How to tell if someone is bluffing ?

April 3rd, 2008

Advanced poker is much more about playing one’s opponents than the cards. The psychological aspect of the game gets front seat, and subtle things (like all sorts of poker tells) become much more important. These are the circumstances under which bluffing inevitably rears its head. Whether it’s a blind-stealing semi-bluff, or a full one, bluffing is going to be present in the game, one way or another. Knowing how to read your opponents, the board and the betting patterns can come in extremely handy in this situation.

The most basic thing you need to know in order to spot a bluff, is how you should build up a near-perfect bluff yourself. If you’re playing against a table full of newbies, bluffing won’t do you much good. In order for a bluff to be successful, you need people who can pick up the message of strength that you’re emitting when bluffing. Rookies and fish won’t be able to tell that you’re showing strength, so they won’t fall for the bluff.

Against good players, bluffing or semi-bluffing makes perfect sense, though in this case, you need to make sure your bluff is perfectly set up, or it’ll backfire.

A good bluff needs to be created. You can’t just shove all-in on any hand and hope for the best, especially not considering the fact that in order to even consider bluffing, you need to be playing against good players.

A bluff begins with picking up reads on your opponents. Observe their behavior and draw your conclusions. Then keep your eye on the board. If you notice your opponents showing weakness, and you see a board texture that would suit a given scenario perfectly, imagine that the scenario is indeed real, and play it out like it’s a movie.

Now that you know how bluffing is supposed to work, you’ll know what to look for in your opponents when you suspect one is being pulled on you.

Poker tells have a huge role in the detection of a bluff. The most important poker tell of all (that’s because it is available live as well as online) is the betting pattern. People must play hands one way or the other, so they must act somehow. They cannot avoid leaving a telltale trail of clues through their betting.

In live poker, there are plenty of other tells you can pick up on. Always watch the eyes of your opponents. The eyes never lie, and that’s exactly why professionals wear shades or baseball caps to hide their eyes. Often, you’ll see one of the players ask a question about the other guy’s hand and look him straight in the eye. People know that their opponents can’t tell a lie while looking someone straight in the eye.

Another tell regarding the eyes is when you see someone stare at his hole-cards insistently. That usually means he has a monster hiding there that he just can’t get enough of contemplating. If you see someone looking at the players on their left, it usually means they’re trying to figure out whether someone would call an eventual raise of theirs or not.

Watch out for the obvious tells players are giving out. Everyone likes to be a comedian, an actor to be more precise. If they want you to think they’re showing strength, they’ll go out of their way to make you think so. If they want to appear weak, some people will overdo that too.

Never underestimate the power of body language. Even if people hide their eyes, there’s nothing they can do about body language. Players on strong hands will automatically adopt a more dominant posture, which, in a “bring it on” kind of way suggests that they’re ready for a confrontation. Those who want to slip by unnoticed and possibly see another free card, adopt a specific posture too. This is something people just can’t help. It’s part of what nature endowed us all with when it comes to communication.

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