Skilled bluffer.

[Stuart]

Is it an essential for being a top player?

Seems an obvious question, but how important is it?

[bybo91]

 It depends. But I think it is quite important. If you never get a playable hand, you need to know how to bluff. or elst, youwill slowly run out of chips (Y)

[AdJag612]

When you play ABC proker, you will get far without bluffing. However bluffing in the right spots are essential for image, stack building and everything that makes poker interesting. Just read some 'bluff'-guidelines on the net.

succes

[Stuart]

 i'll do just that, reason for the question is that i'm so poor at bluffing and

have realised i do seem to have stopped progressing, possibly as a result.

 

Thanks mate

[AdJag612]

Next step is getting more lose when in position and avoiding playing in SB out of position against BB with bad hands. Learn to wait and strike hard when in position. Bluffs in possition have more chance of success

[Sect7G]

I've had decent success check raising on the flop when I'm in the big blind and I defended a minimum raise from the button.  I use it when there's only 1 face card and ideally an Ace on the flop.  Odds are he doesn't have it and if it's an Ace he can't call unless he has it or is reading my soul. ;)

[ArtyMcFly]

I never bluff.

Oh wait.

CfI28CZWEAA9-Z2

[bybo91]

 haha nice bluff, did he fold? :P

[Hemsedal1]

:smileyhappy:

[psrquack]

Nice one but I think he called.

[ArtyMcFly]

 Yes, he folded.

Not all of my bluffs work though. When I try repping a flush, straight or set, I sometimes still get called by bottom two pairs.

CjZiOlPWkAEiu5H

[psrquack]

Irish luck, what else?:smileytongue:

[ArtyMcFly]

I'm also infamous for making a ridiculous failed bluff on The Squid's twitch stream.

ChzljG2W0AAGaf9

Note to self: Don't bluff the calling stations. ;)

[Stuart]

Excellent screenshots  lol

Could never see myself playing quite like that, but i'll keep at it.

[robb-75]

they are equally important to be able to play their hand right to bluff ... huh quick thought on resolute on the quicker you operate out they increase your winning opportunities when you talk about your hand is strong .... live on the easier to bluff on the walk home ... on the live games I have noticed that if you hold a bar on your level increases when you have strong cards on them to demonstrate your hand on you later on the same table operates the same but with a weak hand so often get the pot on the bluff when they saw your strong hand with the same bet..de is my experience at the poker tables ... robb-75

[DaVitsche]

When you bluff it's just important to do it when your opponent still has a wide range, with few "nuts" in there, and your "story" makes a lot of sense.

NEVER just decide preflop "well, I'm going to bluff this hand", but rather do it because the board developed in such a way that your opponents range got a lot weaker.

Postflop it's a good idea to have (backdoor)equity if you decide to turn your hand into a bluff. And always know what part of your opponent's range you're targeting, and don't just make hands up for your opponent to have.

[raducunccc]

It.s very important to be able to bluff in certain key moments but still depends on your game.when you don't.t play aggressive you can bleff easily when you want

[JamiesOld]

Bluffing is probably the most misunderstood concept in poker. I could write a 10k word essay on this topic but I'll try and keep it brief.

 

What you need to remember about bluffing is that it isn't where you make your money. You make money in poker by betting for value and getting called. Bluffing is something you do simply to regulate your frequencies; to put it simply: it's something you do in order to get paid when you have value hands.

So when you are thinking about whether you should be bluffing or not you should ask yourself the following questions:

1) Would I bet here for value?

2) Would I bet this sizing for value?

3) Is my opponent likely to understand that I would bet here for value?

4) Does a bet here representing X make sense with what action I have made on previous streets (where X is the value hand you are representing).

 

The only real way to know whether your bluffing frequencies are balanced is by studying pre-flop, flop, turn, and river ranges, and doing some maths but I appreciate not everyone has the time (or energy) to do this so here's a simple rule I remember from my studies:

If you're betting a pot sized bet, you should have (roughly) twice as many combinations of bluffs as you do value hands.

A good way to passively achieve this without melting your brain doing combination calculations in every hand is this:

When bluffing on the flop, only bluff with gut-shut straight draws, backdoor flush draws, two overcards, flush draws, and straight draws. If you bluff with these hands on the flop and give up on the turn with the hands which don't turn a draw, your fequencies will automatically be somewhere near balanced and you can know you're not making much of a mistake (if it's a mistake at all).

 

Sorry if that was all a bit confusing, I tried to simplify it as much as possible, but it's a very big and very important subject (one which I have studied but a good few years ago), so I hope I've helped a little. 

[JamiesOld]

Also, I should have read all the posts before I replied because I've just realised I have basically said the exact same thing as DaVitsche but with more words. NotLikeThis

[Stuart]

Thank you  for taking the time to give an explanation of some fundamentals of bluffing, 

I found it very useful and will be able to refer back to it in the future too.

Much appreciated, great post.