In my office, there is a painting on the wall. Mind you, I’ve sat in this office for about a year. The painting is pretty nice, colorful and scenic. Every day I look at this painting and it wasn’t until this week that I noticed the name of it. Over in the bottom right corner, it’s written, the word “Bluff”. When I realized it, I thought it was just hilarious. But it also got me thinking. Do I maximize my winning chances by bluffing as often as I should. Also, do I get bluffed out of too many pots when I still have the best of a hand.

All players, if they’re serious about their games, ask themselves questions in trying to analyze their games and find areas of improvement. Ultimately I decided that I would be more cognizant of potential bluffing situations and take advantage of them.

Without bluffing, a poker players game can never be complete. If you constantly are waiting for the nuts, you will find yourself waiting for a very long time and by waiting, you will be building a tighter and tighter table image and keep yourself from getting any action of your monster hands.

I do not mean to imply that you should bluff every other hand. Just to do it every once in a while, especially when it’s a nice sized pot and there is no other way for you to win the hand.

I recently played a hand which I was able to utilize a well-timed bluff. I was at my local $1-$2 no-limit game. I was on the button when I looked down to see the 10c-Jc, nice suited connectors. A middle-position player made a raise to $12 and I called as did the big blind. There was $37 in the pot and 3 players. Before anything else happened, I tried to get a read on what was going on. The initial raiser is a player who had earlier identified himself as strictly an internet player with very little live experience. Because he had mentioned this, I realized that he could be a player that I could make a move on later in the game. By giving me this piece of information, he unwittingly gave me ammunition I could use against him.

The flop came and it was the 9c-2c-7d giving me a backdoor straight draw and a flush draw. I’m not sure if this helped my young opponent but after the Big Blind checked, the initial raiser bet out $25. I noticed his facial expression and he didn’t look too happy. His inexperience made him quite easy to read. I thought about raising in hopes of getting a free card but decided to just call. His eyes widened when I did so which told me he was hoping for a fold in that spot. Now I’m guessing he’s on a medium pocket pair or possibly A-Q or A-K. The Big Blind folded

The turn card was the Kh and my opponent looked even more uncomfortable. He checked quickly and I looked at him and said, “I’ll give you a free card.” The river was the 5d and again he quickly checked. I paused and pushed $75 in chips forward, a stone cold bluff. I knew the 5 didn’t help him and I knew the King scared him on the turn. He thought and thought and thought and finally folded and I took my $87 pot. Not a huge win, but a win I wouldn’t have had without the bluff.

If I didn’t have the ability to bluff, I basically would have just thrown my money away by being involved in this hand. By reading my opponent and seizing the opportunity to bluff, I was able to take money I would have otherwise given up had I been more passive. Learn to bluff and scoop up more pots.

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