Free Poker Guide to How to Bluff and semi Bluff to the Pot

Bluffing in poker is when you don’t have a great hand but you bet or raise to try and convince the other players you have a string hand and get them to fold even if they have better hands. An essential skill that you should start to practice whether you play free online poker or live room games.

Why is it important to be able to bluff?
Firstly it enables you to win with cards that are not so great.

But there is a second reason, more refined : you need to bluff to have the possibility to win big pots when you really have the best hand.

In other words, even the failed bluffs have a utility for you, because they bring your opponents to call right when you have good cards.

But you must be careful here. Bluff too much and you set a pattern up and you will always get called and will lose much more often. if you never bluff, when you have good cards and raise the pot, your opponents fold and you win a small pot.

But if you can get it right and bluff with the right frequency, you will make your opponents unsure, and force bad decisions..

6 Ways To Be a Better Poker Bluffer
1) Be careful bluffing at limited tables. On this type of table you cannot raise too much as your opponents can call your bet easier than at a No-Limit Texas Holdem table.

2) Study the other players. If there are a lot of good players then logically your chances are lower, maybe you should look for another table.

This is true because strong players respect the bets of their opponents, and have the right discipline to fold their cards even with a medium hand.

The weak player, instead, doesn’t understand that you are trying to bluff, or calls your bet just out of curiosity.

3) Aim to build a reputation on your the table. You want to make them unsure about your motives at all times, make them doubt!

For example, you can start the tournament with a lot of bluffing, so your opponents will call you a lot and you can win big pots when you have the right cards.

Or you begin ny calling only with strong cards (AK, AQ, high pairs etc). Later on you can bring in some bluffs with weaker hands as they will think by now that you must have good cards.

4) Your position is decisive and in general it is good to call when you are in the last positions, near the dealer, because you have more information about your opponents.

5) Practice! Start of on free poker sites to get the improve your skills in an environment that won’t punish you financially.

6) Sometimes you can make the “semi-bluff”. You bet, hoping that your opponents fold, but you still have a chance to win the pot at the showdown if there is a good turn and river. This happens, for example, when you have 4/5 flush, or 4/5 straight, or in rare cases when you have Ace-high.

Look at a semi bluff example:
You have 9 and 10 of hearts and the flop is Q-hearts , 4-clubs and 7-hearts.

In this example you don’t have the strongest hand. Your opponent has a 3 and 4 which is normally very weak preflop but in this case gives him a better chance.

So you can try to make a semi-bluff , because you have the 4 hearts cards.You bet, and your opponent starts to think about what to do.

He has only a pair, and a very low one. He thinks: “I have few chances to win.. only a pair of 4s. He is betting, probably he has the Q.. or 7.. Uhm, let’s try with another hand”, and the fold comes.

And also if your opponent calls, the turn or the river can be a hearts, so you maintain good chances to win.

The Semi-bluff is also useful to contain losses.
For example, the situation is the same above ( You: 9h-10h , Flop Qh-4c-7h ), and you decide to bet.

If your opponent is weak, he’ll probably fold. But if your opponent has the Q, if you don’t bet a little, he will probably bet a higher amount of chips, to let you fold, and you become unsure of what to do.

Call with 4/5 flush, or fold? However, to see the next card, you have to put in the pot more chips than if you bet for first.

If you bet a small amount of chips, your opponent probably just call, and you “buy” another card with few chips.

How to defend against a possible bluff?
There aren’t many choices. You can accept the challenge, or you can fold.v For this reason the bluff and semi-bluff are a very powerful weapon.

My last suggestion: if you decide to accept the challenge, restrict yourself to call is rarely the good decision. You should raise, to let your opponent think: “Uhm, it’s better to stay relaxed, my opponent has good card”.

Bluffing is a poker skill that needs practice. If you’re new to poker begin on free online poker sites and progress from there to lower stakes games and beyond as your skills and bankroll grows.