Finding Spots to Bluff
One could spend a lifetime learning the many facets of the art of the poker bluff. The bluff has a well known empirical definition, which is simply betting with the worst hand in an attempt to make opponents fold. Many players bluff far too often in spots where they have little chance of making a better hand fold. By decreasing your bluffing frequency and choosing better spots to try and take the pot, you can increase your win rate and keep your opponents guessing.
The first thing you should take into account before executing a pokerbluff is how many players are in the pot. After the flop, your chances of folding out two or more hands with a bet is much less likely than if you were heads up with an opponent. Other components to the hand that effect your ability to bluff are your position, and whether or not the pot was raised preflop, and by whom. Do you have position on the preflop raiser? If you are heads up with him, it may be a good spot to take off a card on the flop and float your opponent, then bet or raise the turn in an attempt to take the pot away from him. However, with more than one other player in the pot, a move like this would be suicide. It is hardly ever feasible to bluff two players out of a pot.
Another factor to consider when bluffing in poker is your opponent. Is he tight and risk averse, or is he a loose action player who will call down with any two cards? Obviously, you don’t want to make a bluff attempt when your only chance of winning is to make your hand on the turn or river, or hope your opponent misses everything.
The most difficult bluffing situation is a pot that has been raised and reraised, and then checked to you on a later street. Only expert players should attempt bluffs in these situations, and usually taking away a large pot on the turn or river can only be executed against another good player who is capable of critically thinking his way into folding a good hand. For a beginner, your caution spots for bluffing should be large pots on later streets, and multiway pots with loose opponents. Neither of these situations should ever warrant an ill-advised bluff attempt.
