Bluffing is a tactic that is generally used in poker in order to represent strength so that your opponents will fold and you will win the pot. A good bluff is an intentional ploy that is often set up before the hands are even dealt out. However, sometimes an improvised bluff can get you out of a jam as well.
Mistakes in poker
The mistakes we are referring to are not technical mistakes such as folding before there has been a bet or acting out of turn, but rather mistakes in the way you have played the hand. For example, you may have made an assumption about the strength of your opponent’s holding, which you decide is an incorrect assumption way too late. When this happens, it is possible that a bluff can come to your rescue.
Hand-saving poker bluffs
Here’s an example of how a bluff can cover up a mistake in Texas Hold em. You have 5h 5d in middle position and an early position player raises. You flat call to see the flop. It comes 8s 9s 4c. Your opponent makes what you see as a continuation bet, simply betting the flop because he bet before the flop. However you are reasonably certain he has AK, so you raise. Much to your surprise, your opponent raises you back. You could simply give up at this point and abandon all the chips you have invested or you could try to pull off an elaborate bluff.
You flat call and the 7h peels off on the turn. This is a perfect card for you. Your opponent checks and you move all-in. The story you are telling is that you have made a straight. It is a believable story. Many players will call a raise with JT before the flop. You could have raised the flop on a semi-bluff when you flopped an open-ended straight draw and when re-raised, decided to just call and see what comes. Now if your opponent has an overpair or even if he flopped a set, he will have a very difficult decision.
Note that this was your intention when you called the flop re-raise, not to try and hit a third five but to hit a good bluff card. With two spades on the board you could have made the same play with any spade or even with a queen, four, eight or nine. Note that a jack, for example, would not have provided a great bluffing opportunity since it is unlikely you raised and called a re-raise with a gut shot straight draw like QT, and a mere pair of jacks is probably not good enough in this situation.
Use of the improvised poker bluff
Bluffing every time you get into trouble is not necessarily the best option since opponents might catch on. But if you keep this weapon in your arsenal it could mean a few extra nice pots, and those extra pots are what make all the difference in your win rate when you play poker.
Mistakes in poker
The mistakes we are referring to are not technical mistakes such as folding before there has been a bet or acting out of turn, but rather mistakes in the way you have played the hand. For example, you may have made an assumption about the strength of your opponent’s holding, which you decide is an incorrect assumption way too late. When this happens, it is possible that a bluff can come to your rescue.
Hand-saving poker bluffs
Here’s an example of how a bluff can cover up a mistake in Texas Hold em. You have 5h 5d in middle position and an early position player raises. You flat call to see the flop. It comes 8s 9s 4c. Your opponent makes what you see as a continuation bet, simply betting the flop because he bet before the flop. However you are reasonably certain he has AK, so you raise. Much to your surprise, your opponent raises you back. You could simply give up at this point and abandon all the chips you have invested or you could try to pull off an elaborate bluff.
You flat call and the 7h peels off on the turn. This is a perfect card for you. Your opponent checks and you move all-in. The story you are telling is that you have made a straight. It is a believable story. Many players will call a raise with JT before the flop. You could have raised the flop on a semi-bluff when you flopped an open-ended straight draw and when re-raised, decided to just call and see what comes. Now if your opponent has an overpair or even if he flopped a set, he will have a very difficult decision.
Note that this was your intention when you called the flop re-raise, not to try and hit a third five but to hit a good bluff card. With two spades on the board you could have made the same play with any spade or even with a queen, four, eight or nine. Note that a jack, for example, would not have provided a great bluffing opportunity since it is unlikely you raised and called a re-raise with a gut shot straight draw like QT, and a mere pair of jacks is probably not good enough in this situation.
Use of the improvised poker bluff
Bluffing every time you get into trouble is not necessarily the best option since opponents might catch on. But if you keep this weapon in your arsenal it could mean a few extra nice pots, and those extra pots are what make all the difference in your win rate when you play poker.
