subject: Steal An Approprite Percentage of Pots in Poker [print this page] Steal An Approprite Percentage of Pots in Poker
Bluffing is possible in online poker. It's harder to spot, since you can't see your opponent blushing or squirming in a lie, and you can't tell if their tone of voice has changed. However, this also means it's harder to manipulate your opponent with displays of false confidence or nervousness.If you ask a poker player, he will tell you bluffing is to bet a weak hand with the hope the others players will be driven out of the pot. Poker would become a boring game without the element of bluffing. Bets would be made and the strongest hand would always win.But as things are now, some poker players win a lot of the time, and some are losers almost all the time. It is often poker bluffing online, or the chance that one's opponent might be bluffing, that separates the winners and the losers. Poker bluffing online is a type of deception, and deception is important for winning in poker. If your adversaries knew what cards you were holding, they would indeed be difficult to beat. To keep the others off balance is the aim of poker bluffing online.
1.How to bluff?
Don't make the mistake of thinking "steal" equals "bluff." Bluffing is just one way to steal in online poker games. You can "steal the button" by making a bet or raise with a weak hand so that you get the most advantageous position in later betting rounds. The clichd "free card" raise is an attempt to steal a free ride for a betting round. "Stealing the blinds" can occur when a player raises with a mediocre hand because it looks like he will not be called by anyone. In HiLo games you can "steal half the pot" several ways, like by raising out other players when you hold a hand that has mediocre high value and mediocre low value but is unlikely to get scooped by one opponent.But pure bluffing will always be the flashiest, most adrenalin-pumping action in poker. Effective bluffing results in some of the most critical income a player can create.
2.When should bluff?
Don't bluff when most people bluff! Most people bluff in all the wrong situations. Most people bluff from last position. Most people bluff in big pots. Most people bluff in games where it is often true that nobody has much.Most people bluff after they raised before the flop. In all these situations the dealer might as well stick a flashing red light on the pot that blinks "211 in progress." While a bluff might sometimes be appropriate in these situations, usually they are all wrong. Bluffing is a deception. You are trying to look like you got sumthin' when you got nuthin'. So, normally it isn't a good idea to bluff when people are expecting you to bluff. Normally it isn't a good idea to bluff in situations where the opponent would at least think about bluffing!You can try it in Party Poker.
You should tend to bluff in situations where your opponent would never think to bluff. After all, what matters is what your opponent thinks, not what makes sense. Bluff from early position. Bluff small pots. Bluff in hands where you have shown weakness rather than strength. Find situations to bluff in Omaha8, where most people think bluffing is impossible. Bluff when you take three cards in draw, not when you take one. Bluff when your opponent will think: "Naah, he wouldn't bluff here."
Remember, bluffing is part of "fraud." That is its category. Fraud involves tricking, deceiving. So don't be bluffing when your opponent expects it. Don't be bluffing when your opponent would bluff. Fraud in poker is like stealing in the rest of the world -- except for advertising value, it only pays when you get away with it.
