Originally Posted by
USCTrojans
Bluffing should be like eating vegetables - it's good for you even if somewhat unpleasant. Don't think of bluffing as something fun, because too much fun will make you sick to your stomach (bankroll in our case!).
Bluffing is the sexiest of the poker betting actions. Except when it's plainly stupid, it is bold, daring and exciting. Aside from the adrenaline rush of winning something significant, bluffing gets the juices flowing much more than other actions, especially things like folding or calling or betting the best hand. Bluffing feeds the same human desires as riding a rollercoaster or seeing a scary movie. People like semi-living on the edge. Needless edge-play though not only becomes foolhardy, it takes the edge off the edge.
If you don't ever get caught bluffing you almost certainly don't bluff enough. There is a theoretically ideal point where you would bluff only and always when you would get away from it, but that perfection is not possible in the real world. Getting caught bluffing once in awhile actually pays off in terms of getting called when you do have the goods.
But bluffing too often leads to pointless bankroll swings, and leads to the psychological inevitability of losing begetting losing. A person who plays two hands and wins one and loses the other will almost always be on a lower psychological plane than a person who played neither hand. Let's face it, to a human being, winning X dollars is never as pleasant as losing X dollars is unpleasant. A $20/40 player who loses $1000 one day is basically always more pissed off than he is pleased when he wins $1000 in a day. It's a common obsession among players to "get even" when they are losing four or five bets. Players might risk their entire fortune to try and get those five bets. In contrast, when a player is five bets winner, winning another five bets has virtually zero effect on anyone. It's weird and scary how humans can look at two things of equal value in completely different ways.
Bluffing is risking loss, and people suck at losing, so the psychological effects of bluffing should be put into your mental calculator when deciding whether to bluff or not.
Still, all this translates into: don't do too much of a good thing. And bluffing surely is a good thing. Bluffing is the act of earning with personal boldness some economic value that you were unable to earn with the objective assets of your cards.
GL and have fun as always,
USC
