Poker Lesson 10: Deception

People are natural liars. It is the one thing that ties together every person of every economic level, every color and creed. In other words, a lie, like death, is society’s great equalizer. The middle aged man who says “Honest honey, the painter must have left it”, to explain why a leather mask with a zipper where the mouth should be is laying on the bed, is as much a liar as the leader of the free world when he announced to a confused nation, “Read my lips, I did not have sexual relations with that woman”. Knowing that we lie as easily as we breathe makes most wonder why anything that is uttered by homo-sapiens is believed. The one force as powerful as the lie is our need to trust. This makes lying a powerful tool in the poker players arsenal.

Because of the nature of the game, the advantage you can gain from deception is limited. Telling the player to your left, “of course I love you”, might be confuse them emotionally, but probably won’t affect the outcome of the hand. This lie is best saved for a third date, when thoughts of how nice the object of your affections underwear would look hanging from your ceiling fan keep bouncing through your head. Prominent forms of deception in poker are bluffing, semi bluffing, and slow play.

Bluffing is traditionally an attempt to fool your opponents into thinking your hand is much better then it actually is. In short, you are trying to use deception to get the players around you to fold their superior hands so you can win with your sub-par cards. Most people think that bluffing is an all-purpose solution to every game, but it’s not. Bluffing in a low limit game is almost useless. It is a rare occasion when folks do not call to a showdown. There simply is so little on the line, players tend to take their chances going all the way. Bluffing is far more effective in high limit or no limit games. Calling in these situations can be expensive and players will think twice if the confidence in their hand can be shaken. For example, betting at the flop with a high card on the board gives the impression that you are holding a high pair, whether you have this pair or not. Raising when a flush is possible signals to the table that you are holding a flush. It doesn’t matter if it’s true, as long as the table thinks it’s true.

Semi-bluffing is the same as bluffing except for the fact that you actually possess a strong draw. In other words, you may only have Ace high, but you stand a good chance of hitting a spade flush or making a pair of Aces or Kings. So yes, technically you’re bluffing, but your bluff may also prove to be prophetic. If you bet with this hand, you have a high likelihood of possessing a strong hand on later betting rounds. The difference between a bluff and a semi-bluff is that with a bluff you are holding nothing and will, in all likelihood, not upgrade your nothing. A semi-bluff may actually be a self fulfilling prophecy. Your cards have potential, and may actually turn out to be a winning hand. Much like a proper bluff, semi-bluffing works best in high-limit and no-limit games.

Slowplaying is a bluff in reverse. It is when a competitor is playing possum with a big hand. We all know there are advantages to making players believe that your hand is stronger then it is, but what some don’t know is that there is a huge edge to convincing folks your position is far weaker then your cards actually are. If the table gets the idea your holding a big hand, they will fold without putting money into the pot. This doesn’t do you any good. You want them to grow that pot for all they are worth, if you can fool some folks into going “all-in”, even better. You should slowplay if two conditions are met:

- You hold a whopper and there is almost no chance of someone drawing on you.

- You will only get action if some other cards come out that will improve your opponents' hands. Nonetheless, these cards are not good enough to make their hands beat your hand.

No matter who you are, deception is somewhere in your nature. Make it pay off for you during a hand of poker and lie your little tail off.