Top 3 Tips For Bluffing in Poker

Cover 27-11-20
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  • My Poker Coaching November 28, 2020
  • 2 Minutes Read

Bluffing is probably one of the most exciting parts of poker but massively misunderstand by new players. You often see huge hands play out on TV shows or YouTube videos and might imagine this is how the game is actually played, but that is far from the truth.

Of course, it is way more interesting to see big bluffs and crazy action, which is why you see a disproportional amount of these hands. That said, you should not start running big bluffs as soon as you learn the rules of poker, and trying to win every hand that you play will cost you a lot of money in the long run.

Don’t get me wrong, you need to learn how to bluff if you want to succeed in this game, and that’s why it is essential to recognize profitable situations instead of randomly trying to run over other players. Bluffing too much or not bluffing at all are huge mistakes, so we will try to cover three main things that players need to remember when picking spots.

 

Tip #1: Avoid Bluffing With Trash

While bluffing your opponent with 9-high might sound like a lot of fun, this approach is not sustainable and can be quite costly in the long-run. Instead of using random hands, pick ones that have some equity to go along it.

This way, you will increase your chance of winning and add an additional way to take down the pot when you improve your hand in the end. Therefore, hands with over cards, runner-runner draws, and gutshots make good candidates and add a lot of value to this play.

Even if you do not think this is very important, it actually makes a huge difference when you add thousands of hands you play.

Of course, we are not saying that you should never bluff without any equity in the hand, but it often requires some special conditions that we will cover next.

 

Tip #2: Think About Ranges

One of the most important things to learn in poker is how to think in terms of ranges rather than guessing a specific hand that your opponents might have.

So if you hit the board that heavily favors your range, you can keep bluffing even if you do not have any equity since your opponent has no way to know that.

For example, if you raised preflop from the button and your opponent called from BB. Here you would have a considerable range advantage on a high board like Ace-King-Nine and can fire all three streets even without much equity. Your opponent does not have AA, KK, AK, or even 99 in his range since he would 3-bet that preflop most of the time, and you have all those hands, so you can put a lot of pressure on him.

However, even if you select the best Texas Holdem hands preflop, it does not mean you need to continue if you entirely miss the flop, which favors another player. Knowing when to let go of your hand is equally important as knowing when to bluff, and thinking in terms of ranges will quickly help you realize that difference.

 

Tip #3: Use Blockers

You can use one more thing to make a huge bluff even when you do not have a range advantage, known as blockers. If you hold a card that blocks your opponent’s chances to have a strong holding or even prevents him from having the nuts, you can act on it and fire a bluff with immense confidence.

For example, if you have an Ace of diamonds on the board with three diamonds, you know that your opponent does not have a nut flush. If he decides to playback at you, you can even move all-in in a favorable situation since even if he has a lower flush, it will be hard for him to call it down, and he will snap-fold without a flush in most cases.

On top of that, having that card reduces the possibility of him actually holding a flush. All of this is excellent news for you and increase your chance of success.

It does not necessarily have to be a flush. If you have a blocker to a straight, it significantly reduces your opponent’s chance to have it. Even though he could hold a straight himself, your bluffs will work more often in such situations, so using blockers is a powerful tool that many pros use frequently.

If you follow these simple tips and plan your moves a bit in advance, you will already be ahead of the vast majority of the players and can put a lot of pressure on them. However, before pulling the trigger, always carefully evaluate the situation and all available information.

Do not be afraid to pull back when you know you should not be firing with nothing.

 

About the Author

Tadas Peckaitis is a professional poker player, author, and poker coach at mypokercoaching.com. He writes for a range of online publications and helps other poker players to excel. If you are looking to up your game or find interesting information about poker, you can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

Tadas Peckaitis
Tadas Peckaitis

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MyPokerCoaching

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mypokercoaching

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