How to master the art of bluffing in poker?

Question

Bluffing can give you a significant advantage at the table. But how do you go about developing your bluffing skills? What are some effective techniques and tactics that you can use to deceive your opponents and win more pots?

Answer 1

Everybody has different methods. You find out if yours are working by the size of your stack.

The number one thing is to get rid of any "tell." This is where the phrase "poker face" comes from. You don't want your face to show your cards. Also, you don't want any other actions to show your cards.

In my little "local" game, several of the players used to have "card guards." These were little things they would put on top of their hole cards. For example, some would put one chip of the highest denomination on them. I watched what they did with their card guard and was able to figure out that one player would carefully place his card guard on his cards when he had a good hand. But when he was bluffing he would just fling it on there, or forget entirely.

I once knew a lady who would bet max when she was bluffing, but would bet 90% when she had a strong hand. She lost a lot, but it was only on a chat room for "points" not real money. And she was an admin so she could refill her stack when she wanted. The points were good only for in-chat perks like getting extra emojis and such, so it was no big deal.

If you have snacks or drinks, you need to be aware of reaching for them when you have a decision to make. If you always drink your soda when you are bluffing, it won't take long to lose your stack. Same with other refreshments.

There is a pro player called Tom Dwan. When he's playing a big pot it's like his facial nerves are paralyzed. Between hands he laughs and frowns and jokes with the other players. But in the hand it's like he was carved by a bored sculptor.

I found that if I pasted a weak little grin on my face and kept the exact expression without change the entire game, it would mislead the other players. I tried not to frown at the good cards and grin at the bad because that's easy to read. I found a mild little "Arnold Rimmer" smirk that did not tire out my face and held it. No matter whether my hole cards were a pair of aces or 7-2 off-suit, the same expression was there. (This is Arnold Rimmer from the TV show "Red Dwarf." The H stands for hologram, which he is.)

And of course the other side of not giving a tell is to watch for other players to have a tell.

There are strategies for different kinds of poker. For example, in Texas holdem, if you hit big on the flop and want to show weakness, you don't raise. If the turn card does not help you at all, you bet then. It means you are signalling the turn card as good for your hand, and since it's trash for you, you are misleading the other players. The same can work on the turn card. If it makes your hand you don't bet until the river, especially if the river card is far away from your hand.

If they have decided to raise because they have a strong hand, some players will stop and make a show of thinking about it. If they have a really weak hand they will bet big with no hesitation. Always the goal is to signal the reverse of reality.

Still, you can't pull these tricks every time because they become easy to read quite quickly. In my local game, one guy would stop and "think" about his hand when he was pretty sure he had the highest possible hand. So the longer he thought the quicker I would fold. Until I caught him "thinking" about a 7-2 off-suit.