When it comes to bluffing in poker, either you’ve got it or you don’t. Some players are masters at bluffing while others are dead giveaways every time. If you are one of those players who haven’t quite got bluffing down yet, here are a few tips to help you along your way.
For starters, you don’t want to become known as a bluffer so don’t bluff on a majority of hands. When you do that it’s like the boy who cried wolf—the other players will expect that you’re bluffing and will call you on it. Bluffing works best when you use it so rarely that no one sees it coming. If you usually only go into the showdown with great hands then you are building up your bluff equity, so when you do bluff everyone will think you’re telling the truth.
Before you bluff you should also consider the type of hands that the other players who are still in are holding. If you suspect that one of the other players has the nuts or a really strong hand then you may want to call it quits rather than bluff a good hand and lose even more money.
Finally, understand that the higher the stakes the better at bluffing your opponents will be and the harder it will be to read them. Start out with free poker and low stakes poker games to practice your bluffing skills and then work your way up through the stakes as you improve.