When Should You Bluff In Poker?

Are you wondering is bluffing a good idea? When you’re playing poker, there’s always going to be a player or two that bluffs the whole time and makes a mess of it. No one wants to be that player.

So we’re going to teach you all about when bluffing is a good idea, when it’s not and how to use it to your advantage.

What is a poker bluff?

Simply put, bluffing in poker is when your actions don’t match the hand you have. It’s when you strategically bet, raise or re-raise in order to scare your fellow players. This leads them to fold and you to win the pot.

When you’re bluffing, you don’t think you have the hand that will win in a showdown. However, your goal is to fool your opponents into thinking that you do and then folding pre-showdown.

Who tends to bluff a lot in poker?

Whether you’re inclined to bluff a lot or not depends on your poker personality. If you’re a loose and/or aggressive player, oftentimes you’re more likely to think that bluffing is a good idea more often. It might come more naturally to you.

Loose players see more flops than the average player. Meanwhile, aggressive players aren’t at all afraid of the big bets and lean into scaring players away from pots.

When is bluffing not a good idea?

If you get a reputation for constantly bluffing, you’re going to end up in a whole pile of trouble. Players are going to know that you don’t always have the whopper hand you’re pretending to represent.

They’ll challenge you, force you into a showdown (or an embarrassing re-raise fold) and you’ll have to hang your head in poker shame.

Back down from the bluff if you find yourself bluffing way too often or if you think your opponent actually has a pretty decent hand.

If you know in your heart of hearts it’s not a good time to bluff, just fold. There are lots of good reasons to fold and this is definitely one of them.

When is bluffing a good idea?

Bluffing is something you need to think through. You can’t do it every hand or else it’s not believable. People at your table will start to smell a rat and they’ll catch you out.

However, if you through in the odd bluff during a hand where it looks like your opponents all have middling or weak hands, it’s going to work to your favour.

You also need to start playing your bluff early on. Make sure your bluff makes sense in the context of your betting pre-flop and during the flop, turn and river. If you do something totally unexpected, people are less likely to believe you.

It’s also a good idea to keep pot odds in your mind at all time. Maximise your potential winnings and minimise your potential losses with smarter bluffing.

Is bluffing a good idea online?

In some ways, it’s an even better idea to practice smarter bluffing online first. Then once you get the hang of it and you’re confident enough, you can do it in the flesh.

A great place to practice bluffing online is bet365. They’ve got a great range of tables and stake levels, so you can start small and progress. Plus when you sign up using this bet365 bonus code, you get a super sweet welcome offer too.