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Bluffing

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  1. ThreesRWild ThreesRWild is offline

    Bradenton, FL
    United States

    Posts: 88
    Joined: Jan 05

    May 31st, 2005 (5/31/2005 11:30am)

    This is a weakness in my game and I suspect others. Both bluffing to much or not bluffing at all.

    Do you have rules you follow when bluffing? Amounts? Position? Situations? Or does it boil down to trusting your gut about the right time to bluff?

    Thanks,

    Threes
  2. Gabovitch Gabovitch is offline

    Nashville, TN
    United States

    Posts: 1,627
    Joined: Apr 05

    May 31st, 2005 (5/31/2005 11:35am) in reply to ThreesRWild

    The latter. However, you should try to think about what hands the other guy likely has, then about whether he is capable of folding this sort of hand, and last think about what kind of hand you are representing. Actually just read Beanie's article today. "Telling a story" is a great way to think about bluffing.
  3. supermoves supermoves is offline invented poker

    Posts: 6,840
    Joined: Feb 05

    May 31st, 2005 (5/31/2005 11:43am) in reply to ThreesRWild

    Hey Threes, I would say that Position and "gut" are the two important factors to consider when bluffing. When I am out of position, I might semi-bluff (overbet my hand, but have outs in case I get called), but rarely do i flat out bluff out of position. With position, it is easy, well easiER, to see weakness in your opponants....betting $100 into a $3000 pot, betting 2K into a $400 pot, calling and checking...these are all signs of weakness (most of the time i.e. post oak bluff).

    With position, when you see these signs of weakness, what does your gut tell you? Is your first instinct that he is bluffing? Other signs of a bluffing opponant include betting too quickly, indicating they were going to bet no matter WHAT came. Again, these are not hard-and-fast rules, but they are a good staring point.

    There are also, times when it is better to bluff than others. First, the bubble is a great place to bluff. People are trying to sneak into the money and will often lay down almost anything, in order to move into the gaurenteed money. Second, just before the final table. This is another time when people will lay down, because they want to get to the final table and the serious money. One last tip...pick on the medium stacks...low stacks are likley just to push with anything decent, large stacks can afford to call you...medium stacks are simply looking to pick up blinds and play premium hands to get large stacks...make them pay for it...hope this helps!
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  4. magicfingers magicfingers is offline

    Dallas, TX
    United States

    Posts: 388
    Joined: Feb 05

    May 31st, 2005 (5/31/2005 11:51am) in reply to supermoves

    Those are great tips super. Thank you for sharing.
  5. P2P P2P is offline

    Ithaca, NY
    United States

    Posts: 112
    Joined: Mar 05

    May 31st, 2005 (5/31/2005 2:34pm) in reply to magicfingers

    I think the first question you need to ask is what is your image at the table. Size stack also matters along with the type of player you are bluffing into.

    Bluffing is part of the game, the best way to work on that side of the game is through heads up in my opinion. I have played a ton of heads up for the first 3 months of the year and moved over to cash games and bluffing has improved and increased.

    Just my 2 cents.
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