Bluff With a Fast Play

A bluff and a fast play are often associated in poker. When you hear that someone has "pulled off a bluff", that means the player has successfully won the pot by making the opponents believe that they're playing against a strong hand when they actually weren't. So how exactly does one make others believe that one's got a good hand when they're actually rags?

First of all, rags are bad cards in poker slang. You obviously have the choice to fold rags, but when the timing's right, you might just want to play them. And if you decide to play rags, play them as if they're good cards. That's pretty much what a bluff is. Now, how the bluff goes down depends on your fast play and if (that's a big "if"!) your opponents believe you. Remember, you want everyone else to fold in order to succeed in pulling off a bluff to win the pot.

A fast play is carried out by aggressively raising the stakes because that's generally what players do when they have a winnable hand to make the pot grow. Now, you can do this at the pre-flop, the flop, and at the draw. Executing a fast play to carry out a bluff is tricky and it depends on when you raise the wagers. But be wary about making a fast play at the pre-flop. It's better to incrementally but aggressively increase the stakes in the course of the betting rounds.

Here's sound advice on how to successfully carry out a bluff with a fast play. First, let the others see you win a hand that's conventionally strong from aggressively raising the bets. Your objective is to make them associate the strong hand that won with your fast play. Do this a few times so that you'll make your intended perception clear. When you think that you've made this link obvious, you can now attempt the bluff.

Once you get rags (which wouldn't be much of a wait) and you decide to bluff, mimic the actions you did from the winning hand. Execute the fast play the same way, that's how much of a raise you made and when you made it. If you didn't raise the bet at the pre-flop when you won with a strong hand, don't do it now. Play as aggressively as you did when you've previously won. Hopefully, they'll believe that you actually have a winnable hand so they'll all fold before you! If they do, you've just pulled off a bluff with a fast play!