Bluffing in Poker – The Bluff Vortex
The bluff vortex is the trap that many players fall into without even realizing it. This vortex will likely result in you kicking yourself after having somehow lost a pot with no real recollection of how it happened. All of your money is in the middle of the pot by the river but you have no real hand. You are bluffing the biggest calling station in the world; the bluff vortex has sucked you in. If you have ever played a hand so poorly but you have no idea how it happened you have been a part of the bluff vortex. It is a temporary lapse in judgment that throws all logical thinking aside.
One of the factors in the bluff vortex is the natural egos of humans. We often don’t want to let things go, and in poker this can be extremely detrimental to our bottom line. If you have been playing at a table with a few loose players and then get tangled up with one of them in hand you are one step closer to being sucked into the bluff vortex. It is these loose players that our egos fall victim to. It makes us angry that they are playing with suck reckless abandon and we become hell bent on taking pots away from them. It starts with a simple continuation bet on the flop, then it progresses with a larger bet on the turn, it is then finally capped off with an over bet on the river. We want to show the loose player who is boss and that they can’t push us around. This is how the bluff vortex works. We know deep down that what we are doing makes no sense and that we are completely wasting our money, but we are playing with such disregard for critical thinking when in the bluff vortex that it doesn’t even matter. It is much more convenient to let our emotions dictate us.
Preventing the bluff vortex
The best way to prevent being sucked into the bluff vortex is to think carefully before we click “bet pot” instantly. The more you consider your decisions the better chance that you will end up making the correct one. Even if you bet the flop on the turn without consideration for why, you can always cut your losses by slowing down on the river and making a smaller bet, or maybe even giving up on the hand. It is much more important that you generate the best results for yourself than it is to show the other players at the table that you are a good player. Laugh silently to yourself at the loose players if it will help deaden your disdain towards them, but don’t show them you are better by stooping to their level of poor play. Always make sure that the decisions you are making have a well defined reason and a positive expectation, if you are able to do this you will be able to dodge the trap of the bluff vortex.