Poker Bluffing Basics for Women

Fact: you can’t win all the time at poker unless you bluff.

So you sit there for the entire tournament folding everything until you finally get your pocket aces. You heart skips a beat, your hands perspire and you know this is the one you’ve been waiting for. Finally, revenge to those stupid men that have all been staring at your cleavage all game whilst talking to them both. So you raise the pot pre-flop and bam, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold. What happened, why did they all fold? “yeah nice cleavage…… I mean hand, babe, I’ll fold. The only hand you play and they know you’ve got a monster.

So yes you have to bluff and you have to lose the odd small pot, however this then leads to you winning the big pots when it matters!

According to the scientists, those brainy people who mostly don’t have fun, it is harder for women to conceal emotion. On the other hand, lying requires using three parts of the brain and telling the truth uses only one. And, of course, women are better at “multi-tasking” because men’s thinking is compartmentalized–they have a harder time using multiple parts of their brains at once. So lets all abuse this and benefit from it!

So we know we need to bluff now and again to win, great, but how?

Imagine for a moment, it’s Monday morning and you’re suffering really badly from all your girlfriends coming around and forcing you to drink that wine. If you were going to lie to your boss about why you called in sick, you’d have a well-thought out plan. You’d pick the right moment the next day even wear the right clothes etc. The same simple concepts apply to poker bluffing.

The science to bluffing and not giving off those horrible tells is to make sure you firstly believe in yourself. In my experience I will tell myself I am going to win the next pot regardless of my hand. I’ve calculated this through me being in late position, the boys are all tired with their heads slightly down and I haven’t played a hand for ages. Straight away with those odds I’ve almost won the hand.

You don’t have to wait for the perfect hand, you have to make people believe you have the perfect hand by betting when something comes in right on the table. So ten of you at the table and four of you call the blinds, one in middle position, you with the dealer button (last to act after the flop) and the small and big blinds. The flop comes down 10, 7 and 2 rainbow flop. Check, check, check around to you. You put in half the pot (to see who’s got what). Fold, fold, call, only you and him in it now. The turn brings a 7. He checks, now this is where you win the pot. Bet, not too much so it looks like your stealing, big enough though so he’s not valued into calling you. You bet 75% of the pot, he thinks, he looks at your cleavage and asks, “got the 7 have you?” don’t move, don’t answer remain motionless and tell yourself you have the 7. He toys with his chips looks you up and down, ok looks at your cleavage again, waits for the Oscar and then folds reluctantly. You collect your chips, yes, well done your three 7′s won! Who cares what you had, they all put you on three 7′s so that’s what you had.

When you play poker, whatever actions you do when betting, calling or raising do them all the same all the time. This then restricts people getting those tells off you.

Another factor in strategic bluffing is based on your read of the players at the table. Certain players can be bluffed more easily than others. A common poker rule is that “bad,” unskilled players can’t and shouldn’t be bluffed. In her book Outplaying the Boys, Cat Hulbert recommends that women players try to take advantage of three typical male player types:

Neanderthal/Macho Man: He wants to control women players and is uncomfortable competing against a woman. He has a big ego and hates losing to a woman. -

Daddykins: He wants to be your father figure. He wants to take you under his wing and make you his protégée.

Mr. Nice Guy: He is sweet and supportive, welcoming you to the table.

So now you know how to and when to bluff, go and try it on a small tourney. Make your mistakes there ready for the big one.

Poker Bluffing Basics for Women

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