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27/01/2006 No.32
he Guardian Poker Column
 
   
 
 
Victoria Coren
Friday January 27, 2006
 
 
 
How to play poker
(How to play has been running from issue 16)


This poker column has now been running for four months, and there is one subject which I haven't yet mentioned: bluffing.

Do you find that curious? Do you think it's a little odd to talk about poker for 16 weeks without giving any bluffing advice at all? The delay should, in itself, tell you something. My first lesson about bluffing is: it's a smaller part of the game than people think.

Bluffing is seen as the dominant aspect of poker mainly because it is what sets this game apart from others. You can't win a chess tournament by pretending it's checkmate when it isn't. Bluffing is poker's USP. But actually, most of the time, you just want to be in the pot when you have the best hand - or the right odds to draw to the best hand. A good player will, naturally, mix "genuine hands" and bluffs, according to situation. But put it this way: if you never bluffed at all, you would win more than you would if you bluffed all the time. And when you're unsure where you are in the game, the whole tactic is best avoided.
 
     
My second lesson is even more essential. "Bluffing" is not, as so many people seem to think, simply betting when you have nothing. Many new players (especially macho young men) like to throw chips into the pot when they have no hand, believing this to be what poker's all about. This is suicidal play. Proper bluffing is about representing something particular. You can't just make the statement "I have a good hand" with your chips. You need to know what hand it is that you're pretending to have.

Bear in mind that if your opponent is betting, he has probably got something. He doesn't want to throw it away. If you raise, this opponent shouldn't just give up his cards without considering what you've got that's beating him. There has to be a believable better hand. And if you haven't worked out what that is, how on earth is he supposed to? I will give some specific examples next week. For now, remember that bluffing is a much subtler tool than many people think it is.



 
 
 
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