Bluffing and bluff strategy is one of the hardest but most fundamental parts of poker. If you do not bluff in poker, there is no chance you can be a successful poker player.

Bluffing is not an easy task, at it requires good poker sense, timing and guts to pull it off. It can be frightening, scary and embarassing when you are caught, but equally exciting and rewarding when you get away with it.

Bluffing is the quintessential trick in poker. Of course, the reasoning for a bluff is to deceive the other players into thinking you have a better hand when you actually do not. For a bluff to work, you need the other players to think you actually have that better hand. Lots of beginner poker players love this idea of bluffing and often misuse it. The value of the bluff increases under certain general circumstances that often have a lot to do with information you assume about the other players. This vagueness makes it difficult to give definitive reasons or places to bluff. Taking down a big pot at poker night does not require the best hand at the table.

If you follow these easy steps, you will be able to consider yourself a good bluffer.

• First of all, when you look at your cards you must do it with a casual face, a face that shows no emotion. You should not be disappointed to see bad cards.
• Next, you have to bet, or raise someone else's bet, in the first round of betting, before the flop. Do not bet too much, and do not raise an already large bet. If you think someone else actually has a great hand, fold and live to play another hand.
• Make a check, if it is available, either after the flop or turn. You should make a reasonable bet in the other round. Consistent betting makes your opponents think that you really have a winning hand. It takes guts to carry out a bluff, but if it is done right, it will work.
• Remember that the bet following the river card is the most important, so it should be powerful and intimidating. If the check comes to you, place a large bet. If another player bets before you, you must either make your bet larger than his, or if their bet is large, you should call and go all in. The best feeling in poker is catching someone on a bluff and taking down a large pot with a bluff of your own.
• The Turn card plays a very important part also. If you bet big on the turn when you've been betting moderately earlier, players will be more intimidated. If you think you have won the hand on the turn card, you may want to check and then bet. People are more likely to call a big bet if you checked before, thinking you might be bluffing. This works even better if you've been (accidentally) caught bluffing earlier.
• When bluffing, you must always tell a story with your bet. This is the key in bluffing.
• Also, when bluffing, you must always know your game. You must think if you can predict when one player is going to take the pot without showing his hand, as bluffing involves recognizing that situation and exploiting it.
• Don't bluff too much because it is essential that the other players think you only play good hands. There are a lot of good players who never bluff.

So, you have nothing in your hand. Your opponents have nothing too, but you are brave enough to bet. Your opponents fold. This is the basic bluff. But sometimes it is difficult even to throw away an inside straight. Know your opponent, which is the key, watch for signs of disgust with their hand.

Bluffing is best with a very small pot because no one really wants to vie for it with you. Although it may not seem like much money, it can be your edge if you do it well.

It is a mistake to think that there is no mathematics involved in bluffing. It might be a good idea, from a mathematical point of view to bluff if you are in a late position against one or two opponents going into the flop. The small pool guarantees that no one has a very good idea of what the other person has. In other words, it's a high risk bet for everyone. Betting into a high risk pot is a bad poker strategy, so if an unexperienced player bets, he is probably bluffing, so you have to raise him. Keep in mind that the early position player might try to draw a bluff by checking if he has a good hand, but that is just part of the game.

It is also not a good idea to bluff if a lot of people saw the flop. There is a very good chance that someone made at least two pair or trips. It will take a very strong bet and also a strong reputation to scare away someone with a real hand.

Some flops, three of a kind, for example, lend themselves toward bluffing, which means bluffing with nothing, or semi-bluffing, which means overbetting your hand. For a flop to be bluffable, it must be rare, and the numbers of ways to win must be really small. Let's take three Queens in a flop, for example. There is anxiety about who has the pocket pair. Fear and risk are a bluffer's best friends, as good poker players look for easy money.

A fundamental requirement for successful bluffing is a table with other players who are thinking what cards you have, because if they are only interested about what they have, a bluff will rarely work.

You don't have to show your cards if everyone else folds. You can take the pot and leave everyone wonder what you had. It is advisable to do so, because if they think that your hand was really good, your bluff is most likely to work in other stages of the game, too.

Bluffing is one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of the game of poker. However, it is also the most daunting aspect of the game for a new player, and is also the most misunderstood part of the game for people who have been playing for years. Bluffing is an integral part of being a well rounded player, but before one starts bluffing they must understand what bluffing is really all about.

A successful bluffer prepares for bluffing the moment he sits down at the poker table. He must present himself as a knowledgeable player, someone who knows the game very well. While playing he is constantly watching the other players, learning how they react in different situations. The bluffer will identify which players can be easily bluffed, and which players will call almost any bet no matter what their cards may be.

Bluffing your opponent involves a lot more than slapping down a huge bet and giving him a steely glare.

In order to successfully bluff someone, that person must have some respect for your abilities as a player. They have to know that you are not the type of person who goes all the way to the showdown and turns over a pair of 2's when it's obvious that your opponent is holding a straight. They also have to know that you are a better. Poker is a game of betting and players who call or check more bets than they make or raise are easily identifiable as weak players. You must portray yourself as someone who is aggressive when you have a good hand.

If you merely called bets all the way to the showdown when you were holding a full house, then the other players will know that you are not a very bold player, and when you try to bluff them, they will not be intimidated. Once a bluffer has established himself as an aggressive (not reckless) player who knows the game very well, and then he will start looking for opportunities to bluff. He has already identified the weak players, the strong players, and the crazy players. He knows which players will only call large bets when they have really big hands and he knows which players will bail out of a hand after any bet larger than the ante. He knows who can be bluffed and he knows how much it takes to bluff them.

Bluffing is a lot of fun when it works, and it's hard not to feel a little stupid when it fails. Often times you will get your bluff called and then feel like you have been caught with your hand in the cookie jar. Bluffing is not in any way cheating and smart, occasional bluffing is to be expected of any good poker player.