5 Easy Ways to Tell if They Are Bluffing You

5 Easy Ways to Tell if They Are Bluffing You

This article was written by blackrain79.com contributor Fran Ferlan.

Knowing how to spot a bluff is an important skill to have at the poker table, especially when you start playing against more skilled opponents.

Fortunately, you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to successfully pick up on a bluff.

In this article, we’ll take a look at 5 easy ways to tell if your opponents are bluffing you.

By following these tips, you’ll be able to read souls in no time.


1. Know the Basic Poker Player Types


Some players bluff way more than others, and some players don’t bluff at all. 

In order to figure out if your opponent is bluffing you, you need to pay attention to their individual playing tendencies.

No two players play exactly the same. However, there are some commonalities between certain play styles. 

These play styles are distinct enough so you can categorize your opponents based on certain player types.

Some of these player types are way more likely to bluff than others. So if you can pinpoint your opponent’s player type, you’ll be able to spot bluffs way more easily.

Let’s briefly go through each player type and see what you can expect from their bluffing tendencies.


Poker Player Type #1: Loose and Passive


Loose and passive poker players are more than likely to be recreational players. They play primarily for fun and usually have a very poor grasp of the fundamental winning poker strategy. 

They play way too many hands and usually play them passively (i.e. they check and call a lot instead of betting and raising).

Since they usually play passively, when they start firing off big bets, it usually means only one thing: they have a very strong hand (i.e. they are not bluffing).

These players may bluff occasionally if and when they get frustrated and start tilting (which they are prone to do).

If you believe that to be tha case, you can try calling them down wider to take advantage of their ill-timed bluffing attempts.

Even when they attempt to bluff you, their attempts usually won’t be well thought out, so it can be easy to spot them.

Then you simply call them down with a wide range (preferably in position) and let them donate their chips to you.


Poker Player Type #2: Loose and Aggressive Fish (aka the maniacs, aggrofish)


Unlike their passive counterparts, these players like to splash chips around and push their opponents out of pots with incessant, erratic aggression.

Therefore, these players are most likely to bluff you out of all the player types.

Since they usually play a crazy amount of hands, they will miss a lot of flops as a consequence.

5 Easy Ways to Tell if They Are Bluffing You

In no-limit hold’em, making a strong hand is more of an exception than the rule. 

So when these players start blasting off big bets, they’ll often do it with complete air.

Even though they can be frustrating at times, these players will be the most profitable to play against over the long run.

The appropriate strategy against them is fairly simple: call them down fairly liberally (preferably in position), and let them spew off their chips with their ill-conceived bluffs.

Check out my recent article on how to beat crazy poker players for more info on the topic.


Poker Player Type #3: Tight and Passive


This player type plays relatively better than the previous two, but they aren’t crushing the game by any means.

They usually play significantly less hands than other player types, and only bet and raise when they have a strong hand.

So how do you know when this player type is bluffing you?

It’s simple. They aren’t.

These players tend to play very straightforwardly. Strength means strength, and weakness means weakness. 

They rarely (if ever) go out of line with bluffing attempts, so when they start blasting off big bets, you can be certain they have something to show for it.

While you won’t make a ton of money against these players over the long run, you can still beat them with a pretty simple tactic: bluff them a lot yourself!

They won’t fight back for pots nearly as often as other player types, and when they do, it’s almost certainly because they have a strong hand.

Important note: you don’t want to go overboard so it becomes blatantly obvious what you’re doing. 

If they catch on to what you’re doing, they may adjust by starting to call you down wider, or even responding with their own aggression.


Poker Player Type #4: Tight and Aggressive


These players are more skilled than the previous player types, and they are likely familiar with the fundamental winning poker strategy

They will play stronger hands on average than the recreational players, and will typically play them aggressively, both preflop and post flop. 

Skilled tight and aggressive (TAG) players will balance their strong value hands with bluffs, so it will be significantly harder to figure out if they are bluffing you or not.

However, some TAG players tend to play too straightforwardly, and won’t be inclined to bluff a lot, or even at all in some cases.

Check out Nathan's video on how to beat good poker players.



Poker Player Type #5: Loose and Aggressive (regulars)


These players are similar to TAG players in so far that they are familiar with the fundamental winning strategy, but tend to play more hands on average than their TAG counterparts.

This means they are usually more likely to bluff than TAG players. However, unlike the loose and aggressive fish, their aggression is well-thought out, and they aren’t just randomly spewing chips.

This makes them arguably the toughest opponents to play against.

They will usually bluff more often than their TAG counterparts, but they will also likely balance their bluffs with strong value hands as well.

This can make hand reading against them more difficult than against other player types.

However, some LAG players may be too aggressive for their own good. So a successful counter to their strategy is to call them down wider and bluff catch more.

Check out my other article for a complete guide on how to beat loose and aggressive (LAG) poker players for more info on the topic.


2. Pay Attention to Their Timing Tells


If you’re playing poker online, you won’t have the luxury of observing physical tells from your opponents. 

However, you still can figure out their hand strength by paying attention to their betting patterns, as well as timing tells.

You can sometimes gauge your opponent’s hand strength based on how long it takes them to complete an action.

It’s worth noting right away that timing tells aren’t 100% reliable, but then again, no tells are.

As a general rule, however, if a player acts too quickly, it may be a sign that they are bluffing.

There are a couple of reasons for this.

First of all, if a player has a really strong hand, they will likely slow down and try to think about the best possible way to extract the most value from it. 

This means they’ll need to think about which hands can potentially give them action, which bet size they should use, which line to take (should they fastplay or slowplay their hand) and so on.

In other words, they’ll need to consider a lot of factors, and they’ll take their sweet time to think about the best course of action.

Also, by taking some time to act, they can feign weakness or doubt in order to get action from their opponents.

Conversely, when a player is bluffing, they may act quickly in order to telegraph strength and confidence and induce their opponents to fold.

For example: 

Fishy players love to bet big and act confidently when they have a hand like A♥️K♥️ on a flop of 8♠️8♦️5♣️

This often happens in live play as well: players will act strong when they are weak and vice versa.

This is particularly the case with weaker, less skilled players. The weaker the player, the more tells they are likely to display.

One caveat: it’s important not to read too much into tells, especially when you’re up against more skilled players.

Skilled players will be aware of certain tells and patterns, so they won’t give off as many tells as recreational players might. 

They can also intentionally give off reverse tells. For example, they may act tough or act quickly when they have the nuts, or take their time when they are bluffing.

This is why the previous point of recognizing the type of player you are up against is so crucial. 

When you are trying to figure out if a player is bluffing you or not, you should never anchor your conclusion to a single piece of information. You need to take the whole context into account to get an accurate read.

For more info on advanced hand reading techniques, check out The Microstakes Playbook.


Learn to Make $2000 Per Month in Small Stakes Games With My Free Poker Cheat Sheet


Are you struggling to create consistent profits in small stakes poker games? Would you like to make a nice part time income of at least $2000 per month in these games? Blackrain79 free book 
If so, then I wrote this free poker cheat sheet for you. 

This is the best completely free poker strategy guide available online today. It shows you how to crush the small stakes games step by step. 

Learn exactly what hands to play and when to bet, raise and bluff all in! 

These are the proven strategies that I have used as a 10+ year poker pro to create some of the highest winnings of all time in these games. 

Enter your details below and I will send my free poker "cheat sheet" to your inbox right now.

 


3. Pay Attention to Their Bet Sizing


One of the most reliable ways to gauge your opponent’s hand strength (or lack thereof) is to pay attention to their betting patterns.

A lot if players inadvertently give off tells with their betting amounts. If you figure out their betting patterns, it will be as if they are playing their cards face up.

For example, some players may make smaller bets when they are bluffing, and increase their bet sizing when they have a strong value hands.

Others may do the exact opposite. 

They may use smaller bet sizing to induce calling when they are strong, and fire off big bets in order to scare you out of the pot when they are weak.

Then there are more skilled players who will carefully balance their ranges so they don’t give off their hand strength with their bet sizing. 

Or they will mix up their bet sizing to keep you guessing.

5 Easy Ways to Tell if They Are Bluffing You

No two poker players are exactly alike, so you need to pay attention to their individual playing tendencies and betting patterns so you can draw some conclusions about your play style.

Still, some players may exhibit similar playing tendencies, so you can categorize them in a way to draw some general conclusions according to their player type. 

With that in mind, some player types are more likely to bluff than others.

Therefore, knowing the player type you’re up against can be very valuable if you want to know how likely it is for them to bluff you.

If you know the player type, you’ll have a better idea of deciphering what their bet sizing might represent.


Bluffing Example Hand #1


You are dealt JJ in the MP (middle position). 

You open-raise to 3x.

A loose and passive fish calls in the SB (small blind).

Pot: 7 BB

Flop: KT2

Villain donk-bets 7 BB.

You: ???

You should call.

This is one of the common in-game spots where a player may be bluffing you.

This is an awkward spot to find yourself in, and a lot of players err on the side of caution and simply fold in similar situations because they don’t have a top pair.

But by folding here you’re sacrificing a ton of equity.

Let’s break down the action.

Preflop you have a standard open-raise with pocket Jacks. You go heads-up to a flop with the initiative and the range advantage.

Then a player donk bets and you have no idea what to do.

A donk bet is an out of position bet made without being the previous street's aggressor. More often than not, it’s one of telltale signs of recreational poker players.

Check out my other article on donk betting and other bad poker strategies you should avoid.

In this spot, the villain may have a King from time to time, but more often than not, they will have a mediocre to a weak hand they don’t really know what to do with, so they fire off a pot sized bet to get you to fold right then and there.

They could have some sort of a Tx hand, a weak draw like an inside straight draw, a backdoor flush draw, some middle pocket pair like pocket NInes or pocket Eights and so on.

They could also have some sort of a Kx hand with a weak kicker, but this is only a small part of their overall range.

You also have the positional advantage, as well as a ton of equity, so calling is pretty much mandatory here.

Check out my other article on what to do against pot sized bets from fish.

If you have trouble with bluff catching in marginal spots like these, enroll in Blackrain79 Elite Poker University.

You will learn the advanced hand reading techniques that will allow you to approach any spot with confidence, and always choose the most +EV play, no matter the circumstances.

All the concepts are explained by the example hands, so you can immediately see what works and what doesn’t, and you’ll be able to implement what you learn in no time.

The course contains 17 hours of advanced poker training, hundreds of step by step example hands and downloadable "cheat sheets" below all 50 videos.

If you are serious about taking your poker game to the next level, enroll today.
 
 
Get $100 OFF Use Code: ELITE100


4. Check Their Aggression Factor


As a general rule, the more aggressive the player, the more bluffs they will have in their range. This intuitively makes sense.

Weak and timid players will rarely, if ever, get out of line with bluffing attempts. Wild, crazy players will bluff all the time.

That’s why the best way to know if someone is bluffing you or not is to first figure out their basic player type.

It’s also worth noting that the number of bluffs a player has in their range will vary depending on the situation.

As a general rule, particularly at the lower stakes, player are more likely to bluff early on in the hand (i.e. on the flop) than on the later streets (turn and river).

The reason for this is simple: it’s way more costly to bluff on the big money streets (i.e. turn and river) than preflop and on the flop.

So if a player suddenly blasts a big bet on the river, it’s more than likely that they have something to show for it.

The exception would of course be those wild, crazy players that are capable of blasting off huge bets with no rhyme or reason.

If you’re playing poker online, you can use a hand tracking software like PokerTracker 4 to see your opponents stats, namely how aggressive they are.

5 Easy Ways to Tell if They Are Bluffing You

The more aggressive they are, the more likely they are to bluff a lot.

One of the relevant stats to take into account is the Aggression Factor (AF). 

Aggression factor measures the ratio between a player’s aggressive actions (i.e. betting and raising) and passive actions (calling).

Aggression factor is not to be confused with the aggression frequency.

An aggression factor of 1 indicates an extremely passive player. 2 and 3 are the average. A player with the aggression factor of 4 is too aggressive and likely to bluff a lot. 5 is a complete out of control maniac.

Aggression factor needs a sample size of at least 100 hands to be reliable.

It’s also worth noting that aggression factor is only one of the relevant stats to determine the player’s overall bluffing tendencies. 

It should be taken into account with other stats to get an accurate picture.

Check out Nathan’s article on the most useful HUD stats for more info on this topic.

Also, check out the poker software the pros use to give themselves an edge.


5. Their Action Sequence Doesn’t Make Sense


One of the most reliable ways to figure out if a player is bluffing you is to look for discrepancies in their betting patterns and action sequences.

Some players may intentionally go for deceptive lines to conceal their hand strength, but more often than not, if you see a weird action sequence, it could very well be they are bluffing.

For example, if your opponent misses a c-bet on the flop, then fires a bet on the turn, even though the board texture didn’t change significantly, they may be bluffing you.

A continuation bet (or c-bet for short) is a bet made by the previous street’s aggressor.

Let’s look at an example hand to illustrate the point.


Bluffing Example Hand #2


You are dealt 88 on the BU (button).

A loose and aggressive player open-raises in the CO (cutoff) to 3x.

You call.

Pot: 7.5 BB

Flop: K95

Villain checks. You check.

Turn: 2

Villain bets 4 BB.

You: ???

You should call.

This is a good spot for bluff catching, since your hand has decent showdown value. 

Hands with showdown value are hands that aren’t strong enough to value bet with, but can often win the pot unimproved at showdown.

Let’s break down the action.

Preflop you have a standard call in position with a medium pocket pair.

The villain fails to make a continuation bet on the flop. You check back to control the pot size.

On the turn, the villain fires off a delayed c-bet. What could they be doing this with?

There’s no way to know for sure, but they potentially have a bunch of bluffs in their range you’re comfortably ahead of.

If they had a Kx hand, they would fire off a standard c-bet to extract value. If they had a set, same thing. 

If they had some sort of a drawing hand like 8♥️7♥️, they would fire off a c-bet as a semibluff (based on their player type).

A semibluff is a bluff where you don’t have the best hand, but could potentially have it on future streets if your draw completes. 

Semibluffing is usually preferable to stone-cold bluffing (where you don’t have a chance of getting the best hand) because you have some sort of hand equity to fall back on if your bluff gets called).

It’s possible that the villain picked up some sort of equity on the turn (like a flush draw, for example). Or they decided to try to bluff you because you checked back on the flop and they believe you are weak.

Either way, calling is the best play here.

Now, could the villain have been slowplaying a monster hand? 

It’s theoretically possible, but again, if they had a strong hand, they would more than likely have played it differently. 

Based on the action sequence, they are quite likely to be bluffing in this spot.

Check out Nathan's video for more hand reading tips.



5 Easy Ways to Tell if They Are Bluffing You - Summary


To sum up, here’s how you can easily pick up when your opponents are bluffing you.

And believe me, you don't need to spend tons of your time studying advanced poker strategy in order to quickly spot these.

1. Know your opponent’s player type.

Some players are more likely to bluff than others. If you know the player type you’re up against, you’ll have a much better idea if they are bluffing you or not.

2. Pay attention to timing tells.

Timing tells aren’t completely reliable, but may give off a player’s hand strength if you know what to look for. 

Quick actions may indicate that a player is bluffing, while slow, more deliberate actions may indicate a strong hand.

Of course, more skilled players may deliberately give off reverse tells, so keep that in mind as well.

3. Pay attention to their betting patterns.

Some players give off their hand strength with their bet sizing. 

For example, they may use the smaller size when they are bluffing and a bigger bet size when they have a strong hand. Others may do the exact opposite.

It’s important to pay attention to the player’s individual tendencies so you can figure out when they are bluffing you.

4. Look at their aggression factor.

As a general rule, the more aggressive the player, the more bluffs they will have in their range. 

If you’re using a hand tracking software like PokerTracker 4, check out a player’s aggression factor and other relevant stats to figure out their bluffing tendencies.

5. Their story doesn’t add up.

If the player’s actions aren’t congruent with the hand they are representing, they are more than likely to be bluffing. 

Play the hand back in reverse to see if their story adds up. If not, it may be a good time to pull off that huge hero call.

None of these signs are a 100% guarantee that a player is bluffing you. As with anything else in poker, context is key. 

You don’t need psychic abilities to figure out if your opponent is bluffing you. All you need to do is to pay attention and ask better questions.

Do this, and you’ll be able to read souls in no time.

Lastly, if you want to know the complete strategy I use to make $2000+ per month in small/mid stakes games, get a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.

5 Easy Ways to Tell if They Are Bluffing You