The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

A lot of people who aren't too familiar with poker think the best players are simply the best bluffers. The truth is, the best players in the world are the ones who make the best decisions and fewest mistakes. Winning poker is not about setting up elaborate traps and making stone cold bluffs.

A lot of the games I've won involved very little bluffing and winning pots based on playing position and betting for value. I don't play junk: I play decent cards and try to avoid tricky decisions with marginal hands. I'm not trying to say I'm a world class player here, but my point is there's much less bluffing than most people think.

Since beginners think poker is non-stop bluffing, they'll enter many pots and make bluffs simply for the sake of making a bluff. There are many variables to consider when you're trying to steal: the size of the pot, the number of players, how dangerous is the flop, the size of the blinds in relation to everyone's stack and your position amongst other things. A beginner tends to just throw chips in the middle without much method to their madness.

If you're new to the game, I suggest you don't bluff. Of course, don't announce this to the table when you play. But the first thing you should learn is how often you can win by simply playing good starting hands and betting when you hit the flop and folding when you don't. When you're up against other players remember this: A bet or raise is usually what it means. If they check, a lot of the times that means they missed the flop and are ready to give up the hand. If they put their chips in, they're telling you they hit their hand (or if it's preflop they have a strong hand if they raise) and you have to react accordingly. Is this person bluffing? Look down at your hand: is it 7-2 offsuit? Guess what...you have nothing, and their nothing is better than your trash hand anyway, so fold it and wait for a better opportunity. There's no sense in trying to figure out what 5% of the time they're trying to take a pot with a stone cold bluff from you if you have nothing but 7 high.

Learning how often you can win by simply putting your cards in with the best of it is the first step to playing a better game. Once your game starts to mature, then make that move to have bluffing a part of your arsenal.