Bluffing refers to when you bet pretending to have a good hand. If everyone believes you and folds their hand, you will win the pot there and then, no matter what you actually have in your hand. Many people who otherwise know nothing about poker still know that poker involves bluffing. Some people believe it is largely about bluffing and little else. Bluffing is an important part of poker, but its importance is often greatly exaggerated - it usually plays a small role besides knowledge of probability, judgement and being able to make the most of your good hands. Nevertheless, pulling off a successful bluff can be an enormously satisfying experience. Usually, however, pure bluffing - betting when you have absolutely nothing worthwhile in your hand - is only appropriate in very particular circumstances - you must pick your moment carefully - usually a moment when you sense weakness in your opponents and you believe you can realistically represent a specific hand that you don't actually have.

When you bluff, you are telling a story. You should try to make sure that your bluff fits in with the way you have been betting throughout the hand. For example, suppose you have been drawing to a straight. A player has bet on the flop and turn and you have called each time. You miss your straight, but a third club arrives on the river (with two clubs having been on the flop). Your behaviour suggests you have been drawing to a hand. Your opponent doesn't know you were drawing to the straight rather than the flush. If you bet or raise on the river, pretending to have the flush, your "story" of having hit a flush might well be convincing, because it fits in with your behaviour throughout the hand.

Sometimes you may bet when, although you don't have a good hand yet, you have a chance of drawing to a good hand. You hope that everyone else will fold, but you still have a chance of winning if anyone calls you. This tactic is known as "semi-bluffing." Typically, players semi-bluff when they need one more card to make a flush. Semi-bluffing is often a far more profitable tactic than pure bluffing when you have no hand at all. This is because when you semi-bluff, you have two ways to win the pot - by persuading everyone to fold or by making your draw if you are called. Additionally, if you are called and you make your draw, your previous bet may help to disguise your hand.

Far more important than bluffing is getting callers when you do have a great hand. Bluffing may have a role in helping you do this - and this is where you may decide to use bluffing for advertising purposes. The idea of advertising is that sometimes when you bluff (hopefully successfully), you can then show your hand to your opponents to advertise the fact that you were bluffing. In this way when you do get a good hand, other players may be more likely to believe you are bluffing and will therefore call, enabling you to pull in a big pot when you do have a good hand. Some purists frown on the idea of deliberate advertising, but it can be a perfectly workable tactic in some situations. Sometimes, advertising will take care of itself when you are called making a bluff or people will simply become suspicious if you win a lot of pots without being called. Probably, you should only deliberately run an advertising bluff and show your cards against poor quality opponents. One big bluff against novices may enable you to get callers for your good hands whenever they play you in the future! Against good players, however, deliberately showing your cards may give your opponents too much information about how you play!