Poker – To Bluff Or Not To Bluff

I play low-medium limit cash Hold ‘em. They call it ‘No Fold ‘em Hold ‘em for a reason. Folks don’t fold, EVEN WHEN THEY KNOW THEY’RE BEAT. So, don’t bluff in low limit cash games, no one will fold based on your bet. Low limit is designed to go to showdown, so low-med limits are NOT the places to bluff.
It really depends on the game you’re in though. If it’s a full table of unobservant LAGs who’ll give action to your good hands, you pretty much don’t need to. Just wait to get a good hand, and expect to get paid off big.
dont bluff , like not at all i have been caught to many times ,so i just sit and play my hands ,and since i stoped bluffing i started showing my cards every time. thats what i do i showem so the people know not to call me. i show my cards untill the blinds hit like 1k then i start mucking and play a lil diff then i was i bet more and reraise more and bcuz i showed allthose hands in the game earlyer they dont call . and this has worked for me for about a half a year now and allmost allways place in the money .
My opinion on bluffing is do it very INfrequently but when doing it always pay attention to the skill level of your opponents. If you find yourself seated at a table full of bad players, running a risky bluff would be foolish. Instead, wait for a good hand and hope you’re called.
That same approach won’t be quite as effective against highly skilled players (as you get deeper in tourneys you’ll run into a few of these guys ; they’ll know just what you’re up to. Against tough players, you’ll have to bluff occasionally, but again, not as often as you think .
Seems like my highest finishes and cashes have always been in those instances when my # of bluffs are in the <3 category but of course you gotta to run good.
when playing no limit bluffing has a lot to do with instinct. continuation bluffs on turn an river make u look real strong.. low limiti hold em you cant bluff at all… tourneys you dont want to bluff or bully unless your the big stack.

If it’s a short table of nits, however, then the cards you’re dealt almost don’t matter.
In general, you’ll be bluffing more against tight opponents and at short tables, and bluffing less at full tables or against opponents who call a lot.
bluff on the weak people with short stacks or with a small roll at the table. You should only bluff once you are comfortable with it i think. Its a big risk when youre bluffing. And dont bluff with 2 7 because even if hes bluffing as well. You want to have a good kicker.
 only like to bluff short stacks when its close to the bubble or maybe semi bluff cause I want a chance at least to hit something, it’s sometimes hard to push a short stack off their hand if they hit anything.
All depends on type of tourney, players attitudes and usual play tactics, position, cards on table. There are endless way to calculate if you can bluff or not. You just gotta figure in you head percentages of ur oppenents hand strength and if they have the balls to do it. Personally i bluff till i get caught.
I would say a lot depends on your experience.
If you are new to poker you are better playing a “by the book” TAG game – play big hands and play them strong. If u r playing low stakes most people won’t notice what u r doing.
When it comes to bluffing alot of peoples strategy is “hey they have all checked to me twice therefore they must be weak, I have position on them so what the hell, lets just put a bet out there and hope for the best”.

To bluff successfully you cannot just throw out a bet or raise without thinking about why. When bluffing you must consider how your bet will be percieved by your opponents (what could they think you have). For example: On a JJ2 board if I was to bet $1,000 into a $600 pot my bluff would not very often be successful. Obviosly if I had a Jack I would not be acting so strong.
I like to set my bluffs up by playing the hand exactly like I would if I actually had the hand I was representing. In the JJ2 example above if I was planning to run a bluff I would check call the flop and then lead out on 4th street with a half pot bet to try and take the pot down there.
Not sure if this is the most ideal way to bluff, but hope it makes a little sense.
For me my bluffs are only successful when I decide prior to making any bets in a hand that I’m going to play my 9-6 os as if I have the nuts throughout the hand. Most of my failed bluffs are hands that I have limped in and I bet at when no one shows any aggression.
Yeah usually early in the low stake tourneys….I try to wait on people to bluff at the hand….If I am strong sometimes I will slow play the flop wait for a bet on the turn and call or check raise then on the river when I bet the pot or overbet it….people cant get off thier bluff sometimes and call. Guess they thought I had to be bluffing as well due to lack of aggression.
It is so much fun to show your 25os that not to bluff is a crime, but i think that to be able to bluff successfully you need to be able to put your opponent on a hand and then play your hand as if it is better. Experience will give you the knowledge and confidence to bluff.
One point about freerolls and low limit MTT’s, i would not bluff early without a very good read but in the later stages of the tourny it is very difficult to survive without buying a few pots.
I would use the higher buy-in play chip SNG to practice and learn about bluffing.
It depends on two things really… The first is your strategy and the second is how your table is playing.

If your tight aggressive then you should only bluff to advertise weakness when your table has gotten ultra tight. You want to play a lot of small pots then show a crap hand to advertise your false strategy. Then play tight again.Then your more likely to get action when you do hit a real hand. If your table is action action action…then you do not need to advertise.
If your Loose aggressive then you make small bluffs to steal small pots to set up your big hands. There is no reason to make big bluffs since your going to have plenty of opportunities to catch monster hands and your going to get action when you catch those hands.