The Bluff
Bluffing is one of the most exciting moves a player can undertake in poker. The idea alone that you set out to get someone’s chips, holding nothing in your pocket, only with deceit and shrewdness on your side, is enthralling enough to make players commit countless mistakes in their bluff attempts.
Basically, there are two types of bluffs. The semi-bluff is a move players make on hands where they have several outs and relatively decent odds to make a monster. A semi bluff is a way to take down a pot with force, without taking the hand to showdown. In a word: if you have a hand which gives you several outs, but you’d rather just have the pot as it is right then and there, a semi bluff is called for.
Pure bluffs have nothing do with the strength of your hand. A pure bluff is usually based on the reads you get on your opponents and whatever other information you deem relevant. The c-bet is a mini-bluff itself, as it enables you to win a pot without ever having to take your hand to showdown.
C-betting (continuation betting) is a bluff which carries a high percentage success rate. That’s because it doesn’t just drop out of the clear blue sky like a donk-bluff, it is instead a way to hammer home the advantage you’ve created for yourself through the preflop bet you placed. By putting your opponents on the correct starting hand-range and recognizing the situations in which C-betting is recommended, you’ll turn this small bluff into an efficient weapon at the green felt.
Floating is another example of a pure bluff. When you ‘float’ you basically call your opponent’s bet in order to see whether or not he shows weakness on an upcoming street, weakness which you’ll then pounce on.
Floating can be used efficiently to counter the c-bet, which means that when it comes to playing the player instead of your cards, a bluff can indeed be used to bust another bluff and thus to keep your opponent honest. Floating is generally done when you find yourself heads-up on the flop against an opponent (a situation which screams for C-betting to begin with), and you have position on him. The flop misses both your hands, but being the wise-guy that he is, your opponent knows this is one hand he should definitely c-bet. The cold shower comes though when instead of mucking your cards, you flat-call his second bullet. That move gets him thinking and he begins to doubt whether or not you have the goods indeed. He checks the turn, and that’s when you make your move: you bet into him letting him know you have a hand which you’d like to play for more chips, and therefore checking around just won’t do.
It is imperative that you have position on your opponent when floating like this. Floating can be attempted from out of position too, but that way, you’ll either have to lead out by firing a bet into your opponent on the turn, or by check-raising him which is much riskier.
Probe betting is another way to take down a pot without holding anything in your pocket. Contrary to floating, probe betting is best done from early position. When you suspect there’s a flop on the table which is not likely to have helped any of your opponents, you fire out a bet, taking a jab at the pot. More often than not, such moves are crowned with success, simply because when people see you being so aggressive from the worst position at the table, they suspect you have to have something really solid.
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