Poker has long since been the most popular of gambling games, especially in America. Poker is actually part of a family of games collectively referred to as solitaire, which date back to the 15th century. Poker is played with a deck of cards and is typically played for money. Many variations of poker have developed since its humble beginning, and today poker is played in many different countries around the world. With the development of online gambling, poker is also easily available to players from all walks of life, which allows you to get into poker for little or no money at all.
One of poker’s most annoying characteristics is that it thrives on bluffing. Bluffing is the process of answering questions without having the information that your opponents are asking you, and most players betting on poker would prefer to avoid bluffing than answer honestly. Bluffing can often mean the difference between winning and losing, so knowing when to bluff and when not to bluff is vital to success on the poker table. If you want to bluff, here are some tips.
First, if you are playing poker on an online site where you don’t know the other players betting, be sure to ask to see their hands before you bet. Most sites require that players check their cards before making any type of bet, and checking to see if anyone has raised you is a good way to determine whether you should raise or not. Of course, when you are betting in a live poker game, never check your cards before you raise, because if your opponent then bets, you will lose the bet you made and possibly get in a embarrassing situation. If you suspect that your opponent is holding a valuable card or two, but is holding back those cards in case you check, be sure to bluff by revealing the top card on your betting card.
Secondly, when betting on poker, if you notice that one player is raising and another is betting, then it’s often times easier for the player with the more chips to bluff his way to a win. This doesn’t mean that it’s smart to bluff and try to take the pot immediately. The reason is that if your opponent suspects that you may have stacked the pot with real money, he will probably make a number of smaller bets, making it harder for you to win the pot after the betting has started. Therefore, it’s usually better for you to hold out and wait until after your opponents have folded, then you can make your big plays.
Another great poker bluffing tactic is called “the five-card draw”. In this strategy, you place all of your chips in a five-card bag, and then blindfold yourself, so you can’t tell which player has got the top card. Then, you take the bag of chips and flip them over. You then carefully go over the cards in the bag, announcing to everyone (including yourself) that you have a five-card hand. If anyone guesses wrong, then you lose, but if they right, you win the bet that you placed with the blindfold on.
The final wild card strategy is called a downturned card strategy. This is done by placing all of your chips in the pot, and if anyone calls (but before you have the action), you reveal that you have a “lowlighted” hand. Then, you take the pot as usual, but you bet the same number as the number of chips in your hand. Any player who calls but hits the flop gets to keep his money. If any player calls and hits the flop, you still keep your chips, but the other player has to pay out the amount of the bet you made on the flop, whether you have a good hand or not.