Bluffing in Cash Games

Bluffing is a big part of no limit poker but the average bluff is actually pretty small.  Almost every hand played at every poker table (especially at 6-max tables) includes a bluff at some point.  Whether it’s a preflop raise with weak starting hands, continuation bet with nothing or a big, all-in bluff on the river, you’ll see some sort of bluff in most hands.

The big bluffs are pretty uncommon, and for good reason: they have to work a high percentage of the time to be profitable.  Big bluffs are hard to pull off because by the time you find yourself in a big pot with someone else, that person is obviously pretty attached to his hand.  In small stakes games, big bluffs are a nightmare to pull off.

Small bluffs work with varying degrees of success.  Against the right opponents, small bluffs work almost every time.  In fact, just last night I was playing at Full Tilt Poker against someone on 4 different tables who folded to my preflop raises every single time.  I was lucky enough to show down strong hands a couple times so he was very reluctant to stand up to my constant blind steals.

As the night went on, I probably won an extra 15-20 big blinds from him just by raising every time it folded around to the two of us.  The point of my story is that if you find someone who’ll fold to your bluffs, keep at it relentlessly.  I felt a little obvious bluffing him so many times in a row but he never gave me a reason to stop.

The two keys to bluffing effectively in no limit cash games are to sell your bluffs effectively and to pick the right opponents to bluff.  Fish, for example, are terrible opponents to bluff because they never fold and you won’t gain any meta-game benefits from them.

Selling Your Bluffs

Getting an opponent to fold to a bluff is like selling a car to a cranky old man who doesn’t want it.  Eventually they’ll both part with their money; you just want to be the one who gets it.

That’s why it’s important that you talk your opponent into making the fold.  You have to sell it.  In the case of poker, you don’t sell it by talking; you sell it by telling a believable story.  You have to lie through your actions, not your words.

From the beginning of the hand, your actions need to add up to make your opponent believe you have a strong hand.  If you want to steal the blinds, you put in a preflop raise just like you would with a strong hand.  Then you bet the flop just like you would with a strong hand and you hope your opponent folds.

If you check and call all the way down on a board with two spades on it but then fire out a big bet on the river when no spades come, you’ll look like you’re bluffing a missed flush draw.  You didn’t sell your bluff effectively because your actions didn’t make sense.  Here you were checking and calling the whole time but then threw out a big bet on the river.

Here’s what a good opponent would think about the previous bluff:  “Ok, there were two spades on the board and he check-called all the way down.  Looks like he was chasing something.  On the river he finally bet as if he had a strong hand – but why did he wait until now to bet?  If he had something strong wouldn’t he have wanted to protect his hand from the spade flush draw?  I guess he could be trying to make me think that but that’s not very likely.  I call.”

Plan your bluffs in advance and make your hand look believable.  If you want to steal a certain pot, think about how you’d play if you really were holding a strong hand and mimic that play.

Picking the Right Opponents to Bluff

The stupider your opponent is, the harder he is to bluff but the smarter your opponent is, the harder he is to bluff.  There’s a sweet spot for intelligence in your opponents and those are the ones you want to bluff.  The poker players who have read a little strategy and can read hands on a basic level are the best ones to bluff.

Tight, unimaginative multi-tablers are great to bluff because they don’t have enough energy or time to worry about you bluffing them once in a while.  Their focus is on playing against as many fish as possible and if they get bluffed off the best hand every once in a while, oh well.

When you find the right opponent to bluff, bluff him as often as you can.  Some opponents will fold every single time – it’s hilarious!  There’s usually a certain street that they fold on the most.  For example, most of your opponents will call a bet on the flop but if you bet on the turn or river, they have to have something pretty strong to call.

Find that weak spot and attack it relentlessly.  If your opponent folds the river every time, play as many rivers against him as you can.  When (if) that opponent catches on, you can ease up on the bluffs.

Related Articles:

Stealing the Blinds
Floating