PokerWorks

Before you try to pull off a bluff, you must consider a few factors about yourself and your opponents. For one, you must consider you reputation. Do people perceive you as loose or tight? Have you been caught bluffing recently? You must also consider who you are trying to bluff. Is this a player who will lay down a hand or is he unbluffable? Let's look at some situations in which these considerations were put into practice.

In the first example, I held J-Q in the big blind and was playing a $5-$10 limit hold'em game at Foxwoods Casino Resort in Connecticut when the flop came 9-9-5. I checked my blanks, a solid player bet out from middle position and everyone else folded. Rather than muck, I decided this was time for a bluff. I didn't think the guy had a 9 because even solid players usually check a big hand like trips on the flop in low limit hold'em games. (That's a reason, in fact, why I often bet out when I flop trips these days. No one believes I have trips so they call me down.) I knew the guy was observant and had seen me play solid hands so I figured I could represent a 9 on the turn and get him to fold. Sure enough, a small card fell on the turn; he bet when I checked to him and folded when I check raised.

Note that a check raise bluff is more expensive if it fails, but it tends to work more often because people often believe you have a strong hand when you check raise them. Another factor to consider in this situation is that the two 9s were the highest cards on the board. I may have gotten the player off of a pair of fives (though I suspect he had nothing but ace high), but if the board had been J-9-9 and he held a jack, it would be more difficult to execute the bluff because he could have made a crying call hoping to catch another jack on the river and make the top full house. He's less likely to call down with a pair under the 9s because he could make a full house and still lose.

In example two, I was bluffed off the winning hand in a $1-$2 blinds no limit hold'em game in a local game. Phillip, a player capable of mixing it up by betting both strong and weak hands, raised to $15 from early position and I called with a K-Q suited. The flop was K-3-4. Phillip checked and I bet $25. He surprised me with a check raise of about $150 more. I had to think about that one for a couple of minutes and finally decided to fold. I couldn't get it out of my head that he held A-A or A-K, both of which had me dominated. Phillip showed his Q-Q to me. Undoubtedly, Phillip considered before making his bet that I was capable of laying down a good, but not great, hand here, which allowed his bluff to work. It also doesn't hurt to have a little firepower, i.e. chips, behind the bluff.

Both of these examples demonstrate how important it is to consider both who you are trying to bluff, as well as your own reputation before trying to take down a pot with the worst hand. I'd advise you not to bluff too liberally, but you will need to make the play occasionally to mix up your game. Before trying to steal a pot, think about the factors I cited and the chances of your play working should increase.