When to bluff in poker

Poker requires bluffing, but the players often choose wrong timing, wrong cards to do it with and wrong players to deceive. Skillful bluffing can considerably improve player’s results and make the play more difficult for opponents. So take a look at our short list of useful pieces of advice about bluffing.

The following list of the bluffing opportunities comes from the book Insiders Secrets To Texas Hold’em Poker Online by Theo Cage. It has been extended to include the examples of situations when you can bluff and helpful commentaries that are not present in the original.

Right timing for a bluff

• When you play against a small number of opponents. The fewer players see the flop, the smaller chance that some of them hit something. It is easier to deceive when there are fewer players. It is probably the most common basis for bluffing and, as a result, usually easily detectible by others who want to stay in the hand to, as they say, ‘keep you honest’. Therefore bluffing on the flop sometimes needs to be continued on the turn and maybe even on the river, which can be expensive. You must know your opponents to choose this kind of bluffing. There is no point in using it against those who play emotionally and do not like to be bluffed, for example calling stations or maniacs. The optimal number of opponents is 1-2. When you bluff against more players, you can be almost sure that you will be checked or re-raised by some of them.
• When your opponents play tight. Such a bluff has an additional function – it helps to figure out the hand of your opponent. When a tight player enters the hand and is not afraid of your preflop and flop bets, it most probably means that he has hit something solid and there is no point in struggling with him. But when he re-raises your bluff on the flop, this should make it easy enough for you to fold your hand. This kind of bluff enables us to analyze the strength of the opponent’s hand. We know when our hand is behind and when we should let go. Your task is to feel out whether your opponents hold already a strong hand or are just drawing.
• When your opponents fold easily. In such instance a standard action is to steal blinds and make a continuation bet.
• On the River.Especially when no apparent draws have been completed yet. When we have strong evidence that the opponent was drawing, but eventually did not succeed. We should bet. Many players tend to draw frantically only to give up at the end, when little needs to be added to the pot to see the showdown. It is easy to notice.
• You are on the late position and the players in front of you have only checked. It is quite risky bluff because it is easy to read. Most likely it will make some of the players to fold, but not all of them. Moreover, if many players have entered the hand, favorable pot odds will encourage them to check, even despite your high raise. It means that when you raise on LP and are called to by two players on EP, it becomes more likely that middle players will call to you as well. Here you also have to consider the risk that some of the players in front of you, who make allowance for this kind of bluff, will check-raise.
• You raise on the preflop and you do not hit your hand on the flop. You continue to raise because other players do not know if you have strengthen your hand, but the raise will definitely make the story about your strong hand more believable. Pay attention to the structure of the table: you should be alarmed by a low flop with high connectedness of cards.
• Other players are afraid of you. You must be confident about your table image. If you have previously won by showing a strong hand on the showdown, players who have complimented you saying ‘nice hand’ will be the first ones to fold on the next occasion.
• ‘dry flop’ – weak low cards, small chance for draws. Consider for instance a rainbow flop 269. In such case players rarely own a suitable hand. For example, when you see a flop after having lost the chance for a freeplay from blinds, other players will more easily believe that it is you who have hit something. Players who have raised or checked a raise on a preflop are more likely to give up their overcards.
• Stealing blinds. Everyone in front of you has folded and you have the initiative. Even if some of the blinds checks to you, you have advantage over them on the flop and you may hope for a stroke of luck. It usually does not work with frequently betting players and those who do not like to be bluffed.
• When there is a pair on the board, especially a low one. Because there is a chance that the remaining two cards have been folded by other players or are still in the deck.

Additional Rules

All the above types of bluffs may work, if you adhere to the following rules:

• We can read well the players we want to deceive; we meet the specific requirements of particular kinds of bluffs, for example, we do not steal blinds when somebody have already limped from an early position.
• We are aware of the table image we have created, which should be suitable for our bluffing, for example, it is hard to believe for other players that sometimes a really tight player can bluff.
• We do not make the same bluff two times in a row because it would easily lose its value. We try to have the widest range of bluffs possible, so that they would not wear out in a single session.