Bluffing is one of the most thrilling aspects of playing Texas Hold’em poker online. But contrary to popular opinion among amateur players, becoming a successful bluffer involves more than just mastering your poker face. Keep reading to learn psychology and the statistics of convincing your opponents that you have the upper hand.
Tips on the Psychology of Bluffing
- Bluffing in online poker games is a necessary part of your strategy. It’s not a question of if you should bluff, it’s a question of when you should bluff. If you don’t bluff at all, you’re likely to lose in the long run.
- Pace yourself. If you bluff too often, it’s more likely that you’ll get caught. The exception to this rule is when you’ve recently been caught bluffing and then land a great hand. Use this to your advantage by luring your opponents to raise.
- Take note of your table image. Even for experienced best online poker players, if you’re on a losing streak and your table image has been impaired, now is not the time to start bluffing. Chances are you’ll get chased by your opponents.
- Be aware of your opponent’s tells – especially the experienced players. You’re not the only player at the table who might be bluffing and you need to know what you’re up against.
- Exploit ‘scare hands’. When the community cards show the possibility of a strong hand, it’s a good opportunity to pretend that you hold the nuts. The downside is that under these circumstances, everyone else at the table can do the same.
- Beware of bad players. They might not have the skills to read the board correctly, and subsequently, to notice that you’re playing as if you have a strong hand.
- Compensate for your bluffing strategy when playing online. Since your opponents can’t actually see you, and since there are many novices at the online tables, it is more difficult for a fellow online player to notice when you’re trying to indicate that you have a strong hand.
Tips on the Statistics of Bluffing
- There are few players at the table. This is true for two reasons: 1) the fewer hands are on the table, the less the chance that someone has a decent hand; 2) the fewer players are on the table, the fewer people you have to convince.
- No one has raised and you’re in late position. Just remember: this is a fairly obvious bluff, and is, therefore, harder to pull off.
- There’s a mediocre flop. Most players will fold under these circumstances, and you can use it to your advantage. But you first have to gauge your opponents to determine if bluffing is the right move here.
- A pair is showing on the board. The lower the pair is, the more useful this strategy becomes. For example, if the pair is 7,7 there is a good chance that these cards have already been folded.
- You’re at a high or no-limit table. There’s not much of an advantage to bluffing in a low limit game. It is more likely that someone will call this bluff because it only requires a small bit to see your cards.
- Your opponents have a short chip stack. This is a great opportunity to exploit your opponents’ weak spots.
- You have some possible ‘outs’ (also known as a ‘semi-bluff’). Bluffing with ‘outs’ just means that the game is not over yet and there’s still a chance that the turn or river cards will bring you a decent hand.
Happy playing!
Read more:
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Know All about Bad Beat in Poker Online