Bluffing in Texas Hold'em - Mel Judah

October 26, 12:47 AMSF Poker ExaminerWarwick Dunnett

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Mel Judah

From the book Poker Wizards

The following is an extract from my interview with Mel Judah for the book Poker Wizards. As did many of the players in the book, Mel had some very valuable insights with regard to bluffing.

Bluffing

While bluffing is an important part of a successful strategy, opportune timing is actually far more important. A good sense of timing tells you when you can get away with a bluff. Many lesser players bluff too much at seemingly random times and have no true sense of when or against whom they’re more likely to be successful.

For example, suppose another player and you both have A-K and see a flop that comes A-J-6. The other player will probably bet into you. If he is a good player, you may be able to come back over the top of him and force him to fold the hand. He will probably assume that you have a much bigger hand than A-K, possibly a set or top two pair. In the worst-case scenario, he will call and you probably will split the pot. Many average players wouldn’t recognize that situation as an opportunity.

Sometimes, you just sense that your opponents are weak and can pick up the pot. On other occasions, you know that bluffing is the only way to win, so you are more or less forced to put in a bet. Overall, picking the right time to make the bluff is more important than the bluff itself. Stu Ungar had a tremendous ability to pick the right time to make aggressive plays and win large pots. He would be thinking two or three moves ahead and know exactly when to bet.

Bluffing is all about putting in the correct bet at the right time, not just making big bets to steal pots.