Poker is a family of games, also called solitaire, in which players bet over which hand is most valuable according to the rules of the game. There are different kinds of poker and they differ according to how they are played, in what way the player has to deal with the cards, and in what way the player may be able to check or bluff his opponents. There are two distinct phases in every poker game, the pre-game and the post-game stages. In order to win in poker, a player has to be disciplined enough to stay within the parameters of the game rules, while at the same time using his creative mind to come up with strategies and tactics that would allow him to maximize his earnings.
Bluffing is one of the strategies employed by many poker players who try to make their opponents believe that they have a powerful hand, when actually, all they have is weaker hands that are capable of getting them out of a tight situation without going bankrupt. The basic form of bluffing in poker is to be able to create confusion in the opponent’s mind as to where you may be hiding your cards and hands. One way of bluffing involves making your opponents doubt whether you have a strong hand or not by taking a high number of weak cards that you have in your hand, and making your opponents think that you might just be holding a hand that contains worse cards that you do have. When this happens, your opponents will be more likely to fold because they will think that you are bluffing.
One important thing to remember in order to bluff is to always leave your ante bet in the case of the early stage of the game. The early stage occurs until after the player has raised the betting ante to at least five per cent. When this becomes impossible, the player should fold because he does not have the money to keep on playing. At this point, the player may consider calling the raise if he still has some strength in his hand, but he should not bet because it is too late for him to win the pot, and fold immediately when he does make a winning hand.