a 3 and the
bettor last round bets again. Here is a really good opportunity
to bluff this opponent. You have now picked up another 9 outs for
a total of 13 outs to the river. You don't have a made hand yet
but you have a huge draw. Raising here is the right play. He might
fold right here fearing you have made a straight with a A2 or 67,
but even if he calls its ok. He will most likely check the river
and you can get a free showdown. If you hit your draw most likely
this player will still pay you off earning you an extra bet. If
it comes to a free showdown, assuming you missed the draw, it is
still is good. All the players will see your hand and the bluff.
So next time you do raise on the turn and do have the nuts they
will be more likely to pay you off earning back that one big bet
you made on that bluff earlier. Basically the bluff in this situation
is a win win. If the opponent folds, you win a nice pot without
a hand. If the opponent calls and you hit, you won an extra bet.
If the opponent calls and you miss you get free advertising and
will get your bet back in a later hand. Other players will remember
your bluff and will pay you off later when you do hit.
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