Bluffing

One of the greatest things about poker is that you don't have to have the best hand to win the pot. You can win pots by betting and you don't get called, and it doesn't matter what you have. Bluffing is an attempt to win the pot without having the best hand.



Bluffing has been called an art and a science. Successful bluffing is a combination of common sense, good poker instincts, and "heart". There is no better feeling or confidence booster in poker than pulling off a successful bluff. As all top players will tell you, it is very satisfying to "earn" a pot (win a pot with the worst cards).



Common sense is pretty much self-explanatory. For example, it doesn't make sense to attempt a bluff on the river in a $2-$4 game with three or four more players in the hand and $100 or so in the pot, because somebody is going to call you for one bet. It also doesn't make sense to bluff at a calling station.



In every hand that you play (and even the hands you aren't involved in), you should make an effort to put your opponent(s) on a hand. On every deal, you should be playing a game with yourself. That game is simply to guess what your opponents' downcards are. The more you play this game, the better you will get at it. And the better you get at it, the more successful you will become. Incidentally, putting your opponent on a hand is the number one skill in poker. It's what separates the best from the rest.



In golf, they say, "Trust your swing." In poker, we say, "Trust your instincts." You will discover that your poker instincts will get better and better if you continually play the "guessing game". After a while, you will begin to feel more confident in your ability to be able to put your opponent on a hand (and determine the strength of it) or a draw. If you put your opponent on a draw and he bets on the river, you should go with your instincts and call him.



"Heart" is the ability to make a play at the pot when you don't have a hand. You have to have heart to succeed at the highest levels. Your gut must tell you to bluff at certain times, and you need to do it. But trust me, pulling the trigger in battle when you don't have a hand is easier said than done. Heart is a common trait in all great players.



One of my favorite poker stories about heart happened years ago. It took place during Bob Stupak's America's Cup of Poker which was a prominent tournament that all of the big-time poker players attended. The legendary Stu Ungar was playing in a $100-$200 blinds no-limit hold'em cash game. When he saw me walking by, he invited me to sit down and watch him play for a while. It was always entertaining to watch him play.



After I'd been there for about 30 minutes, the following hand came up: Stuey was in the big blind and had about $28,000 in front of him, and picked up the 8 6. The player next to the button (with $20,000 in front of him) made it $700 to go. Everyone folded and Stuey called. The flop came J-10-4 rainbow. Stuey led out for $1,200 on a stone-cold bluff! His opponent called. The turn card was the 2. Stuey now bet $2,500 (with no hand and no draw), and again his opponent called. On the river, a 4 came to pair the board. Stuey continued his charade and fired $8,000 at the pot! His opponent showed the A 10 and folded.



As Stuey was raking in the chips, he leaned over to me and whispered, "A lot of guys will bluff at a pot and some will fire two shells, but there are not many guys who will fire three!" To bluff at a pot three times in a row takes a lot of heart, and no one who has ever played poker had more heart than Stu Ungar.



Here are some simple tips to remember about bluffing: If you're a low-limit player, I would suggest that you take the bluff and throw it out of your arsenal. Save bluffing for big-bet poker and tournaments. If you are going to bluff, don't try to bluff bad players, as they will call you. Pick out whoever you think is the best player at the table and bluff at him.



He will lay down a hand. And here's one last thing: If you're not getting called on the river once in a while, you're not bluffing enough. If you're always getting called, you're probably bluffing too much.



You're not going to get good cards all the time. Sometimes you have to earn your pots. Try bluffing.



Take care.

Mike Sexton is the host of PartyPoker.com, a commentator on the World Poker Tour (which can be seen every Wednesday on the Travel Channel), and the author of Shuffle Up and Deal (which made The New York Times best-seller list and can be obtained at http://www.cardplayer.com/).