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Bad way to bluff
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I’ve heard it said, ‘if you are not caught bluffing, then
you are not bluffing enough.’ There may be some truth to
that statement, but it does not stand up if ‘getting caught’
means you too often lose your table stake, your entire poker
bankroll or are regularly amongst the first few out of a
tournament. So, there is more to this bluffing thing than
meets the eye. |
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Some aspects of a poker bluff are covered in the pages,
Bluff club (an overview),
Semi bluff (semi bluff,
continuation betting and positional betting) and
Bluffing in a
dead pot (why it is often wrong), which you may also find useful.
When a promising starting hand losses strength on the flop, turn
or river, there may still be an opportunity to bluff and make a
profit. Recognising the better bluff situations as well as the
opponents who are inclined to believe your bluff, will benefit
you in the long term; a good bluff will be rewarding, a bad
bluff will often be expensive.
Bluffing the wrong player
There are a number of circumstances where bluffing is correct,
but all occasions depend upon the player you are trying to bluff.
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Number one rule: You should recognise a good player before you
try to bluff them.
Attempting to steal the pot from a player who does not
understand what hand you are representing with your bluff
will be a bad bluff. Their may be several reasons for a player
being blind to your betting.
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Novices; while you may hoodwink one novice into believing a
bluff, you may not be so fortunate against another. Be choosey.
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Poor players; an unskilled player may not understand what you
are trying to tell them with your bluff and are liable to call
any amount, with anything.
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On tilt; a player who has gone on tilt (say following a hit to a
previously healthy stack) may make a marginal call out of
frustration.
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Maniacs; maniacs will call any bet - every time. They will have
made themselves obvious to the table very early.
Bad bluff situations
There will be many boards that you can bluff on and players that
you can take advantage of. Temper your aggression by recognising
situations that may turn (or have turned) sour. The following
examples are not comprehensive; there are just too many ways a
player can shoot themselves in the foot.
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Versus the big stack; if you are short stacked on the button and
the big stack is the big blind, think long and hard if trying to
steal their blinds with a bluff when they can easily afford to
call.
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Versus the short stack; push them as hard as you like as often
as you like, but be aware that their circumstance may require them
to make a call with a marginal hand.
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Versus a calling station; if you have recognised a player as a
‘calling station’ think carefully when they start betting.
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Versus tight players; if you have recognised a tight player
think carefully after they have shown strength.
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Bluffing when the pot has outgrown bluff territory; it is
generally a mistake to bluff or continue bluffing when the pot
has outgrown bluff territory. People do not make a habit of
investing their chips without good reason. Always consider why
so many chips are going into the pot.
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Bluffing too often; you can fool some of the people all the time
and all the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the
people all the time.
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Bluffing without position; from an early or middle seat position
be wary of making too many bluffs that may get called or raised.
Instead, understand and use 'position' when it is your turn.
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Your one bluff of the hour; bluffing after you have genuinely
won several hands in a short time may not work out. If you
win three consecutive hands without bluffing, then on the
fourth, raise with another good one and miss
the flop, a bluff is less likely to work out because others will
be thinking you can’t always have it (and why would you want to
bluff; didn’t you earn enough from the previous three hands).
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Bluffing in a dead pot; follow the link for a full explanation.
link
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Big bluffs at little pots; regular bluffs and semi-bluffs at
small pots can bring a positive return, but the frequency and
the size of the bet should be measured. There is no sense in
consistently bluffing 500 chips into a 30 chip pot.
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Slow-playing when you should be check raising; slow-playing and
check raising are both bluffs (albeit, initially bluffing that
you don’t have a hand when you do). Problems arise when you
don’t understand the difference in the two plays and so
slow-play a hand you should check raise with.
link
Success and failure Don't beat yourself up if one or
two bluffs go badly, so long as you had considered all
aspects before making the play, you can learn from the result.
Not all bluffs that get called are bad bluffs; sometimes the
caller was wrong, ambitious or brave when making the call, other
times they may have had a good read on you or be simply holding
the nuts.
Your success or otherwise as a poker player will depend as
much on you spotting a bluff as making one. The opportunities to
bluff are endless so chose the likeliest opponents and the best
situations. |
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