Game Theory and Bluffing by Sklansky???

[windy_city_kid]

I just finished reading chapeter 19 in Sklansky's book The Theory of Poker. Which, by the way, if any hasn't read this I think it is a most have for any poker player. My question is that he explains the math great about how to adjust the frequency of your bluffing but I don't see how this applies in a real game. It would be to much to write the whole theory but I am sure some of you here are familiar, the short of it is to keep your odds against you bluffing equal to the pot odds. This works mathematicaly but each hand will be different with different odds. So can you apply this theory to your bluffing strategy.

[Al Mirpuri]

Estimate your chances of successfully running a bluff. If the pot odds compensate you adequately then run your bluff, if not then back off. (Remember that if it is not an end-bet bluff then you will have to factor in that it might take more than one bet to get the other guy to fold. As a rule, I would think that it is easiest to make the calculation outlined here for the end-bet bluff.)

[Dynasty]

It is very unlikely you will be able to apply this practically in your games.

You will have far more success focusing on reading hands and bluffing when your opponents have a very weak hand (busted nut flush draw, middle/bottom pair) but one which still beats yours.

[Mano]

It is pretty straightforward to use the game theory bluffing strategy in a draw game (either high or lowball). Say you are drawing one card to a spade flush and if you bet after the draw the pot is offering 9:1 odds to your opponent. There are 9 cards that will make your flush, and you can decide beforehand that you will run a bluff if you catch a predetermined other card, say the 2 /forums/images/icons/heart.gif . Therefore, when you bet after the draw no matter what strategy your opponent uses against you (always call, never call, call sometimes), you will come out the same, and since you are using your draw card to randomize your bluff, there is no pattern to your bluffing for your opponent to catch on to.
As others have said, you are probably better off tying to read your opponent and using information you gather on them as you play to estimate the odds of your bluff working as opposed to the pot odds you are getting, since the game theory strategy is optimal only if your opponent plays "perfectly", but I believe working through problems, seeing what the optimal bluffing frequency would be against perfect playing opponents and adjusting to a higher bluff rate for timid opponents and a lower bluff rate for loose opponents is quite interesting and informative.