Poker Bluffing Tactics Tactics in Bluffing at the Poker Tables
So the first thing you need to know about bluffing is that the cards in your hand don't matter. This is why its a bluff its about taking pots away from your opponents and hoping they will not call your hand. Successful players will put their opponents on hands and in that way understand the pot odds for their opponents. They will make bets that either scare their opponents away from calling but representing a hand with their bets.
Representation of your hand in this situation is more important than what your hand actually is. What bet would make your opponent think you had the hand that would beat them. Often armatures rely on betting over the pot size. This may cause your opponent to suspect that you may be bluffing. Remember when bluffing it is always about representation and not about the amount of the bet. The same way that players play when trying to lure your opponents into calling should be used in getting your opponents to lay down their hands.
Good places to bluff are often when you are playing in late position. Late position gives you an opportunity to see what your opponents have. This is for two reasons, one is you may be able to steal the blinds with a raise, secondly after the flop you will get an idea of what your opponents may have by what comes out on the flop. If your opponents do not bet the flop you may be able to do an additional raise and win the pot with your second attempt.
If you do manage to hit the flop with a monster hand you the opportunity to slow play your opponents with a hand they may not suspect you of having as your raise may confuse them with low cards on the flop. This is always dangerous but it can be very lucrative.
Other bluffing tactics are too counter check raise people using the previous tactics. This is done by calling the late position raise and check raising bets that you may suspect are bluffs. Suspecting bluffs could come from the size of the late position raise if they bet the size of the pot this is usually a good sign that they may be trying to take it away with a bluff.
Other bluffs may come with betting a small raise in early position. This is usually a sign of strength and if you have a tight table image this can often cause your opponents to fold their hands.
Many bluffing techniques come with experience and realising what your opponents most likely have. With this ammunition making bets that will make your opponents lay their hands down is done much more easily.
