To bluff or not to bluff! Is the question Mnemonics the answer? Doc AZ

[Doctavian]

To Bluff or Not to Bluff! That is the question!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I participate with a group of friends in a poker study forum. To help each other with our games, we make up lessons to review with each other. I was working on a presentation on bluffing for the forum. And I thought that I might as well go ahead and post it here, in case any of our stud forum members might be interested.

Topic: Hilger’s basic 11 principles of bluffing. And the technique of creating mnemonics to help us remember them.

Introduction Doc AZ: When I played lower limit stud I very rarely bluffed. (We shall discuss the reasons in a minute) When I played $15-30 Stud, I bluffed more frequently. And when I play in Stud tournaments, bluffing is an essential maneuver that I use with some regularity.

If you are going to master the game of Stud, you MUST master every single part of the game. Even those maneuvers which in your particular game you rarely use.

An example concerning bluffing might be: If I visiting a new casino and was placed at a very loose low limit stud game, which for example might have an average of 6 callers per hand, I might play for a couple of hours without ever going for a bluff.

But if I entered a stud tournament at that same casino, I would know that: I am likely to only be dealt a limited number of strong hands during the short duration of the tourney. Therefore I am going to have to bluff occasionally early to take pots. And at the end of the tourney many of my bets are going to be semi bluff bets.

So what are the bluffing essentials and how can we remember them for the rest of our lives.


Hillgar’s 11 essentials of bluffing, and a technique to remember them.

When I go to master a new concept I often employ the technique of Mnemonics to help me remember concepts which have a lot of sub-components.

I think that the chapter on bluffing in Matthew Hilgar’s book published 2002 gives a good overview of the subject.


His 11 principles are:

1 Usually only bluff when you are against one two or POSSIBLY three opponents
2. A Tight image on your part increases you likely hood of success.
3.Since Poker is a game which rewards aggression, semibluff bets and raises can often be profitable.


The difference between a pure and a semi-bluff is that pure bluffs are hands that should loose if called. While a Semi-bluff hand is one which is provably behind now but which has redraws.
4. You have a better chance of bluffing good players (not experts) and timid players than idiots and maniacs.
A poker proverb that I have all too often found true is from Davis’s book “The Poker Bible” And it is: To try and bluff a fool only makes you a fool as well.
5. You will be more successful trying to steal small pots than large ones..
6. You will be more successful if you try bluffs before the river round.

Doc AZ: Now what is a technique that I can use, to help me remember all 11 of Hlger’s principles? Answer: I am going to create a mnemonic!

The ancient Greeks mastered this technique of mnemonics thousands of years ago. As a matter of fact the word mnemonics comes from the legend of a Greek named Mnemon who was in a temple when it collapsed killing many people inside. He had to remember who had been killed so he created a story, which included each of the casualties and in doing so created the technique of mnemonics.

One of the principles of mnemonics is that the more bizarre the story is you create the easier it is for the mind to remember.


In our story we are going to see a giant tractor-trailer which is open and contains hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is going to be given us as a reward for remembering this mnemonic. The truck is supported in mid air by Hilgar's eleven pillars, his 11 principles of bluffing.

And the story goes, once open a time:

One, two, or possibly three, tight characters, drove their semi bluff, through knowledgeable mice, and into a small pot, before the river.

So this half of our mnemonic reminds of which 6 of Hilger’s principles?

1. Bluffs are more successful when tried against one or two and POSSIBLY three opponents, but they will usualy fail when tried against four opponents.
2. Bluffs are more successful if YOU have a tight playing image.
3 Semi bluffs have 3 ways of winning . a. by taking the pot now. b. by taking the hand when you hit your redraw. b. by missing the bluff and having your opponents try to draw out on your more.
4. Bluffs are more successful when you attempt them against knowledgeable opponents and timid opponents.
(In the Poker Bible by Davis, he says To try to bluff a fool only makes you a fool. It is a proverb which I have painfully remembered all too frequently.
5. You are going to be able to bluff small pots much easier than you are big pots.
6. Bluffs attempted before the river round of betting, are more successful than those attempted on the river. This is because their are no potential future rounds that the caller migh have to encounter.

So what is the second part of our Mnemonic story.

In this half we see our One, Two, or possible Three poker bluffers having been pulled over, and a policeman giving them a card.

Our Mnemonic Novella continues:

The One, two, or possibly three drivers said that they could read their opponents hands by the light of their opponent’s raggedy uncoordinated rainbows, and this put them in the position to be able to represent their hands as being stronger than they really were. So they got a scare card!

The second half of the mnemonic reminds us of principles 7 through 11 which are that:


7. Bluffs work better when you read your opponents hands as being weak.
8 Rainbow cards (no flush coordination) and raggedy cards in your opponents exposed hands increase your bluff’s chance of success.
9. And early raising and betting on your part can miss-represent the strength of your hand to your opponents which can increase your bluffs chances of success.
10. Your position in the round can influence your bluffs chance of winning. Early position bluffs: to try to misrepresent your hand. Or late to take advantage of times your opponents have shown no strength.
11. And Scare cards hitting your board, can also increase your bluffs chance of success.

So what is our whole mnemonic one last time:

One, two, or three tight players drove their semi-bluffs through the knowledgeable mice into, a small pot before the river! They were given a scare card because they had read their opponents hands, by the light from their raggedy rainbows, and they had represented their hands as being stronger than they really were.


Well that's my mnemonic. In Poker, knowledge is power PERIOD! And the Game rewards the men and women who take the time to master her principles.

Mnemonics is one of the techniques that I use to help me remember game concepts, and strategies which have many different components.


I just made this particular mnemonic up as I wrote out this post. And I am certain that you can create even better ones for yourselves.


One final reminder about bluffing. The looser the game is, and the less sophisticated your opponents are the less productive your bluffs will tend to be.

In loose low limit games bluffs can often be PROFIT LOSS maneuvers.Why don't we try and bluff fols again....!

When you are in a game of that nature, often the best thing to do is to just bet your big hands, call with your good draws, and fold the rest.

Your friend,

Doc AZ