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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

“Stars” bars U.S players after indictments (Caro blog)
ALL (newest first), BLOG, News, Online
A win that inspires me (Caro blog)
ALL (newest first), AUDIO AND VIDEO, BLOG, Gambling, Video
Apple drops its “Texas Hold’em” software (Caro blog)
BLOG, News, POKER
Boston Marathon poll (Caro blog)
BLOG, Controversy, News
Eye surgeries delay P1 opening 12 days (Caro blog)
BLOG, Life, Personal
Failing to reply at the 2 + 2 forum (Caro blog)
BLOG, POKER
Full Tilt CEO arrested in NY, is sorry (Caro Blog)
BLOG, Ethics, News, Online, POKER
I used to be mentally retarded (Caro blog)
BLOG, Life, Personal, Psychology
I wake up with 311-point Scrabble word (Caro blog)
BLOG, Life, Personal
Jerry Buss dies — a friend of poker (Caro blog)
BLOG, News, People
Legal online poker bill clears committee (Caro blog)
BLOG, News
My affiliation with Advanced Poker Training (Caro blog)
BLOG, News, Online
My apology to web designers (Caro blog)
BLOG
My exit from the 2010 WSOP main event (Caro blog)
BLOG, News, Tournaments
My hippie photo that scared advertisers (Caro blog)
BLOG, Image, Personal, Photos, Press package, Psychology
My streak ends + Poker1 status update (Caro blog)
BLOG, Personal
New opening date set for Poker1 (Caro blog)
BLOG
Oldest WSOP dealer killed — my friend (Caro blog)
BLOG, Exclude ads, People, Personal, POKER, SPECIAL INFO
One final color alternative (Caro blog)
BLOG
Owner of Absolute Poker gets 14 months (Caro blog)
BLOG, News, Online

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Mike Caro

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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”

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  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

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