Poker Bluffs
One of the intricacies of poker that is often overlooked is that the best hand dealt does not win, but the best hand in the showdown wins. The objective of poker bluffs is to fool a person with a good hand into folding so that you can win with a moderate hand. However this does not mean that you engage in rampant bluffing. There is a time and place for everything and the same applies to poker bluffs. Poker strategy on bluffs says that you should not bluff in low limit games. The poker stakes are too low in such games to scare your opponents into folding and you will be wasting your bankroll by ending up with mediocre hands in showdowns. Do not bluff against weak players. They do not understand the finer points of poker and tend to enter every poker deal. Poker bluffs are most effective when there are few players left in the fray. If there are too many players someone or the other will call your bluff.
One thing you have to realize about poker bluffs is that you are not the only player who can engage in them. Other players are probably equally adept at poker bluffs. Hence it is important to be able to identify when a poker player is bluffing. There are certain unconditional responses a player makes while playing and it important to be able to read them. For example when a player has a strong hand he may adopt an aggressive posture, or start to sweat or look at his cards frequently. In poker parlance such unconscious acts are known as 'tells'. If a player does not exhibit his trademark tell then he is not holding a good hand and if he is still in the betting then he is most likely bluffing.
Professional poker players are able to control their tells. However from the cards they display at the poker showdowns you can tell if they are habitual bluffers. Wait till you have a reasonably strong hand and then bait the bluffer. Do not raise bets aggressively but match the bluffer bet for bet. This way you can expect to win a large pot.