Trapping, Fishing, and Bluffing

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Bluffing Strategy - Stealing Pots & Winning Big with Nothing
Bluffing is a necessary component in taking your poker game to the next level and making some serious money. If you sit around and wait you can become impatient and possibly on tilt. This can easily happen when you just aren't catching your cards. Being able to recognize a weak opponent and jumping in an effort to steal the pot can keep you earning even when you're not catching cards.

Bluffing is all about position relative to the button. When you're last to act, you have the luxury of making your play based on that of everyone else at the table. If you sense weakness at the table, you can take a stab at winning the pot regardless of whether or not you're holding any type of hand whatsoever. Be careful not to fall into an opponent's trap.

A semi-bluff is a safer play than the full bluff. It affords a bit of flexibility in the case that your bluff is called. An example of this would be making a huge play on a flush draw whilst holding the appropriate Ace. Knowing that nobody has the nut flush might allow you to make a play suggesting that you in fact have it, perhaps forcing out a smaller flush that has already been made and beats your Ace high.

Another example of a good time to bluff would be when your holding 6,8
off-suite and the flop is K,K,10. If you are the last to act and no one has made a bet you can make a fairly large bet to force the other players to fold thinking you have the third king. Don't make a bluff with this type of move that you can't afford. There will be the occasion in which someone is slow playing the king, however most likely in the situation where someone does have the king they are going to make smaller bets to try and get the most money without everyone folding.


Trapping - Creating More Action & More Money For Yourself
Trapping is an important technique that can be used by a smart player to greatly increase the size of the player's winning pots. If you are far ahead in a hand, exercise patience so as to keep your opponent laying. A strong bet could force players out of a pot you are sure to win, preventing you from fully capitalizing on major hands.

Fake weakness, check-raise, make it difficult for your opponent to get away from a pot. The truth of the matter is that you want to get called sometimes, so you have to bet accordingly.

Trapping is a great way to generate a lot of action where there wouldn't necessarily have been any before. Trapping can be a slippery slope however. By attempting to trap your opponent by faking weakness, you might actually allow your opponent to catch a miracle card that ends up beating you.


Learning to Fish
A fish is a bad poker player who tends to lose a lot of money. Good players are excited to find a fish at their table, and always sorry to see one go. Online poker rooms tend to offer players a buddy list or chat service through which to chat with fellow players. If you find a fish at one of your tables, you can add their username to your buddy list, and then be able to get an alert any time they log on and sit down. Although you can't get a listing of their table, they will more than likely be playing the same limits and you can simply perform a manual table search.

Using this method allows you to take advantage of online players whom you feel you have an edge over.

Poker.com allows you to tag a player with icons that remind you of what type of player they are whether it is a fish or possibly a shark.


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