147 Don't be the fish. Revealing your playing style can be Bluffing in telltale situations against players who know them. That's a common money-maker for the other players. Always consider this rule before attempting a Bluff.
B. When you've been caught Bluffing recently.
You've been labelled as a poor Bluffer already. Ride it out. Let them forget that hand. Start rebuilding a reputation as a straight player so you can eventually try a Bluff again later (and hopefully not screw it up again) C. Against a dangerous flop.
If the flop has an Ace, chances are that someone has a pair of aces.
Aces tend to make it beyond pre-flop. Also, players tend to continue to play their Aces. Don't Bluff against Aces.
You also wouldn't want to Bluff against a flop like K,Q,9. Chances are someone has something they'll stick with.
D. Against lots of players.
148 Chances are that someone has something that they'll stick with. By Bluffing in this situation, you just become an agent of that player.
From an odds perspective, this is never worth it.
E. Against bad players.
As much as they love to Bluff, they love to catch someone in a Bluff. They're much more likely to ?keep you honest? because they don't realize what a money-loser that is. It's much more profitable to play straight up in these games. Bluffing is only effective from a ?fear? perspective in this case.
F. You just lost a big hand.
Not only might you be on a bad run, but other players will expect you to be on a bad run, and will more readily call you.
G. You are in a blind position.
You really have to evaluate the flop, but generally other players will think you have a poor hand and expect you to Bluff.
Using Odds During a Bluff It's always good to look at poker from a mathematical perspective, and that even applies to Bluffing.
You can determine finite amounts and percentages that can tell you if it is a financially feasibly good time to Bluff. This is particularly useful when there are only one or two players and the pot is rather large.
149 It's good to do these calculations with potential straights or flushes that appeared on the river, that you were going for but you didn't make.
It's nice with a flop that starts with Heart, Heart, Spade, and ends with Spade, Spade. You had two Hearts. Or a flop like Five, Seven, Eight, and ends with Ten, Jack. You had a Six. It's also good because they might have been on the same draw, which leads them to believe (also from on odds perspective) that you were not on that draw.
Let's say that one of the above cases occurred in a $5/$10 game and on the river there is $140 in the pot. Your only opponent checks to you.
If you check, you know you've lost.
So you Bluff. The reasoning is that if you invest another $10, you're getting 14 to 1 odds. As a percent that's around 7%. If they fold more than 7% of the time, you make money in the long poker game of life. If not, it's a losing venture.
You still have to evaluate the player, but from a purely mathematical standpoint, you get the picture. You can also evaluate it by reasoning that they missed their draw more than 7% of the time and will fold.
150 If two players were involved in the pot, it cuts the odds in half.
With three, it becomes 1/3rd of 7%, etc. You can see why you want to Bluff against fewer players.
This can be unreliable though, as some players will stay in purely based on pot odds. So when Bluffing you cannot ever use just odds. Get a feel for your opponents, and act accordingly.
HOW TO KNOW WHEN THEY�RE BluffING? This isn't about reading tells. This is about the situations where Bluffing is plausible, and when other players will do it. You can generally look at the reasons YOU should Bluff and apply them to other players. Of course, you also have to know the player, and evaluate it from there, but here are some ideas.
A. They are betting aggressively despite a poor flop.
If they bet pre-flop from a poor position, and the flop is something like 4, 5, 5, they are probably just trying to keep momentum going and Bluff their way out of this hand. They probably have genuinely zero drawing chances with over-cards or maybe an over-pair, but a re-Raise could have them rethink that strategy. It might also give you a betting round or two to try and make YOUR hand.
B. Pot Odds are in their favor.
151 If everyone folds on the turn with a big pot, like when an obvious draw was missed, expect a Bluff. It's almost certain that anyone will Bluff against a big pot. With the pot odds the way they are, you probably want to stay in those hands also.
C. It's between you and them.
The most common time to Bluff is when you CAN pull it off. It's very easy to trick just one person. Use your skills at evaluating the previous rounds and the board to determine what they might have.
D. The flop doesn't have any draws.
Sometimes someone will bet in this case to eliminate the ability to acquire a draw, sometimes because they have a good hand. You really have to know the player in this case.
E. They bet on the Flop, checked on the turn.
If there was a draw, and it didn't hit, they are probably just buying a free card. Bet back against them and take the initiative.
F. Bet on the flop, bet on the turn, checked on the river.
Same as before, but they bought another turn. Might as well bet back at them.
G. They bet and tell you to ?save your money?.
If they really wanted you to save your money, they wouldn't have bet. Sometimes players say that just to create the opposite image, so look out. Few are that crafty though, so tell your opposition that he's Bluffing and re-Raise.
152 HOW TO ATTACK A WEAK PLAYER The most successful players are not always the tightest . . . and you can't win anything when you fold.
Insider Tip Pros add to their hourly win rate by finding times to play hands that are small losers in the hands of lesser players. They do this both by playing those hands especially well and by playing them when a bad player is already in. That�s why knowing your table is so important.
The secret to beating online poker can be where you get a lot of tight Passive players sitting on their hands while a successful player (or two or three) eats an awful player (or two) alive.
Most people play backwards. They play loose and see a lot of flops in the early rounds, then absurdly tighten up later. Unless you are one of those rare players who simply can't play without a big Stack, don't fritter away your chips in the early rounds on marginal junk. Those chips can be very useful once the important rounds begin.
Sitting around waiting for good cards to play against the tight players is fairly pointless. There is zero point to playing in a game with decent players.
The only reason to be in this game is to play with the fish.
BAD HANDS THAT LOOK GOOD