Bluffing is an integral part of poker and of Texas Holdem. If you are simply waiting to get good cards and folding anything else, you'll never become a great poker player. In doing so, you are giving randomness and luck the upper hand, and that's not the best way to win pots. Bluffing is therefore required but unfortunately, some people are not very good at it. In this article, I explore common bluffing related errors. Learn what they are, and stay away from them!

Every time you try to bluff you are taking a risk. The key is to minimize this risk, and the following situations should generally be avoided:

Bluffing to steal a very small pot, or worthless blinds

In order to pull of a bluff, you are required to come in with a significant raise. Sometimes what's at stake just isn't worth it. If the blinds are 10-20, you are in the button position and your bet is 10 (with 60 in the pot let's say), then you'll need to bluff with at least a pot size bet. Anything less will likely not chase away anyone with suited connectors, an ace, a small pair, or even the big blind who's already invested. That means you would need to raise above the pot value to bluff. This falls into the category of over bets and will be viewed as suspicious. Anyone with an OK hand may decide to call you, or even raise you. If anyone raises you then what do you do? It's just not worth the risk when all that was at stakes was a mere 60 chips when everyone started out with 1500 chips. There's just too many ways it can backfire. Wait for the blinds to get significantly more expensive before you try and steal them, and wait for pots to grow bigger.

Failing to setting up the bluff

In order for your bluff to be believable, you have to set it up. That means you raise on the 1st betting round, and you keep raising on subsequent rounds. If you check, check, check, then come in with a pot bet, it will be viewed as very suspicious and anyone with a decent hand will be tempted to call.

Bluffing too often – If you keep raising every hand, people will get suspicious because they know you can't be getting great cards all the time. They'll tend to call you if they feel like your getting greedy.

Bluffing after getting caught bluffing

It's harder for you to get away with a bluff when people suspect you bluff a lot, and when they've caught you doing it a few times. When ever you raise, you won't be given much credibility and someone with an OK hand or better might call your bluff.

Failing to establish a conservative table image

I'm not saying it's essential to have a tight player image in order to get away with a bluff, but it certainly helps. If people think you are tight and conservative, they'll think a lot longer about calling you than if you're playing loose aggressive. You'll find that you'll have a lot more success at bluffing and making others fold when you have a tight image.

Bluffing the big stack

When it works, it pays off, but when you get called and are beat, it's a quick ticket home.

Bluffing against aggressive players

I'm not saying you should never do it, but it's hard to predict how an aggressive player will react, and it's not uncommon for them to reraise you. It's easier to make a tight player fold, than to make a loose player fold. If the tight player doesn't fold, then you should probably review the hand in your head because you may be in trouble.

You don't need to go all in

You can bluff with a nice raise. People over use the all in play and it's not smart. If everyone starts out with 1500 chips, the pot is worth 100 and you raise to 1500, that's idiotic. At this stage, you're just rolling the dice. Sure, you may win once in a while, but over then long term, you'll loose and you'll loose big. It's not a good way to play poker, and when you do it constantly, it actually shows your inexperience. Even with a hand like A-A it's not an intelligent play. There are better strategies that will maximize the returns and minimize the risks.

These are common situations that I see in various online poker rooms, and they are generally coming from inexperienced players. I say inexperienced because I note all kinds of other holes in their games. As with any poker article however, you must keep in mind that there are always exceptions and while I point out what is generally a bad play, it doesn't mean that you'll never succeed at pulling it off. You may even find that under the right circumstances, the play works out well for you. I believe that these general guidelines are applicable in most situations however. But don't take my word for it, just keep your eyes open at the poker table and watch people loose money because they make the mistakes outlined in this article. And when you do see it happen, I want you to think “Yeah, I guess Ace was right about that”!