Bluffing is employed to fool other player’s into thinking you’ve got a better hand when you actually do not. To make the bluff work, you want the other players to think you really have a better hand by gambling or rising. Bluffing should be done at the right time and done carefully. Remember, everyone seems to be hunting for their own chance to bluff.
These are some reason why you should not bluff.
Player’s need you to Bluff: You were caught bluffing and now labeled as a poor bluffer.
Against too many Players: The probabilities are that somebody has a made hand and they will keep it up. They will call you in any case, because they are not involved with what you have. They need to improve their own hand, so they will call almost anything. You lost a sequence of Hands: Players will want you to make some silly moves to make your cash back (playing on lean). These are some eventualities where a common bluff should be taken into account. Against Puny or Tight Players: when you have a general idea of how your opponents play, your largest targets would be battering the puny and tight players who have a tendency to fold easily.
Bluffing too early won’t make them move; they may not believe you’ve a better hand or perhaps holding a strong hand of their own.
Few Players in the Pot: It’s better to trick some people (1-3) instead of a tiny group. Less hand out there, the probabilities of somebody making a fair hand are slim. Everybody has checked and you are last to act: Gambling will force some players out of the pot, but not all (sometimes called squeezing). It’s not unusual to see somebody bluff and bet on the button, so the majority of the time players will call because they will not believe you’ve got the better hand. It is also a good methodology to see where you stand. Other player’s may still think your hand is powerful due to your bet preflop. So a bet on the flop would make your opponents thinking you have hit nicely on the flop. They will more probably fold to your bluff if you play it right. A semi-bluff is a partial bluff with hidden truth in that play. With a semi bluff, you may either win by them folding right then, by improving to the best hand, or by catching a shock card and gambling out on the following round. You need to have general understanding of working out percentages before attempting a semi-bluff. Here are some examples of when to semi-bluff. You do not need your competitor to catch any of his cards on the turn of stream so bet to get the pot there and then.
At about that point you’ve got an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw. You should be involved with somebody having the king or ace of hearts. So gambling at the pot might make them fold or give you an idea of where you stand.