You may agree or not but the history of poker proves that all successful poker players must be able to make an opportune bluff .

The bluff is considered to be probably the most contradictory Texas Holdem concept, although it is not used as often as people believe. Texas Holdem without bluffing would become an uninteresting game. A player who never bluffs is too predictable and will never be able to maximize his profits, much less win at all.

Bluff is the only way out when you have poor chance of winning the pot or when you are trying to steal the pot before all the cards are dealt. If you are playing a cash game, you can count whether a bluff will bring you any profit or not. For this, compare the odds of making a successful bluff to the size of the bet and the size of the pot.

After all, it is up to each concrete player to decide whether to bluff or not, but the following factors are important to consider:

Before bluffing always take into account the type of your opponent . Be sure you are not going to do that with weak opponents who call with anything (known as “calling stations”). This is the most common mistake. Your opponent must be good enough to fold a hand.

It is not recommended to bluff more than three players. Bluffing is much more successful against one opponent; it is not just because it is easier to bluff one. The real reason is that the pot is usually smaller, which makes it less desirable.

You are unlikely to succeed bluffing if you have a loose table image rather than a tight one. If your opponents recently caught you bluffing, most probably they will call you in the future. Although using this reverse psychology you can occasionally come out beneficial in such situations. For example, if you were caught bluffing by a good player and he addresses you as a good player, he might think you would not dare bluff him again.

Probably the hardest and most important skill to master in Texas Holdem is the ability to “read” the game. If you do it well and you can put your opponents on likely holdings, you will be able to identify good bluffing opportunities and take advantage of them.

A bluff is less likely to succeed if the board looks like it could have hit your opponents or presents many drawing possibilities. Try to find boards without many draws or cards that are likely to amend your opponents’ hands. If you can represent a hand, the bluff is more likely to have success. An uncoordinated board with one scare card that you can represent usually gives a good bluffing opportunity.

If the pot is big players will be more disposed to call because they get better pot odds. On the other part, the bigger pot and successful bluff result in bigger reward.

Sitting in late position means that you will usually have more access to information concerning your opponents’ hands and, thus, will have more opportunities to bluff. For example, if it is checked to you, the board looks favourable and there are few players in the pot.

It is extremely important that you consider all of these factors before deciding whether to bluff or not.