Welcome to the first news letter from UK Poker Review.
We thought we would start off by maybe helping you
learn how to bluff in poker. It’s not something
that has a strict rule, but can help you bluff people
off a pot, or make them call when you have a top hand
(known as the nuts).
Now there are many opinions out there on the best
way to try and bluff in poker, but it does depend
on how aggressive other players are and also how you
have been playing the table. Firstly we wouldn’t
recommend trying to bluff on the first hand or too
early in the game. You are almost guaranteed that
someone else will have a better hand than you and
many players will be cautions calling any big raises
straight away as it really isn’t worth them
risking a stack of chips to bust out of the game early.
We would normally play quite tight early on; then
try to bluff a bit later in the game. By playing tight
early on in a game, it will help you throw players
off a hand later, as they should have noted you are
a tight player. After I have played a few hands and
managed gauged how other players are playing their
cards and let other people lose a few chips we might
play a bit more aggressive for the odd hand. Be careful
that you don’t run in to a big hand and bust
out of the game though.
If you get premium hole cards and you raise it pre
flop by up to 2.5 times the big blind, which is a
standard raise. You should get a couple of callers
then you are in a good position. You are not likely
to get many callers with 28 off suit, who might otherwise
try to limp in. If you hit the flop you are laughing,
if not you can bluff a trap check. By this I mean
you check the flop and see if you get any raisers,
then when you get the turn card try putting in a medium
bet, normally by this time it would be about 4 times
the big blind. If you get a call then the other player
is likely to be on a drawing hand. Try to think what
hands could be made. Then when the turn card comes,
try another slightly larger bet or if you are confident
that they don’t have a decent hand try an all
in move. This is what can throw people off the hand.
To do this you have to hope the person you are up
against has only hit a pair and the community cards
allow you to bluff a straight or a flush as an example.
Alternative after the flop you can try a large raise
on the flop and see if anyone calls or re rises. If
you get a re-raise, then they might have hit a set
(3 of a kind) or might be trying to see if you are
bluffing. It is quite dependant on how they have been
playing. If they are a lose player then they might
have been lucky and hit a decent hand. The main rule
I can give you though, if you are consistently a tight
player and then make a big raise, then most players
will credit you with having a big hand. Bluffing is
an art and can take years to master. There isn’t
anything better in our opinion than bluffing someone
off a big pot.
If you do try our approach, let us know how you get
on and if you found it to be of any use. Or if you
have another approach you would like to share with
us then please feel free to send us your comments
or come and chat to us on www.ukpokertalk.co.uk
Future articles include:
To Show or not to Show – Should you show players
when you have a hand or if you are bluffing?
Playing tips – General tips on how to play different
types of poker
Playing live V’s Online – How to approach
your first visit to a casino when you are used to
online play
For tips and poker strategies visit our poker
strategies pages!
