Texas Holdem poker is not just a game of complex calculation and applied mathematics. It also involves many personal abilities of a player and entails a lot of psychological confrontation. The three most important and most frequently used psychological weapons in Texas Holdem poker are semi-bluffing, bluffing and slow playing. What differs bluffing from semi-bluffing is that bluffing is usually applied, when holding a completely worthless hand, while semi-bluffing is used, when you have a drawing hand and want to deceive your opponents and/or complete your hand at the same time.

Semi-Bluffing
For example you hold an Ace and a King of spades and the board is Jack of spades, 3 of spades and 4 of diamonds. In the given situation, you have only Ace high, but you also have a chance to complete a spade flush, or hit a pair of Aces or Kings. Betting with such a hand is bluffing, but you still have a chance of hitting a strong hand during later betting rounds. Master semi-bluffing and you will definitely appreciate its value, especially in No-Limit Texas Holdem games.

Bluffing
Even though bluffing is applied in all Texas Holdem Poker variant, it gives better results in No-Limit Texas Holdem than in its Limit counterpart. Because in Limit Holdem players know that they can only lose so much, if they call to the river. Moreover, bluffing is nearly useless in low-stake Limit Texas Holdem games, cheaper than $2/$4. That’s because very rarely will, even a drawing hand, not be called to showdown, so it’s simply pointless to try to scare your opponents out of the pot.

Bluffing becomes way more powerful in expensive Limit Holdem games. Playing at higher limits, it is efficient to bluff, when you “represent�? some comparatively strong hand and there are just a couple of players in the pot. For instance, betting at the flop with some high card on the board represents a strong pair and raising with a board flush draw represents the flush.

Slow playing
Slow playing is a deceiving tactic, which goal is to make your opponent think that you have a weak hand, when you hold some strong set.

For example, if you’ve flopped a Full House, then there is no need to scare your opponents out of the pot, because there is an extremely little chance that somebody will draw a better hand. In this case your goal is to wait till the turn or river in order to attract more money into the pot.

In fact, slow play is worth, of the following conditions are met:

• you hold a really strong set and there is an extremely little chance that somebody would draw a better hand

• you will attract good contributions only if some board cards will improve your opponents’ hands, but not so much that they’ll be able to beat you.

Also recommended:

1. Tip for beginners of Texas Holdem poker: stop bluffing
2. Texas Holdem Bluffing Tips
3. Bluffing Techniques against Solid Holdem Players
4. Determining the Best Poker Hand in Omaha High
5. Determining the Best Hand in Holdem Poker