ITH Poker Forum

[IH8Folding]

hi mates!!!
what are some signs to check that someone is bluffing in poker? if any one have any experience then please let me know...
would be really thankful...
regards +

[DeltaChaos]

When you can clearly see that the safety's still on... he's bluffing.

[Piemaster]

Are we talking about live or online?

[IH8Folding]

talking about online poker.....what is the main tip to catch bluffing in online poker??

[DeltaChaos]

Two things I can think of regarding catching bluffs online:

One: When you see someone making a ridiculously large raise, or raising all in in a mulitway limped pot. This is usually more like a preflop semi-bluff with a semi strong ace or broadway cards, maybe a middle pair, but the bettor realizes that their fold equity is much greater in deep stacked situations, such as early in a tournament.

Two: Being able to witness a player habitually bluffing is really the only good way to determine if that player is likely bluffing. Some people cling to the idea that bluffing is actually the way the game is supposed to be played, and is what is necessary to win. While it is necessary to have the pure bluff as one of the weapons in your arsenal, it must be used prudently - in the right situations with the correct frequency - to have a positive expectation. If you are lucky enough to witness one of these habitual bluffers, all you need to do is be there with cards when they bluff into you. It is extremely hard to detect a bluff in a vacuum - that is, without any particular read or history on an opponent.

Also, you may be able to pick off a bluff when you notice someone who bets scare cards. That is, when an ace or other overcard comes on the turn or river - especially when you pair that overcard or ace. Also, a scare card bluff situation can occur when a card falls that could complete a flush or a straight, especially when your opponent realizes that your action seems to be trying to take away odds for drawing to such a hand.

I hope this helps. I hope you're actually looking for advice. I've looked at a lot of your posts, and you seem pretty trollish. I'm thinking English isn't your first language, and that you might be like 14 years old or something.

[kbrkal]

You first need to learn how to bluff before you can start to understand and look for others that are bluffing. I found a couple articles on Google but for some reason this forum wont allow links.

[IH8Folding]

i will search that articles by myself on computer but tell me some keywords on how to search such articles??

[Piemaster]

I think by far the best way of spotting bluffs is by looking at the hand as a whole and see if it makes sense for them to have the hand they are representing. Also look at the hand from their point of view and think whether you would be tempted to bluff in their shoes. I think things like timing tells and stuff like that are unreliable.

Kbrkal - There shouldn't be a problem posting links. If you can't do it, feel free to send them to me by PM and I'll post them for you.

[DeltaChaos]

Tell you what...

Before you start worrying about being bluffed, learn the fundamentals of poker. Don't get too ahead of yourself. There are much more important concepts to have a firm grasp of than knowing how to bluff or catch a bluff.

Bluffing correctly is largely mathematical anyway. Look up articles by David Sklansky on the mathematical theories of bluffing so you can get an understanding of what a bluff is, and why it is important to your game, if you must know this information right now. Understand what bluffing really is, and you can better understand when and why people bluff.

My advice to you right now is don't bluff. I don't know what your level of experience is, and by your posts, I can't tell if you even really care about learning the game. It seems to me that it is more important to you to start threads than to actually learn poker by reading the wealth of information available in threads that already exist.

Giving you the benefit of the doubt, I will give you the keywords for which you ask....

Search articles by David Sklansky about the mathematics of bluffing.

Read articles about the semi-bluff - vastly more important than the pure bluff.

Search for articles about the post-oak bluff and the value-bet bluff

That right there is enough to keep you occupied for weeks just on the subject of bluffing. I would suggest looking up articles more related to street by street hand re-evaluation and board reading though right now.

If you don't mind, you should tell us more about yourself, like where you are from, your level of experience, your goals with poker, and ultimately your level of desire to learn the game. I just don't know if I'm wasting my time or not.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but it might be important for us to know if we're dealing with someone who really wants to learn. Also important if you're like 14 years old or something like that, in which case, I would strongly advise you to not worry about poker much until you hit college.

[IH8Folding]

Thanks guys i will learn soon how to handle this problem and will let you people know if i face any problem in future

[rockytherock]

When players who played defensive all the game raise after the river.

[AntonDrake]

One thing that, if you are in the right situation and happen to pick up on it, is very telling, is when it becomes clear that the player's range is probably polarized between a very strong hand and a very weak hand.

For instance, when a player bets an amount in a situation where he would be unlikely to do so with a medium strength hand, say for example when an obvious draw completes, it becomes more likely that he is either bluffing or has a very strong hand. If you can backtrack through the hand and see that it is more unlikely than usual that he has the right cards for the very strong hand, then the chance that he is bluffing is increased.

Also if a player is stabbing at pots constantly and trying to take pots down on the river constantly, then obviously you are somewhat obliged to alter your assessment of how often he's bluffing. And of course players can be really tricky, but a lot of times it's these kind of 1/2 pot river bets which often look like bluffs to me... players tend to call giant all-ins somewhat more frequently, because they LOOK like bluffs, so therefore players will often play possum like that by making a huge river value bet that looks like an obvious bluff, or that looks like it's trying to push a player off a hand, etc. Same thing with the online "delay" tell... that often turns out to be a trick, i.e., a strong hand, when the player delays, delays, delays and then *click* puts in a huge bet. Whereas the business-as-usual 1/2 pot river bet in normal rhythm is more often the bluff, and should more often be called if your range matches up ok

[pocketaces]

I think by far the best way of spotting bluffs is by looking at the hand as a whole and see if it makes sense for them to have the hand they are representing. Also look at the hand from their point of view and think whether you would be tempted to bluff in their shoes. I think things like timing tells and stuff like that are unreliable.

Kbrkal - There shouldn't be a problem posting links. If you can't do it, feel free to send them to me by PM and I'll post them for you.

Definitely agree on: I think by far the best way of spotting bluffs is by looking at the hand as a whole and see if it makes sense for them to have the hand they are representing.