One of the first things that beginning poker players are taught is not to play too many hands. For the most part, those who haven’t played poker for at least a couple of months should stick to playing the premium hands until they develop a good feel for the game. But one thing that isn’t preached enough to beginning poker players is the fact that they shouldn’t bluff much.
The bluff is one of the most overhyped plays in all of poker yet beginner’s often come into the game thinking that they need to be bluffing a whole lot more than what’s really needed. Part of this can be blamed on Hollywood while the other part can be attributed to the fact that bluffs are overdramatized elsewhere too. Whatever the case may be, you don’t need to be bluffing at every possible opportunity you get.
You should know the 3 different types of bluffs in poker though, and they are quick bluffs, semi-bluffs, and naked bluffs. A quick bluff is the most commonly used, and is the most successful since it wins a big percentage of the time. With a quick bluff, you are normally looking to steal a small pot in a situation where no one is likely to call you. For instance, if everyone is limping in on a hand with a small pot and bad flop, it’s likely nobody will call your raise in this situation.
The semi-bluff doesn’t win as often, but it does give a player the chance to win even if they get called. An example of this would be if the flop came 10d-8s-6d while you were holding Kd-Qd and a player before you made a half-sized pot bet. If you were to raise this player, you would be doing so on the premise that they would fold. However, even if they do call you’ll have a chance to hit either an over card or a flush so this is only a semi-bluff.
The naked bluff is the one you’ll see in movies since it involves a player having absolutely nothing yet still making a huge raise or going all-in. Naked bluffs are the worst possible ones to do since you’re risking a lot on the notion that you won’t be called. Make sure to avoid naked bluffs altogether since they are not profitable in the long run.
