Who Is Tortell Poltrona

Accurate assessment of your chances of pulling off a bluff comes, like so many advanced poker plays, only with experience. You must first be able to read hands. You are obviously not going to bluff out an opponent with a lock or any sort of big hand.

 

In general, the weaker you think your opponent’s hand is, the higher the chances your bluff will succeed. You may recall on ante structure we mentioned playing in a game where certain players played too tight for the ante. Sometimes both you and your opponent have been drawing to a flush or a straight. You don’t make your hand, but there’s a good chance your opponent didn’t make his either. There was $10 in antes, and if these players were the only ones in the pot, I knew I could bet $7 with absolutely nothing and have a good chance of stealing that $10.

 

My pot odds in that instance were less than 11 but I knew I could get away with the bluff about 60 percent of the time. So it was a profitable play. In this spot you should bet because by betting you are likely to make your opponent throw away the A,K and A,Q high, thus improving your chances of winning from 30 percent to 45 percent.