Bluffing on Poker
Successful bluffs, particulary in a high-stakes game, have great drama. Furthermore, people who do play much poker often thing that bluffing is the central element of the game.
It’s true, bluffing is an important aspect of poker, but it is only one part of the game, certainly no more important than playing your legitimate hands correctly. Though a player who never bluffs cannot expect to win as much money as someone who bluffs the proper freguency, most average players tend too bluff too much, particulary in limit games. When it cost an opponent only one more bet to see your hand, it is difficult to get away with a bluff, for with any kind of hand our opponent is usually getting suffucient pot odds to call your bet-especially if he has seen you trying to bluff several times already. Recollect the Fundamental Theorem of Poker and you will understand that an opponent who knows you never bluffs is much less likely to play his hand incorrectly. Any time you bet, he will know you are betting for value. He will play only when he figures he has a better hand than yours or when he is getting sufficient pot odds to call with more cards to come. Bluffing, then, or the possibility that you might be bluffing, is another way of keeping your opponent guessing. Your occasional bluffs disguise not just the hands with which you are in fact bluffing but also your legitimate hands, with which your opponents know you might be bluffing.
What is the right bluffing frequency? It is a frequency that makes it impossible for your opponents to know whether to call or fold. Mathematically, optimal bluffing strategy is to bluff in such a way that the chances against your bluffing are identical to the pot odds your opponent is getting.
Bluffing can be separated into a couple of different categories. There is bluffing when there are more cards to come and when there ae no more cards to come. Secondly, within each of these categories, there is intuitive bluffing and mathematical bluffing.
Yesterday i had a chance to watch one very exciting movie related to poker bluffing. It is “DEAL” by Gil Cates Jr starring film actor Burt Reynolds, with Bret Harrison, and Shannon Elizabeth. It tells the story of a former poker player (Reynolds) who tutors a younger player (Harrison). The film’s climax is a fictional World Poker Tour championship. Alex Stillman is a cocky, hotshot, card-playing senior at Yale University. Alex dreams of becoming a professional Texas Hold’em poker player but does not yet have the skill to master the table. Fortunately for him, a chance encounter introduces Alex to retired poker legend, Tommy Vinson. Tommy was at the top of his game twenty years ago but gave it all up in order to save his family. Upon meeting Alex, Tommy realizes he can regain his own self-confidence, pride and a poker championship title by turning Alex into his protege. The two pair up and master every tournament they enter. The winning streak and friendship between the two is eventually thwarted by the interference of a Las Vegas call girl, Michelle. The pair eventually part ways and separately prepare for the World Poker Tour. Only one will take home the championship title. Bluffing and players behaviour during the game are the center point in this movie. It is worth watching!
save this post as PDF
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...