What is better in poker: bluffing or playing only with good cards?

[boyptc]

It's much safer not to bluff and focus on the cards, but there are exceptions.

Why you wouldn't bluff if you don't have a choice and there's no harm of trying it if you are in the middle of nowhere in front of the table.

If you play with newbies they will sometimes be scared and playing very offensive and bold can scare them even more and make them fold with something like a pair in hand. So bluffing can work but it's much better to avoid bluffing with nothing. I never bluff with a bad hand, only if I see a potential in a flop.

It's risky as it is but once you have tried it out, you can forget for awhile the risk that you are saying. But just don't do it if you are not comfortable of doing it and play only with good cards but that strategy can be read by your opponents.

While your in the seat, you have to be unpredictable.

[Indamuck]

I've been watching some poker tournaments with Antonius, Negreanu and Cates lately. Most of the time the person with better combination actually wins, but there occur some great bluffs from time to time as well. Do you think it is better to fold if you don't have at least one high card in a pair or two cards of the same suit? Is it worth to try out overbetting tricks when you really have shitty cards? When I tried playing poker, overbetting usually made me fold, because it is a hard psychological attack for me and I am not the kind of a person that is willing to risk a lot. But I am bad at poker. What is your opinion on this matter?

You will never win in the long run if you only play with your good cards, Poker is about to read your opponents.
The guys you mention above, they are expert on this, that is why they after 10 years still are among the best players in the world

I don't play much poker myself but I do enjoy watching it. It's quite frustrating when people dismiss poker as just a game of luck.  Well, it' no coincidence that the same group of players keep winning.  Poker is a psychological game won by people with a strong mind.  Some amateur can get lucky in a few games but over the long run, the same professionals win the majority of tournaments.

[Taki]

I try to use bluff only in seldom cases. I do not feel that I'm good enough with it and people easy can read me, I mean in the life game. Good cards are exactly the thing which is better in my style of game, but I suppose there are people with opposite strategy.

[darkangel11]

I think it's important to bluff sometimes so they will not think that you only raise during times that you have a combination. You have to make them scared of you when you are bluffing, and you have to make it look like you're scared of them (look like you have a bad card) when you have a good card so they will keep on raising. Thus, having the most pot, winning the most.

If you'd be scared of their cards you'd fold. If you keep putting money on the table each time they raise it shows that you aren't as scared as you want to look
It's a psychological game. If you have a good card and you keep raising they might think that you have a good card, but they also might think that you're bluffing and play along. I've seen some bad reads in poker tournaments when 1 guy was bluffing and kept raising while another player had much higher card.

[BossMacko]

I do bluffing but i only bluff during with a good card, bluffing to let the opponent to bet more to increase the pot. But if my cards are not good i simply fold dunno wanna waste my chips bluffing.

[none of us]

i prefer to play with good cards and bluffing very seldom. of course it works not without, but you should not do it often. this is how i get furthest when playing poker.

[wxa7115]

Being able to bluff with a bad hand is the riskiest way to play. The only way that you're gonna win is by making everyone else fold. You have to make them believe that you have a really good hand and that you're going to win. Sometimes a good bluffer can make someone with a good card just fold. For example, if you can easily make a flash from the cards that are already out. Let's say there's three cards of hearts out, you betting big all of a sudden will make your opponent assume that you have a pair of hearts and that you have a flush. Another way that you can win with a bluff with a bad hand is when the other person who played you until the end also has a bad hand, and it's worse than yours.

I think it's important to bluff sometimes so they will not think that you only raise during times that you have a combination. You have to make them scared of you when you are bluffing, and you have to make it look like you're scared of them (look like you have a bad card) when you have a good card so they will keep on raising. Thus, having the most pot, winning the most.

Bluffing is critical if we want to be a successful poker player but there are two different philosophies, those that play a very solid game only bluff once in a while and people believe their bluffs precisely because they are solid players so when they bluff they imagine they have a very good hand.

But there is another way, there are many that bluff a lot and while this means their bluffs will be called more often at the same time this means that other players will call on them when they are not bluffing! So they can extract a lot more money from other players when they have good hands since no one believes them they have a good hand, I have seen players like this first hand and they get great profits with a winning hand.

[KalaiBTC]

Being able to bluff with a bad hand is the riskiest way to play. The only way that you're gonna win is by making everyone else fold. You have to make them believe that you have a really good hand and that you're going to win. Sometimes a good bluffer can make someone with a good card just fold. For example, if you can easily make a flash from the cards that are already out. Let's say there's three cards of hearts out, you betting big all of a sudden will make your opponent assume that you have a pair of hearts and that you have a flush. Another way that you can win with a bluff with a bad hand is when the other person who played you until the end also has a bad hand, and it's worse than yours.

I think it's important to bluff sometimes so they will not think that you only raise during times that you have a combination. You have to make them scared of you when you are bluffing, and you have to make it look like you're scared of them (look like you have a bad card) when you have a good card so they will keep on raising. Thus, having the most pot, winning the most.

Bluffing is critical if we want to be a successful poker player but there are two different philosophies, those that play a very solid game only bluff once in a while and people believe their bluffs precisely because they are solid players so when they bluff they imagine they have a very good hand.

But there is another way, there are many that bluff a lot and while this means their bluffs will be called more often at the same time this means that other players will call on them when they are not bluffing! So they can extract a lot more money from other players when they have good hands since no one believes them they have a good hand, I have seen players like this first hand and they get great profits with a winning hand.

Neither bluffing nor playing only with good cards, these entities are related to gambling somehow and you all must know gambling is fatal for your finances. Do you want to be living a loosely held life? Where your family is against you and they get separated from you? Do you really want to stay on roads in extreme cold and heat? Then don’t spoil your good days in gambling.

[wxa7115]

Bluffing is critical if we want to be a successful poker player but there are two different philosophies, those that play a very solid game only bluff once in a while and people believe their bluffs precisely because they are solid players so when they bluff they imagine they have a very good hand.

But there is another way, there are many that bluff a lot and while this means their bluffs will be called more often at the same time this means that other players will call on them when they are not bluffing! So they can extract a lot more money from other players when they have good hands since no one believes them they have a good hand, I have seen players like this first hand and they get great profits with a winning hand.

Neither bluffing nor playing only with good cards, these entities are related to gambling somehow and you all must know gambling is fatal for your finances. Do you want to be living a loosely held life? Where your family is against you and they get separated from you? Do you really want to stay on roads in extreme cold and heat? Then don’t spoil your good days in gambling.

That is not connected in any way to my comment, we are talking about one of the basic strategies of poker, it has nothing to do with gambling addiction, of all the games I have seen poker is one of the less addictive because it is a game of strategy in which you need to think and outsmart your opponent since it is a game of skill and not of luck.

Can you lose in the game? Of course, if the other person is better but if you are reasonably good you can break even so you basically can obtain fun without paying a dime which is way better than in other casino games, so if you do not like poker or gambling in general that is your right, but if a person has complete control of his gambling and his money there is nothing you can say for that person to stop doing it.

[earnadoge]

Watching pros play is misleading, not everything is aired, and they format it to be exciting.  And during final table tourneys they have little options, and anything they do looks epic.  Unedited play among pros is boring and lasts hours, with lots of folding.  In real life you will naturally find yourself being drawn into a certain style, some like being nitty, some are excellent gamblers, needing only two cards to play.  I liked playing with good cards only in casino because good and bad results often bunch up, so when good hands streak, some people don't think it can be so many good hands.  But in a tourney, there simply might not be too many options after a certain point, and bluffing can work really well too.

[tailwate07]

Watching pros play is misleading, not everything is aired, and they format it to be exciting.  And during final table tourneys they have little options, and anything they do looks epic.  Unedited play among pros is boring and lasts hours, with lots of folding.  In real life you will naturally find yourself being drawn into a certain style, some like being nitty, some are excellent gamblers, needing only two cards to play.  I liked playing with good cards only in casino because good and bad results often bunch up, so when good hands streak, some people don't think it can be so many good hands.  But in a tourney, there simply might not be too many options after a certain point, and bluffing can work really well too.

This seems to be a little more technical to game but I think we must cut it off here. Don’t go in details because when a thing is controversial and you need to explain it, first just decide whether it is for benefit for others or not. And gambling is harmful for every single person on earth. How can we then be discussing different aspects? Don’t get into this world, its alarming.

[kurian]

People could read your mind if you are keep doing bad bluffs. Save it and do it only when you think it's the right time. It is all about not being predictable.

[btctalk4life]

Well, in my experience good cards always wins. You can't always bluff and win.. If other player has good cards, then most of the times he will definitely bet the amount and this could make you lose a lot in the end. Bluffing is a part of Poker, but in the end its all about good cards. 

Sometimes do some bluffing is good though, act like you have a good card on your hand, just do it for 1-2 hands. Of course you can't always win with bluff, just don't bluff everytime.

[harizen]

Well, in my experience good cards always wins. You can't always bluff and win.. If other player has good cards, then most of the times he will definitely bet the amount and this could make you lose a lot in the end. Bluffing is a part of Poker, but in the end its all about good cards. 

Sometimes do some bluffing is good though, act like you have a good card on your hand, just do it for 1-2 hands. Of course you can't always win with bluff, just don't bluff everytime.

Make sense. Why bluff if you have good cards. Focused instead on how will you take your good cards as advantage. Although there are people who still do bluffs even with a good card, Im not that kind of player as I have different approach whenever I will used bluffs.

Bluffs is the secondary option once you have bad cards. No sense of focusing to do bluffs while you have a good card on your hands unless you want to play around.

I remember someone with good cards and still do bluffs by putting pressure on bet. In the end, got wrecked on that round.

[STT]

You will never win in the long run if you only play with your good cards, Poker is about to read your opponents.
The guys you mention above, they are expert on this, that is why they after 10 years still are among the best players in the world

Sounds correct because you must also judge your opponents cards as well, otherwise even a good hand can lose to a better hand and worse is if you have wrongly place too much confidence and too many chips with your strong hand.
Sometimes a player is just going to be unlucky while even having good cards, if the other players also have a better hand.   So to make up for those losses, playing an average hand like its worth something and beating or realising the other players have a weaker set of cards is going to be necessary.  Its all relative!

[Stulking]

There is no doubt that you must be able to bluff.  As they say, who does not take risks, he does not drink champagne.

[BitcoinArsenal]

Statistically, in the long run, you will win playing only good cards. Of course, this also requires a lot of self-discipline, as it can happen that you only get bad hands for a long time. You can do bluffs, but only if you are in position, for example, and if you have not made a name for yourself, that you often bluff, otherwise the effect fizzles out. I played online and offline poker for a while and learned that from really good and successful players.

[Symphonized]

I would go for both in different ocasions

Bluffing when you know it will work out more then just a regular cards playing with hands.

[btcdevil]

In poker first you have to read the opponent way of betting if you are playing directly or even online with live players. because both options are working but according to the situations have to imply the pattern. Some time when opponent is playing bluff and if you find it then you can also bluff high so will close the game but some time it may go opposite also. So both option have to be played according to the situation of the game.

[Mister1k]

Statistically, in the long run, you will win playing only good cards. Of course, this also requires a lot of self-discipline, as it can happen that you only get bad hands for a long time. You can do bluffs, but only if you are in position, for example, and if you have not made a name for yourself, that you often bluff, otherwise the effect fizzles out. I played online and offline poker for a while and learned that from really good and successful players.

Poker games I do not have belief on this at all. Most of the poker games are scamming the investors whoever making the decision is feeling right. I love to play with the fair on gambling side but I did not find the many gambling not been trusted with the poker room games.
They seems noticing our moves with the help of various executive and maximum time opponents are not being real person and they only have the computer or their people at there.