A Poker Player's Stance on Bluffing

Of course, as a Poker player, your sole aim during play is to WIN.

And bluffing plays a major role in such plays, too.

In Limit Draw Poker, and practically all Draw Poker is played with a limit. A player should regard his bluffs in the same manner as a businessman regards his advertising appropriation.

During the course of a session of play, you have a certain number of winning hands. Naturally, you bet with these hands, and naturally you want people to call you, since when they call they are giving you chips.

However, if you never bluff, no one is going to call those bets, and hence you should spend a certain amount of money bluffing in order to get these calls.

Of course, once in a while a bluff will be successful and will win the pot for you. That is just great, since you should bear in mind that your bluffs are actually nothing but advertising.

The most elementary and frequent bluff in Draw Poker is the bluff when you have drawn to a straight or flush and failed to make it.

As a matter of fact, practically every player bluffs too often in this situation since the temptation is so great.

The pat-hand bluff is one of the most effective most Poker players know and is really likely to succeed. There are three forms to this bluff.

First, the pot is opened right in front of you and you simply call. Now, if anyone raises, you stand pat, and immediately all the other players think you surely have a pat hand and are sandbagging.

After the draw you bet the limit and it really takes a stout heart to call you.

In addition, you can also raise before the draw and again stand pat. This variation is by no means so advantageous as the first.

Let us assume that: a total ante of seven chips and a five-chip limit. In the first instance, the pot is opened for five chips.

We call for five, leaving a total of seventeen in the pot. No one else comes in. After the draw, we vet five more.

If we are called, the bluff costs us ten chips; if we are not called, we have gained twelve. In the second instance there is a chance that the opener will drop when we raise.

However, assuming that he does stay, there are more chips in the pot. Hence, he is more likely to call us after the draw.

Furthermore, if this bluff is unsuccessful, we have lost fifteen chips.