The bluff in poker is one of the most common ways to gain an advantage or exploit an opportunity when it presents itself. Done right, there is nothing quite as bold, daring or exciting in a poker game that gets the adrenaline rushing as the bluff that wins or when someone call that bluff. Done poorly, it is obvious, smacks of stupidity and you will wind up like the businessman who put half his money in revolving doors and the other half in toilet paper: Wiped out before you can turn around.
When bluffing in poker there is a theoretical point where you would bluff enough to get away with it every time, but in the reality of the game: if you don’t get caught bluffing ever, you are almost certainly not bluffing enough. Besides having someone call your “Bluff” when you do have Four Aces pays off quick.
Bluffing too often, leads to pointless bankroll swings and will eventually lead to losing begetting losing. Humans do not like to loose and it is a common obsession amongst players to “get even” when they have lost four or five hands, sometimes with bank roll killing suicide bets. When you bluff, you run the serious risk of losing and players (including you!) are poor losers. Remember that when thinking about making a poker bluff.
The bluff works when you do not do it too often and ideally bluff when you actually have the goods to turn your opponents in to the aforementioned businessman. If you bluff right you will keep your opponents guessing and forcing them to call you because they think (or hope) that you are bluffing.
The well-executed bluff will let you win pots where you realistically did not have a chance, but going after ever pot with a bluff will have you sleeping on the street after you are wiped out. The first rule of the bluff is NOT to bluff when most people would bluff! Most tend to bluff from last position, or in hands with a big pot, or when they raise before the Flop. A bluff can be appropriate in these situations but is often not.
The bluff is about deception, looking like have something when you have nothing so bluff when other people would not bluff. Bluffing is about playing what how your opponents think, not what makes sense! Bluff on the small pots, bluff early, bluff by raising after showing a weakness (Real or imaginary) rather than strength. Bluff when your opponent will look at you and think, “He ain’t bluffing here!”
When done right, the bluff is a poker tactic to gain a short-term advantage and should not a long- term strategy. Reckless and unnecessary bluffs turn a good tactic in to a bad one. Bluff when your opponent least expects it and avoid bluffing when even your opponent would bluff. Bluffing in poker is like stealing anything in the real world: It only pays off when you get away with it.