A bluff in a poker game is a bet or
raise without holding the best hand but to convince your opponent(s) you have.
It is a skill to bring the other players to fold their cards and to win the
pot.
I think, a bluff makes the difference
between a lucky gambling game and a skill game. There are many ways to bluff at
a poker table and the success of your bluff depends on your skills to know the
people (psychology), the way they play (observation task), your chance to win
(statistics), how to use the board for your advantage (persuasion) and when to
bring your “poker face” into the game (self-discipline).
All these skills and the frequency
of bluffing make the difference between a masterfull bluff and a gambling,
donkey game.
There are two kinds of bluffs in a
poker game*:
Pure bluff
A pure bluff, or stone-cold bluff,
is a bet or raise with an inferior hand that has little or no chance of
improving. A player making a pure bluff believes he can win the pot only if all
opponents fold. The pot odds for a bluff are the ratio of the size of the bluff to
the pot. A pure bluff has a positive expectation
(will be profitable in the long run) when the probability of being called by an
opponent is lower than the pot odds for the bluff.
Semi-bluff
In games with multiple betting
rounds, to bluff on one round with an inferior or drawing hand that might
improve in a later round is called a semi-bluff. A player making a
semi-bluff can win the pot two different ways: by all opponents folding
immediately or by catching a card to improve the player's hand. In some cases a
player may be on a draw but with odds strong enough that he is favored to win
the hand. In this case his bet is not classified as a semi-bluff even though
his bet may force opponents to fold hands with better current strength.
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