How To Bluff Players In Poker

The bluff is one of the most well known facets of live and online poker, however the majority of new players excoriate the bluff with over use and in the wrong board situations.

Understanding how to bluff in poker.

The first thing that new poker players need to understand about a bluff is that it
should only be used in situations that increase your expected value (EV) in the game.  Expected value or pot equity can maximised in bluffing by either creating maximum fold equity when you’re behind in the hand or maximum call equity when you’re in front.

For example, if I have KK pre-flop (one of the best hands possible at this stage of the game) than I want to keep my opponent in the hand whilst making the pot as big as possible.  Most of the time I will open-raise or 3bet the pot with KK and hope that my opponent calls me with an inferior hand.

However, if I know that my opponent is a very weak player with HUD stats of 10/5 than raising him pre-flop will probably squeeze him out of the pot. 

It would be more convenient to flat-call (slow-play) this hand in order to trap my opponent and hope that he catches something on the flop that will lead him to departing with more of his chips. Slow playing or down playing the strength of my hand in this situation (bluffing) is thus very optimal for me in this situation.

Biggest mistakes in bluffing.

One of the biggest mistakes that new players in the micro-mid stakes games in NLH make is that they try to bluff themselves out of situations when they feel cornered.  Many new players will rightly continuation bet hands such as QJ on missed boards (e.g. 7-9-3) and than end up at the river with Q high against an opponent who has called 2 or 3 raises and probably has a very strong hand. 

Bluffing here would be futile since your opponent has shown strength and there will be very little to gain.  The most butchered bluff at this stage is when an opponent shoves all-in with 40 BBs behind him when the pot is already worth over 100BBs.  At this stage of the hand, most opponents with top pair or better will be calling you down regardless of how high the stakes are.

Bet sizing is really crucial to understanding how to bluff profitably in different situations.  If you’re continuation betting the flop than a bet of around ½ to ¾ of the pot is recommended – this gives you enough fold equity against weak opponents whilst limiting the amount that you have to sacrifice to bluff the pot.

For double barrelling, you really want to be making a half pot – pot sized bet that really squeezes your opponent’s balls and lets him/her know that you have something.
Finally, on the river you really need to tailor your bet size to the strength of your hand, how likely you think that you are ahead, and the strength/weakness of your opponent. 

If you’re confident that you’re ahead than you’ll want to tease your opponent with a small ¼ pot min raise.  On the other hand, if you think that you might be behind then you should either check-call to showdown or raise at least ½ pot to give yourself enough fold equity to make the raise profitable.

Bluffing tips for new players.

A small tip for new players – if you’re on the river and have a good hand (e.g. top pair/mid-pair/pocket pairs/non-nuts flush) but you’re not sure if you’re ahead or behind than you need to check.  The reason for doing so here is that on the river you should only be betting for value. 

If you’re opponent is behind then he’s unlikely to call your raise and if he’s ahead then he’s either going to re-raise you or call your bet and beat you at showdown. Thus, if you’re unsure where you stand than you’re always better off checking.  The majority of bluffs on the river are usually after seeing a “scare card” come down on the river anyway, e.g. completing a runner flush/straight draw or turning a pair into trips.

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