Turn Your Hand Into A Bluff: Part 2 of Poker In Practice: Critical Concepts

Bet when you have it. Fold when you don't. Maybe try bluffing if you think your opponent doesn't have it, either. Everyone likes to talk about showdown value these days, and how you should get to showdown when you have it. But even when taking a showdown is a profitable way to play your hand, turning your hand into a bluff may be an even more profitable option.

In Turn Your Hand Into A Bluff, we show you exactly how to decide how much your hand is worth at showdown and how much it's worth as a bluff. Once you figure that out, it's simple to pick the most profitable play. We give you the mathematical equations to find the numerical truth, but we also supply some broader guidelines for those of you who don't consider yourselves math wizards. Simple logic can often help you determine whether or not to turn your hand into a bluff. For instance, if there's $100 in the pot and you'll win a showdown 50% of the time, but a big bluff will work close to 100% of the time, which option is better? Call us greedy, but we'd rather always win the pot than just half the time.

We use 10 hands from Dusty's own play to illustrate exactly what we're talking about in a variety of situations.