Bluffing in Live Poker - Review
BLUFFING BY THE BOOK
As in all Poker and Casino, sound play rests on knowledge of the statistical probabilities. These depend not only on the cards in the hand but on the number of opponents yet to be heard from. The more players yet to speak, the greater the possibility that someone holds a superior hand. Table A lists the minimum hands considered good enough for a sound opening in each situation.
TABLE A
It is customary to lower these standards by one notch when holding a side card of higher rank. With a pair of jacks and a side ace, one might open the betting against four opponents. For example, in a casino poker game against six when two others have already checked.
After an opponent opens, the decision to call or drop depends on another set of probabilities. Where more than one opponent has already called, a relatively strong hand is needed to remain safely in the game. Table B summarizes the conventional wisdom.
TABLE B
Players Staying
6
5
4
3
2
1
Of course, these guidelines and all others are ignored when the
pot or the bonus is large enough to justify a long chance. If only a few chips need
be risked on the possibility of winning five or ten times their worth,
it is sensible to adjust tactics accordingly.
As implied earlier, no good Poker player at a casino remains inflexibly with
the percentages, hallowed though they may be. The unimaginative
tactician is a patsy. His opponents know beyond doubt when he
holds a strong hand and when he does not. Good players cut their
tactics against the grain now and then, attempting to keep everyone
else off balance.
Which is where the bluff arises. It is exactly what its name suggests—a misrepresentation. The hand is weak but the bluffer bets as
if it were powerful.
He holds a pair of aces and behaves as if it were three of a kind,
During the draw, he airily requests only two cards. He then bets his
head off. Sometimes he scares out opponents who hold two pairs.
Indeed, he sometimes intimidates opponents who hold three of a
kind,
So he steals an occasional pot. But the benefits of the bluff range
even farther than that. The bluffer makes most headway when his
deception is unmasked. Someone calls his bets and the showdown
reveals the bluff. Havoc!
How often had he bluffed and not been caught? The next time he
bets heavily, will he be bluffing? How does one go about divining the
actual strength of such an opponent’s hands?
He has made his point. For the rest of the session—unless his op-
ponents are strong players—he can count on profits from the con-
fusion he has caused. Indeed, when party to a weekly game against
weaker players, a good bluffer can feather his nest for an entire
season by getting himself caught in a showdown once or twice a
month. Doing so, he lays the groundwork for the occasions when he
can bet his full house as if he were bluffing with a pair of threes.
In a game against competent players at a bonus casino, the bluffer is less likely to
make money on his bluffs than on his strong hands. As suggested, he
prefers to lose a bluff—advertising, as the Poker lexicon has it.
Furthermore, he does not bluff frequently.
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