More on Bluffing, or Rather, Not Bluffing

Hi. Come on in. I had a bucket of spaghetti, a large antipasto salad, and four orders of garlic toast delivered. Put on your bib and dig in while we explore another dark corner of your poker mind.



Every low-limit poker player in the Western Hemisphere has called or written me since we talked about bluffing, or rather, not bluffing, in low-limit public poker. They want more on the subject. So, here's more (or actually less) about bluffing (or not bluffing).



Many of my poker students initially have difficulty accepting the concept of not bluffing. I think it's because bluffing has been blown out of proportion in our society, especially in the movies. Too often we've seen some cowboy hero in a white hat running a bluff to win the ranch back from the cheating bad guy who swindled it from Mary Jane. Forget it. In real life, our sweet young heroine ends up in Ma Smalley's Boarding House, eating a diet of cabbage and turnips.



The doubters want explanations, reasons, and logic for why I say, "Don't bluff in low-limit public poker." My words alone don't seem sufficient for these nonbelievers. OK, here are some reasonable, logical explanations that go beyond our last talk on the subject.



In low-limit games, you find mostly unskilled players – and the less skilled your opponent, the more difficult it is to bluff him. It just doesn't work! You could set up the perfect bluffing situation, but it would be lost on the unsophisticated player. He wouldn't see it because all he sees is his own hand. If he has the smallest glimmering of hope to win a hand, he most often will call automatically. A guided missile wouldn't get him out.



A maximum bet will not impress him. In fact, a maximum bet is likely to make him suspicious. It will appear to him that you're trying to buy the pot. He'll make the right call for the wrong reason, and you'll be muttering to yourself while he rakes in your money.



Another reason? Why not. I have plenty of reasons. These players often think it's a mark of dishonor to be bluffed out of a pot. They would rather pay you off than suffer such an embarrassment. I'm sure that you've heard the classic line, "Well, I have to keep him honest." Really? Who appointed you honesty captain of the poker table? I suspect that they utter this line because they think that a pair of threes might possibly have a chance against a legitimate bet. But if they figured incorrectly, they again have saved themselves some embarrassment.



In any conversation about bluffing, someone is sure to bring up the concept of "advertising." "Let them see that I bluff, so that later in the game when I bet with a legitimate hand, I'll get called." Horsefeathers. Later on you're going to get called whether you have a legitimate hand or not. That's what this is all about – the fact that you shouldn't bluff in low-limit public poker because, most often, your bluff will be called. Logically, then, it follows that, most often, your legitimate bets also will be called. So don't worry.



These players you are hoping will remember your bluffs "later on" are the same ones who, most of the time, can't remember who was the raiser in the hand they're playing right now, or can't tell you which cards have been folded in a stud game for all of the blintzes in Brooklyn. (If you want to advertise, buy some space in this magazine.)



In low-limit poker, a big pot gets big because big hands are competing for it. You can't bluff these players out of a big pot. And if it's a small pot, why bluff at it?



In low-limit public poker, it's a plain and simple fact that you must, most of the time, show down the best hand to win the money. Successful bluffing does occur – but not often enough to make it part of your ongoing strategy.



Home games is another matter for another time.



Now I tire and require sweet repose. Take a baggie of spaghetti and some garlic toast for your breakfast. And kill the light on your way out.



Roy West, best-selling poker author, continues giving his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas for both tourists and locals. Roy's toll-free number is 800-548-6177 ext. 03. In Las Vegas call 873-7574.