I don't blame you if you doubted my claim that you can successfully bluff in low-limit games. After all, so many poker experts have shouted loud and clear: "You can't bluff in low-limit games!" Well, I told you that these experts were dead wrong. My bluffs succeed in games as low as $3-$6 limit, and work for me more than 60 percent of the time-where break-even is 20-30 percent. So bluffing is a significant part of my winnings.
Sure, it's much easier to pull off a bluff when the stakes are higher. Indeed, the higher the stakes the more likely the chances that a bluff will succeed. Bigger bets are better weapons. But there is more to bluffing than just betting as much as possible. It's tougher to bluff if there has been a lot of betting and raising. And you should realize that you can't bluff out a calling station. Of course it's easier to bluff against one person than several.
Your tactics are most important! You can't just decide to bluff. It takes some expertise. The key is using the right tactics. I've told you about the Esther Bluff created several years ago by my fantastic granddaughter, Esther Fayla Epstein, when she was not yet 10 years old. Since then she has been interviewed twice on TV and appeared in several poker publications-and consistently gets on the high honor roll at her middle school.
To remind you, the Esther Bluff is simply betting your hand with confidence and self-assuredness, like you know you have the best hand. Bet just as you would if you actually held a monster hand! Somehow that message reaches your opponent, and so he folds, leaving the pot to you.
More Proof. Not that we needed more confirmation, but one of my fans just came forth with a wonderful example that proves the value of the Esther Bluff. Mark G. is a dealer in Las Vegas, and a very astute poker player too. He was dealing $2-$4 limit (now that's almost as low as you can get) and "one of the ladies did the Esther Bluff without even realizing it!" He explained, "She held J-Q. The flop came 8-10-8. She bet the whole way, mistakenly thinking the flop was 8-10-9, making her a straight." Get the picture?
The lady was very confident of her hand-although she had misread it badly. That could have been costly for her if anyone had called her down. Mark went on, "But her confidence, despite her mistake, caused everyone else to fold, including at least two players that had her beat!" Mark told me that, as he awarded her the pot, "I smiled and thought of you."
So there you have it: A very low-limit game and the player uses the Esther Bluff tactic-without realizing it in this case. But the principle is the same. Yes, the Esther Bluff tactic can work for you even in low-limit games!
Thank you Mark for sharing this fascinating true story from the depths of the Las Vegas poker scene... Perhaps it will go down in the annals of Poker History.
So readers, what's YOUR opinion?
George "The Engineer" Epstein is the author of The Greatest Book of Poker for Winners! and Hold'em or Fold'em?-An Algorithm for Making the Key Decision and teaches poker at the Claude Pepper Sr. Citizen Center in Los Angeles. Contact George at geps222@msn.com.
