Sniffing Out Bluffs

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Your opponent – perhaps sensing weakness or perhaps taking leave of his senses – pushes out a huge bet and dares you to call. If he has the hand he’s supposed to have, you’re crushed. But you think something is amiss and decide that this is it. You’re going to take a stand. Just after you say “Call,” your opponent shakes his head and says, “You win,” as he tosses his cards into the muck.

Snapping off a big bluff is intensely gratifying. In fact, it’s so gratifying that many players seem to become addicted to it. Instead of giving their opponents credit for a hand and folding, every time they see a big bet they begin to think, “Maybe this is a bluff too. Maybe I can snap this one off. Wouldn’t that feel great?” And they talk themselves into a call.

Occasionally they do catch a bluff, but much more often, they run into the hand their opponent is supposed to have. Over time, the pots they win don’t make up for all the bets they lose. They turn into ATMs for their opponents, paying off hand after hand.

But you don’t have to suffer the same fate. There’s a science to sniffing out bluffs. You don’t have to call bets at random or even wait until you get that “feeling.” You can detect a lot of the most common bluffs by using deductive reasoning.

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