Yorky Pud

Everyone loves to bluff in poker. Those who say they never bluff are lying or are losing players. You see, in order to succeed in poker you will have to bluff at some point, and under certain circumstances the game becomes more of a game of bluffing where the cards are not important, though that situation is for a different article.

In a world of continuation betting, three-betting, re-stealing and more recently triple range merging (seriously WTF?), bluffing out-dates them all. Even none poker players bluff, in fact they do it all the time, even your nan. All bluffing is, if you strip it down to its core components is lying and we all love a little white lie don't we?

One of the main reasons bluffing is so fun is that when you get one through you feel like you have done something naughty, not to mention nothing gets the heart pumping and adrenalin flowing like running a huge bluff. That said, one of the main downfalls of bluffing is it is like a Class A drug, highly addictive and the more you do it the less rush you get from it, leading you to playing like a complete donkey just to get a hit. The following tips should help you stop bluffing habitually and therefore become a better bluffer.

The first piece of advice is to not even bother attempting a bluff at the start of a tournament or if you have just joined a table. If the tournament has just started then the risk/reward ratio is so heavily stacked against you that you are better off not bluffing and just playing relatively straight forward. The thinking behind not bluffing when you are new to a table, or an opponent is new to the table, is because when you're bluffing you're telling a story and if you or your target does not know enough about you then the story you are telling will fall on deaf ears.

You should also choose your bluffing victim carefully too, as some people are simply asking to be bluffed whilst others will call you with any two cards, rendering your move useless. Never bluff a player who can't and won't fold top pair, instead target the aggressive players who nobody has dared to play back at, or those weak-passive players who are looking for an excuse to fold and see monsters under the bed.

If you have plenty of self confidence then your bluff stands a better chance of getting through. This may sound absurd but if you have belief that your move will work then your body language will mirror that, as will any actions such as putting chips into the pot and you are more likely to be believed. Something that will help with this is to be consistent with you actions at all times, basically become a robot. Take the same time to act whether you are planning on folding, calling or raising and make sure that you act the same when strong as when weak.

The be all and end all though is to use some common sense, is your bluff actually believable? Put yourself in your opponent's shoes and see if what you are being told makes sense. Is it possible to represent the hand you are trying to, on the board in front of you. Be honest with yourself (funny we're talking about lying and you have to be honest here) and if your line smells fishy then don't be afraid to ditch your hand, but if you think it could succeed you sometimes have to be prepared to bluff all three streets, just make sure you have at least one out won't you?!