How to Bluff

Simply put; bluffing is done when you are dealt a bad hand. You raise the pot to make the other players believe that you have a good hand so that they will fold. Even though your cards are not good, if nobody else is making a raise, it's often a good time to pull off a bluff to 'steal the pot'.

Body language plays a key factor when you are playing poker at a casino and want to bluff. Players often have 'tells', small gestures or expressions that indicate the strength or weakness of their hand, and these can be 'faked' along with a bet to indicate a strong hand, or observed in other players to indicate weak hands and a good opportunity to bluff.

Because there is no face-to-face on online poker, bluffing on-line is more difficult, but it can be done. Without physical tells to observe the bluffing is more in the betting action itself, but there are 'online tells' including the speed with which a bet is called or raise made, and some other small observations that can be made depending on where you play.

It's more difficult to pull off a bluff when there are lots of players at the table, so it's not usually the best course of action unless you're confident you can make the remaining players fold. Trying to make more than a few players fold on a bluff is extremely difficult, and can thin out your bankroll quickly if someone you're trying to bluff sets a trap by slow playing a good hand.

There are occasions where it is in your best interest just to fold. You can't win every hand, especially not by bluffing constantly, and there will occasionally be a time where your bluff gets called out or raised and you're forced to fold. If you're caught, use it to your advantage, try to 'act' the same way when you've locked in a winning hand to see if you can't keep people calling, or trying to put you out with a raise on a suspected bluff.