Bluffing in online Poker

Now there are many opinions out there on the best way to try and bluff in poker, but it does depend on how aggressive other players are and also how you have been playing the table. Firstly we wouldn’t recommend trying to bluff on the first hand or too early in the game. You are almost guaranteed that someone else will have a better hand than you and many players will be cautions calling any big raises straight away as it really isn’t worth them risking a stack of chips to bust out of the game early. We would normally play quite tight early on; then try to bluff a bit later in the game. By playing tight early on in a game, it will help you throw players off a hand later, as they should have noted you are a tight player. After I have played a few hands and managed gauged how other players are playing their cards and let other people lose a few chips we might play a bit more aggressive for the odd hand. Be careful that you don’t run in to a big hand and bust out of the game though.

If you get premium hole cards and you raise it pre flop by up to 2.5 times the big blind, which is a standard raise. You should get a couple of callers then you are in a good position. You are not likely to get many callers with 28 off suit, who might otherwise try to limp in. If you hit the flop you are laughing, if not you can bluff a trap check. By this I mean you check the flop and see if you get any raisers, then when you get the turn card try putting in a medium bet, normally by this time it would be about 4 times the big blind. If you get a call then the other player is likely to be on a drawing hand. Try to think what hands could be made. Then when the turn card comes, try another slightly larger bet or if you are confident that they don’t have a decent hand try an all in move. This is what can throw people off the hand. To do this you have to hope the person you are up against has only hit a pair and the community cards allow you to bluff a straight or a flush as an example.

Alternative after the flop you can try a large raise on the flop and see if anyone calls or re rises. If you get a re-raise, then they might have hit a set (3 of a kind) or might be trying to see if you are bluffing. It is quite dependant on how they have been playing. If they are a lose player then they might have been lucky and hit a decent hand. The main rule I can give you though, if you are consistently a tight player and then make a big raise, then most players will credit you with having a big hand. Bluffing is an art and can take years to master. There isn’t anything better in our opinion than bluffing someone off a big pot.

If you do try our approach, let us know how you get on and if you found it to be of any use. Or if you have another approach you would like to share with us then please feel free to send us your comments or come and chat to us on www.ukpokertalk.co.uk

Future articles include:
To Show or not to Show – Should you show players when you have a hand or if you are bluffing?
Playing tips – General tips on how to play different types of poker
Playing live V’s Online – How to approach your first visit to a casino when you are used to online play