Thu, 09/15/2011 – 07:24 – PokerPages Staff

When playing online poker at PokerStars or any other site, you will come across players who will bluff. In fact, bluffing is a big part of the game of poker. Knowing how to do it effectively is a very useful skill to have and perhaps yet more useful, is the ability to spot when somebody else is bluffing. Players will bluff to try to achieve one of two objectives. They will either try to make you think they have worse cards than they actually hold, or that they have better cards.

Negative Bluffers

When somebody is trying to convince his opponent that his hand is worse than it actually is, he can be said to be bluffing negatively. He may do this by taking an overly long time to place his bets, or checking the bet if he has the opportunity. Players who act quickly and opt to slow the pace can also indicate spots of negative bluffing. A good way to test the water with these players is to raise when you get the opportunity. A player with no hand will back out, whereas a player with a good hand will keep going.

Bluffing Positively

Almost the opposite, is the player who will place a big bet to give the impression that he has a better hand than he actually does. This aggressive tactic is designed to try to put other players off playing, especially if the cards he holds are somewhat weak. Test a positive bluffer’s mettle by raising when it’s your turn, to see what their reaction is.

For more advice on tactics, visit PokerSchoolOnline.