Bluffing is one of the deception techniques used in poker. As per the fundamental theorem of poker, one would win if one knew all the hands of the other players; again, every time the other players play their hands differently than they would if they knew one’s cards, one wins. The fact that poker is a game based on imperfect knowledge of each other’s cards helps one to devise means of making the others believe that you have the best hand and winning by deceiving others by that means.

To put it simply, bluffing means to bet or raise a bet when holding a weak or inferior hand. Bluffing is an important technique to employ in poker and to be a long term winning player in the game; you need to know how to master this technique.

Since it is not often that one gets dealt with aces, you need to know how you can win with an inferior hand. On the other hand, if you bluff too often and others do not believe you, you will lose out. Hence, balance is important while employing this technique.

There are two kinds of bluff: pure bluff is when a player has a poor hand and bluffs to bet or raise the bet in the hope that all others will fold. On the other hand, a semi bluff is a situation where a player bets with not a great hand but has chances of improving his hand during a later round. For instance, in a Hold’em game, a player with four cards to a straight or flush semi bluffs during the flop round.

A mistake that players make about bluffing is that they do it too often. It appears to most players that they need to bluff in almost all rounds and make it appear that they are holding a big hand, no matter what the positions of the other players appear to be. It is important that you notice the positions of other players and decide to bluff accordingly.

Remember that bluffing is a technique that is used in poker but it is not an essential one, you do not need to bluff to win, it s how you employ it to win which is important.

It is most favorable to bluff and when you are in a late position and no one before you seems to be holding a strong hand; if you have the image of a rock around the table; if you sense that your hand is good or can be improved upon from the cards lying exposed on the table and if you sense that the others are weak and will fold if you raise the bet.

Similarly, you should recognize situations when it is favorable not to bluff. Instances like when there is a player left on the table who never folds; if a player has too much money on the pot so that even if you raise your bet he will not be forced to fold and if there are too many players still left to play the hand.

Thus, by following the rules of bluffing and applying them appropriately, you will be able to use it to your advantage.