One of the most mysterious and exciting things about poker, particularly No-Limit Holdem, is bluffing. In poker, bluffing is betting or raising to force opponents to fold a stronger hand.
For people who have never played poker, it might look like it’s all about bluffing and putting on a tough poker face. Poker bluff is indeed a very important part of strategy. But it is not only about keeping a straight face but also choosing the right timing and taking into account many factors.
You can win a lot of money when you successfully bluff and show your opponent the worst hand. However, few poker players know how to bluff correctly.
The Goal of Bluffing
It may be scary to try bluffing, as anybody who has done it previously can attest to. Your hard-earned money is lost if you are called while betting with a hand you know is unwinnable. What makes us bluff, then?
👉 An experienced poker player wouldn’t have any reason to call your bet when they do not have a good hand if they know you never bluff. When we include bluffs in our range, our opponents have to call more often, which makes our good hands more valuable.
According to the GTO poker strategy, all your bets and raises in all situations should include both value and bluff hands. This is explained by mathematics. Your actions need to be balanced so that your opponents have a hard time reading you. If you start bluffing too much or too little, your opponents can adjust by calling or folding more frequently, respectively.
But all that doesn’t mean we should bluff without thinking. A good player will know how to make money from their value cards and bluffs. In light of this, we should carefully consider the hands we use to bluff since some bluffs are more profitable than others.
Types of Bluffs
There is no strict division into types in poker bluffing. Each game situation is unique in its own way. However, there are usually 4 types of bluffing: c-bet bluff, the semi-bluff, the stone-cold bluff, and the opportunistic bluff. Even if some of these definitions could be similar, one will be more applicable to your circumstances than the other. Also, note that certain game spot may include a mix of several types. Let us now examine what they are.
Continuation Bet Bluff
In poker, this is probably the most typical bluff you’ll encounter. After raising pre-flop, most players will place a continuation bet on the flop regardless of their hand strength.
Hitting the flop is pretty tough, so a C-bet bluff will often work, especially against people who aren’t sure how wide they should defend. In Texas Hold’em, you only get a pair about 30% of the time. It means that even if you get a draw another 10% of the time, your opponent will probably fold 60% of the time if you bet.
Still don’t become crazy with your cbets. If you bet 100% of the time in those spots, your opponents might adjust and start calling and raising more against you. Consider board texture and other factors we’ll describe later in this article.
Example: you’re in the middle position with A♣ K♥. You made an open raise and a player on the small blind calls. The flop comes T♠ 4♠ 2♣. Your opponent checks and you place a continuation bet, with the sizing of 33% of the pot.
Opportunistic Bluff
This type of bluff is often used in multiway pots with several players, and it’s made when no one else in the hand has shown any interest in taking the pot. Players often check their hands a lot in multiway pots. They do this because they believe that someone will call if they bet.
Nevertheless, the fact is that most of the time, nobody has anything to call with, and you might win a big pot by making an opportunistic bluff. The interest shown by your opponents ought to be the primary motivator for you to bluff in these circumstances, not the hand you have.
Example: you have 8♠ 7♣ on the Big blind. Two players limp preflop and you check. The Flop comes Q♥4♦6♠, everyone checked. The Turn comes 2♦. You decide to place a bet to try to steal the pot now, or with the second barrel on the River.
Semi-Bluff or “Bluff with Equity”
The semi-bluff is the most recommended bluff technique for poker players to use. This bluff is executed with a hand that may improve on subsequent streets, although it is now weak. These are the ideal bluffs because they provide two possibilities to win: either you make the best hand by the River, or your opponent folds when you bluff them. Common instances of semi-bluffs include flush and straight draws; a hand with two overcards may also be regarded as a semi-bluff.
For instance, you hold 8♠ 9♠ and the community cards are 6♠ T♠ 2♦. If you decide to bet or raise, you’re semi-bluffing because if your opponent folds, you win the pot immediately. On the other hand, even if they decide to call, you still have a chance to improve your hand by hitting your flush or straight on the turn or river.
Pure Bluff or “Stone Cold” Bluff
Most amateur players think this is how poker is played. A player is said to make a stone-cold or pure bluff when they bet with a hand with no chance of improving.
Players should be careful with these bluffs because you can’t win the hand if they get called. It’s the opposite of semi-bluff, where you still have equity and a chance to improve. Because of this, only stone-cold bluffs should be used when you’re sure that your opponent has a really weak range.
When there are too many stone-cold bluffs in your range, you will bluff too often, making it easier for your opponent to call you.
Example: you are dealt 5♦ 4♦ and the board comes Q♣ J♣ 9♠ 2♥ 7♦. Even though your hand isn’t good enough to win, if you think your opponent is weak, place an overbet to make them fold a better hand.
Factors to Consider Before Bluffing
It takes more than simply being aggressive to play poker well. It involves taking calculated risks at the appropriate times. Here are factors to consider before determining whether or not to bluff:
1. Stakes
Bluffing at lower levels, like micro stakes, is more challenging because players tend to call more. However, as you move up in stakes, you will need a more balanced strategy. You will have to increase your bluffing frequency to be unexploitable.
2. Table Image
How your opponents perceive you can determine whether your bluffs will succeed. Players may be more likely to believe your bluffs if they consider you a tight player. Players may be more likely to call your bluff if they see you as a loose player. Consider bluffing less if you’ve recently been too aggressive or caught bluffing.
3. Number of Players
How many players are at a table should greatly influence your decision to bluff. Too many people in the hand can make it risky to bluff because you’re more likely to be called down by someone with a better hand.
4. Size of Your Chips Stack
The effective stack sizes in use should be among your initial considerations. To force your opponent to make a tough choice, you must have enough chips over them. Why even attempt to bluff if, when you raise, all they have in their stack is 20% of the pot? There’s a good chance they won’t fold, because they’ll have too good odds to call.
👉 The deeper the stacks, the better the situation is for bluffing.
Let’s say that at a table, both you and your opponent are well-loaded. You can significantly increase their stack’s leverage in this situation. But to achieve that, you must feel at ease placing large wagers in an attempt to bluff.
5. Board Texture
The board’s texture is something else to think about. You should constantly think about which range does better on each board because that tells you how often to bet.
T♥ 9♣ 3♥ K♦ 6♥: Most of the draw hands from the Flop got there on the River.
T♥ 9♣ 3♥ A♠ 2♣: All of the draw hands missed.
If, say, the board strongly favors your opponent, it is advisable to lower your bluffing frequency since it’s more likely they have a hand that can call you down. In the same way, you should bluff more often if you think the board is very strong for your range. Your opponent won’t have enough hands to fight against your bet, so they’ll probably fold too many times.
6. Information about your opponents
It is best to bluff against opponents on whom you have some information. You should at least know that your opponent is capable of folding medium-strong hands. Some players think that folding is weak and never give up. It would be foolish to lose money bluffing against such players.
If you play online, you can use a poker HUD that displays statistics on players right on the table. You can look at basic stats like “WTSD” and “Fold to Cbet” to determine whether a bluff makes sense against a certain opponent.
👉 Learn more on how to use poker HUD and stats from our articles. These are powerful tools that will provide you with valuable data on your opponents in real time.
If you’re playing live poker, watch the hands even after you’ve folded. Remember what hands players show at showdown. Then match them to the action they showed in the hand. This way, you’ll build up valuable data in your head that you can use in future pots.
Common Bluffing Mistakes to Avoid
You can use bluffing to your advantage, but it can also hurt you if you use it incorrectly. So, when you bluff, always be careful and not make these typical mistakes.
🚫 Bluffing with a Small Stack
If you don’t have adequate chips, it might be best to play a passive game and try to build up your stack. Furthermore, bluffs are meant to be scary and bold, and no one will fold when you bluff with a short stack. You can still use some semi-bluffs with strong draws – in that case, even if your opponent doesn’t fold too often, you’d still have a good equity against their calling range.
🚫 Bluffing against a Strong Range
The main goal of a bluff is to get your opponent to fold. This is best accomplished when your opponent has a lot of weak and medium-strength hands in their range (or missed draws on the river). Don’t try to bluff out strong hands, especially at the micro and low stakes.
👉 If your opponent’s actions and board texture tell that your opponent has mostly top pair or better in their range, hold off on bluffing. You’ll have plenty of better spots.
🚫 Bluffing Into Multiple Opponents
It’s much harder to bluff when you have more than one opponent. There is a greater chance that someone has a strong enough hand to call you if more players are in the pot.
Spots to Bluff in Poker
Bluff is common in poker, but sometimes it will pay off more than other times. Let’s consider some of the most suitable spots for bluffing.
1. Bluffing in Position
When you’re playing in position, your bluffs can be more effective since you are the last to act, giving you more information about your opponents.
A typical scenario is if you’re on the Button and see that your opponents check to you on the turn after a missed flop. You can represent that you have a good hand by betting at the right time, even if you didn’t hit the board.
For instance, you hold 7♠ 6♠ and the board is K♦ 9♦ 4♣ A♥. The action was check-check on the Flop, and now your opponent checks again on the Turn. If you bet here, they might fold all unmade hands that currently have a higher kicker than yours. It’s already a good portion of their range. But they also might fold some low pairs, given that A♥ on the Turn hits your range well. You raised pref-flop and have a lot of Ax hands, so you could easily make a pair of Aces on this Turn card.
2. When You Have Blockers
You can bluff more successfully if you block certain cards that make up strong hands. If you hold blockers to the nuts or semi-nuts, the other player is less likely to have those hands.
For instance, you are dealt A♠ 4♦, and the board comes K♠ J♠ 5♦ 9♥ 5♠. Since you have the Ace of spades, it makes it less likely that your opponent has a flush, so bluffing here is more likely to work if they check the river.
3. In 3Bet Pots
It’s risky to bluff in three-bet pots, but it can pay off big time if your opponent shows weakness after the flop. Many players will fold to aggression if they miss the board after calling 3bet.
Say you have A♦ 5♦ and decide to three-bet pre-flop. The Flop comes J♣ 8♦ 2♠. If the other player checks, a continuation bet could mean that you have an overpair or strong hand, which would push them off of medium-strength cards.
4. On the River After a Missed Draw
Your opponent usually has only a high card or a weak pair when they miss a draw. It offers a great chance to bluff on the River.
Example: you have A♣ 5♣. You made an open raise on the Button pre-flop, and your opponent called on the Big Blind. The Flop came 9♠️ 8♠️ 2♣️. He checked, you bet, he called. The Turn came 4♥️, and again you bet after the opponent’s check and got called. Then, the River comes K♦️. Your opponent has a lot of missed draws and weak pairs in his range on that River. So placing a big bet would work very often. Even if you get called with some of the small pairs, still, your opponent’s range consists of too many missed draws, so he literally cannot call you with enough frequency. So mathematically, your bluff here will be very profitable against most of the players.
Wrapping Up
Bluffing is an integral part of poker that combines tactics and risk. Learning when and how to bluff can make a big difference in your game. However, you need to be very careful about how you do it. If you know about the different kinds of bluffs and avoid making common mistakes, you can improve your approach and increase your chances of winning at the table.
In this article, we have covered the basic principles of bluffing. As the next step, we recommend studying GTO poker theory. By exploring typical poker situations from a GTO perspective, you will see how value and bluff ranges are formed, as well as how often you should bluff in a given situation. This will form a mathematical foundation for your bluffs. Then, using the data from the HUD, you will be able to effectively use bluffs against certain opponents at the table.