You can fool some of the public all the time, and all of the public some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the public all the time.” – Abraham Lincoln

One element of pokeris deception. Bluffing is the quintessential trick in poker. Of course, the reasoning for a bluff is to deceive the other players into thinking you have a better hand when you really do not. For a bluff to work, you need the other players to reckon you really have that better hand. Many beginning poker players like this thought of bluffing and often misuse it. The value of the bluff increases under certain general circumstances that often have a lot to do with information you assume in this area the other players. This vagueness makes it hard to give definitive reasons or places to bluff. Some less generalized times to bluff and some advice are given below. The bottom of the page gives some more thoughts and perspectives on deception in poker.

Some typical reasons to bluff…

Keep in mind that these are pretty common reasons to bluff. Many players know these reasons. Most of the time it just won’t work. The main thing is always to know your players and to not do it so often that it never works.

There’s some fantastic books in this area bluffing out there. We suggest reading as much as you can in this area it, as it’s one of the most misunderstood aspects of poker.