Fast 2014-09-13: Why a Poker1 “Fast” category? ↑
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first)
Fast 2014-09-14: Belligerent poker opponents
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Image, Manipulation, Psychology
Fast 2014-09-16: Murder of contemporary music
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), AUDIO AND VIDEO, Controversy, Life, Thoughts, Video
Fast 2014-09-16: Poker’s hat trick
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), POKER, Psychology, Strategy
Fast 2014-09-19: “Poker Probe +” (testers wanted)
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Odds, POKER, Products
Fast 2014-09-22: Caro proven wrong? Say it ain’t so!
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Controversy, POKER
Fast 2014-09-26: Hold ’em logic puzzle #1
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Hold 'em, POKER, Tests
Fast 2014-10-06: Why a small-blind addendum?
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Hold 'em, POKER
Fast 2014-10-18: Poker truth about limiting field
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), POKER, Strategy
Fast 2014-11-03: New Poker1 features destroy Alexa rank!
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Poker sites
Fast 2014-11-04: Strange slogan at my polling place
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Life, Thoughts
Fast 2014-11-29: Atheist billboard misunderstood
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Controversy, Exclude ads, Life, News
Fast 2014-11-29: My poker seminar in Florida
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Events, Exclude ads, POKER
Fast 2014-12-18: Tell Sony to release movie
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Controversy, Exclude ads, Life, News
Fast 2015-01-16: Movie Gravity not science fiction
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Life
Fast 2015-02-05: Was Seattle play call terrible?
By Mike Caro
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), POKER
Fast 2016-02-02: Sanders bettors got screwed
By Mike Caro
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Gambling, News
Fast 2017-03-13: Poker1 video works in all browsers
Videos at Poker1 have been converted from Flash to formats that work on every browser.
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), AUDIO AND VIDEO, SPECIAL INFO, Video

Everything is everywhere

Any Poker1 page takes you anyplace you want to go!

Poker1 

Megadex

Poker1 universe —
all in one place.

→ Collections
Special Poker1 groups

Poker1 Megadex tools

— main navigation departments —

Collections

Related groups of Poker1 content

↓ Major collections ↓

Gambling  •  Hold 'em  •  Info  •  Life beyond poker

Poker (all)  •  Poker dictionary  •  Poker psychology

Poker statistics  •  Poker strategy  •  Poker tells

Prediction*  •  Shopping  •  Zone 2*

↓ Tip collections ↓

All*  •  Gambling*  •  Life*  •  Poker*  •  Various*

↓ Contributor collections ↓

Brunson  •  Caro  •  McHaffie  •  Wiesenberg  •  Others*

↓ More collections ↓

Poker1 FAQ  •  Poker-tell videos  •  Review of poker lessons

Sunday sessions*  •  Targeted poker quizzes  •  Tuesday sessions

* Any collection followed by an asterisk ( * ) has no entries yet.

A-to-Z     Library     Collections     Top     Home

Poker1 everything

Browse alphabetically

 

B

M

N

P

S

T

W

A-to-Z     Library     Collections     Top     Home

Poker1 library

Content in categories

A-to-Z     Library     Collections     Top     Home




≡ Content above: Poker1 Phase2a specification ≡

MCU poker tip: Don’t bluff too often in loose games

Obviously, opponents call too much in loose games, otherwise these wouldn’t be loose games. The main mistake opponents make in these games is to call too often.

You should expect their key mistake of calling too frequently to hurt you when you try to bluff. When you bluff, clearly you don’t want to be called. But in loose games you should expect to be.

Sure, everyone knows that, but you’d be surprised how many serious players bump their heads against poker’s wall by trying to bluff anyway. And, actually, it isn’t just the loosest games in which indiscriminate bluffing fails. It pretty much fizzles in most games, because typical opponents also call too often.

Situations

Does this mean you should never bluff? Of course not! But you need to choose rare situations where evidence strongly suggests that a bluff can yield long-range profit, if you attempted it over and over thousands of times. Otherwise — without strong evidence that a bluff will make money — simply don’t try to buy pots.

The secret is to never bluff in loose games unless you have a specific reason on a particular hand against a particular player. In tighter games, you can bluff once in a while at random, but in loose games and in most typical games, you must resolve never to bluff without a major motive.

All lose

The sad fact is that almost all players lose money for their poker lifetimes trying to bluff. So, if you did decide never to do it, you’d fare better than by bluffing at whim. Think about it. — MC

Fast 2014-09-13: Why a Poker1 “Fast” category? ↑
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first)
Fast 2014-09-14: Belligerent poker opponents
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Image, Manipulation, Psychology
Fast 2014-09-16: Murder of contemporary music
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), AUDIO AND VIDEO, Controversy, Life, Thoughts, Video
Fast 2014-09-16: Poker’s hat trick
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), POKER, Psychology, Strategy
Fast 2014-09-19: “Poker Probe +” (testers wanted)
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Odds, POKER, Products
Fast 2014-09-22: Caro proven wrong? Say it ain’t so!
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Controversy, POKER
Fast 2014-09-26: Hold ’em logic puzzle #1
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Hold 'em, POKER, Tests
Fast 2014-10-06: Why a small-blind addendum?
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Hold 'em, POKER
Fast 2014-10-18: Poker truth about limiting field
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), POKER, Strategy
Fast 2014-11-03: New Poker1 features destroy Alexa rank!
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Poker sites
Fast 2014-11-04: Strange slogan at my polling place
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Life, Thoughts
Fast 2014-11-29: Atheist billboard misunderstood
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Controversy, Exclude ads, Life, News
Fast 2014-11-29: My poker seminar in Florida
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Events, Exclude ads, POKER
Fast 2014-12-18: Tell Sony to release movie
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Controversy, Exclude ads, Life, News
Fast 2015-01-16: Movie Gravity not science fiction
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Life
Fast 2015-02-05: Was Seattle play call terrible?
By Mike Caro
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), POKER
Fast 2016-02-02: Sanders bettors got screwed
By Mike Caro
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), Gambling, News
Fast 2017-03-13: Poker1 video works in all browsers
Videos at Poker1 have been converted from Flash to formats that work on every browser.
ADDED FAST, ALL (newest first), AUDIO AND VIDEO, SPECIAL INFO, Video

Everything is everywhere

Any Poker1 page takes you anyplace you want to go!

Poker1 

Megadex

Poker1 universe —
all in one place.

→ Collections
Special Poker1 groups

Poker1 Megadex tools

— main navigation departments —

Collections

Related groups of Poker1 content

↓ Major collections ↓

Gambling  •  Hold 'em  •  Info  •  Life beyond poker

Poker (all)  •  Poker dictionary  •  Poker psychology

Poker statistics  •  Poker strategy  •  Poker tells

Prediction*  •  Shopping  •  Zone 2*

↓ Tip collections ↓

All*  •  Gambling*  •  Life*  •  Poker*  •  Various*

↓ Contributor collections ↓

Brunson  •  Caro  •  McHaffie  •  Wiesenberg  •  Others*

↓ More collections ↓

Poker1 FAQ  •  Poker-tell videos  •  Review of poker lessons

Sunday sessions*  •  Targeted poker quizzes  •  Tuesday sessions

* Any collection followed by an asterisk ( * ) has no entries yet.

A-to-Z     Library     Collections     Top     Home

Poker1 everything

Browse alphabetically

 

B

M

N

P

S

T

W

A-to-Z     Library     Collections     Top     Home

Poker1 library

Content in categories

A-to-Z     Library     Collections     Top     Home




≡ Content above: Poker1 Phase2a specification ≡

Published by

Mike Caro

Visit Mike on   → Twitter   ♠ OR ♠    → FaceBook

Known as the “Mad Genius of Poker,” Mike Caro is generally regarded as today's foremost authority on poker strategy, psychology, and statistics. He is the founder of Mike Caro University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy (MCU). See full bio → HERE.

One thought on “MCU poker tip: Don’t bluff too often in loose games”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let's make sure it's really you and not a bot. Please type digits (without spaces) that best match what you see. (Example: 71353)

  1. What about in situations where you have a medium strong-ish hand and one opponent will pay you off if you bet into him but you’d have to bluff through an unknown opponent to get to him? Would you avoid betting or go right through them to get to the guy that’s calling too often?

    Jonathan

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let's make sure it's really you and not a bot. Please type digits (without spaces) that best match what you see. (Example: 71353)