Poker Betting: 3 Important Things To Know About Bluffing

by Bodog Poker Staff | Jan 30 2012

Honesty is the best policy is most aspects of life, but a little bluffing can go a long way in poker betting. While it's true that you're best off to be patient in Texas Hold 'Em and wait until you have quality cards to play, the truth is that developing too predictable of a strategy is a novice mistake. You never want your opponents to develop a trend report on you and figure out your blue print.

So if you're going to be poker betting, make sure you mix in a few bluffs and follow our three basic steps to make sure you fake it really well:

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1. Be careful bluffing somebody significantly worse than you are

There's a saying among sharps that goes: "smart people outsmart each other, stupid people do stupid things."

The idea of bluffing is to outsmart an opponent. It typically involves you having some type of a hand – maybe a draw of some sort or hoping to connect something after the flop – but in general you don't have a great hand to start with but by playing it as if it's a great hand, you might be able to get someone to believe you've got a strong start and intimidate them out of the action.

The problem here is that the opponent has to be smart enough to understand what's going on. Often times a player who is worse than you will just check, call and play regardless of what you're doing and they might not even be paying attention. If they continue to call just to see what you have, you could get busted with your blanks.

Always be conscious of who you're bluffing or it could very well backfire on you.

2. Bluff based on the board

The idea of bluffing involves convincing the other players that you've got a great hand. Part of that strategy involves some psychology of what the other players see in the community cards.

For example: if the flop shows a three, a seven and a nine – all of different suits – the opponents are less likely to believe that you have a monster hand. After all, a pair of 10's could top what you're hiding.

But if the flop shows a potential draw for a straight, a flush or aces, all of the sudden the mindset changes. They might have a small pair but if you're betting heavy, they might not want to test you as much knowing that you have the potential for a big hand.

3. Bluff timid players

After playing a few hands, you should get a feel for the competition at the table. There's sure to be a clear line drawn in the sand of players who are very timid and likely to fold upon any type of a threat, and there are players who just blindly call everything regardless of their hand.

As a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid those who call everything because they'll just keep going to see what you have. At the same time, it's a great strategy to target the timid as they will fold quickly and let you have your way. Prey on them.

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