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Lying Goes a Long Way in Online Poker

There’s a reason so many people love online poker. They’re terrible liars. For players who have a bad poker face and can’t bluff to save their life, poker on the Internet is their refuge.

Lying at the poker table manifests itself in the form of the bluff. Since poker is such a game of deception, bluffing is the essence of the game. And that’s no lie. To be a real pro at bluffing, it takes someone who can manipulate, misdirect and convince opponents that they have something when they’re holding. It takes confidence and nerves of steel to pull off a successful bluff. Some players are just unable to bluff and risk money on something that they can’t back up.

It takes more than just a good poker face to be skilled in the art of the bluffing, especially since there are no faces in online poker, just a bunch of electronic personalities. You can’t stare into someone’s eyes who you think is trying to bluff. And your calm and cool exterior when you’re bluffing in a brick-and-mortar game is useless in the online poker room. However, just because you can’t see or hear the people you’re playing poker against, doesn’t mean the bluff doesn’t exist in the online game. Bluffing and semi-bluffing just take on different forms when traveling through cyberspace.

Taking risks is necessary to be successful in poker. Knowing when and where to strike is just as important in the online game as it is in the Vegas casino. Here’s a look at the ins and outs of bluffing online:

The amount of players in the hand make a difference in several poker strategies, including whether to bluff or not. The heads-up situation is when bluffing occurs the most, since the other player tends to trust that you got that far because you have a good hand.

Tight games are where the bluff works best. The loose, low-limit games involve players who would rather die than give up on a hand, which cuts into the bluffing opportunities. High-limit and no-limit games are when the bluff works. A strategy to follow in these types of games is to bluff early until you’re called. After that, don’t play the bluff angle.

The skill to spot a bluff is just as important as pulling one off. A player who’s in poor position and bets pre-flop, and then bets after a poor flop, could be bluffing. Raising the bet is one sure way of drawing them out.

You’ve heard the expression, “too stupid to be bluffed.” Well, that’s one thing to watch out for when playing with amateurs, which the online poker world is filled with. It’s hard to bluff weak players because they tend to be loose and just have to know what you’re holding. So they’ll risk calling just to see your cards.

What’s the chip strength of your opponents? Obviously, players with big stacks are more likely to call your bluff than short-stacked players. Also, the higher the pot, the harder to bluff. Players are willing to risk more when the reward is higher, so that pair of sixes you’re bluffing with is stronger when the pot is $50 as opposed to $500.

Consider using the semi-bluff, which is also an effective move. The semi-bluff is betting when you’re behind in the hand but have several cards remaining in the deck that can give you a victory. These cards are called “outs.”