What makes a good player? Part 4

     Bluffing is a very important part of poker.  It is what poker is best known for.  I have heard it said and believe it quite true, that if a player cannot bluff, and are only conservative (tight), they cannot win.  I have seen some very gutsy bluffs pulled off that have made a ton of chips.  I have seen some very gutsy bluffs (myself included) that lost a ton of chips. A common bluff spot is a paired board.   5J5   First player checks, the other player pushes all in.  Knowing these spots is important.  Knowing the amount to bluff and the probability the other player does not have a hand to call with is important.
      In a live game about 2 months ago, I was at the final table with 6 other players. I was the big blind and everyone had folded around to the small blind. The small blind pushed all his chips in on a bluff.  We were even stacked, blinds were not small and I knew he didn't have a strong hand. He couldn't have had anything tremendous or he would have bet smaller to make it easy for me to call.  I had played him several times and figured what he was probably pushing with.  Kx, Qx...Ax at worst, possibly even with 2 low cards, but if he did have an Ace, he would have bet lower, so when I looked at my 109os, I liked my odds against this player, at this point. I called, sure enough Q4 suited was his holding. Flop came out 876, none of his suit. I flopped the nuts. He insulted me over the idea that I would call him putting my tournament life on the line with that hand. However; I won the tournament due to that hand. The final table had been generally very tight and I was waiting for a spot I believed would be a bluff, that I would have a shot to gain a lot of chips. Bluffing is important, but it was not what put him in the winner's circle that night. Most bluffs do not pull in the large chunk of chips that are needed to win tournaments. The calls on your big hands, and knowing when to call a bluff, are what pull in the big chunk of chips.  Bluffs keep you in games for a while longer, if successful.  But, the 'secret'?  Bluffing on it's own is not the 'secret'.
      We have all gone on those lucky streaks. And as I have said before, there are players that believe it is luck that makes the winner. But if you have played for any serious amount of time, you know it is not the luck that makes the consistent winner. Luck does not make a player 'good'. But, there are times you are playing and can't believe that he hit his card on the river to bust your hand. You replay the hand, --he was betting, you were stringing him along just calling with your 2 pair and unbelievably he hit his straight. Well, he was lucky in a sense, that you just called along giving him the odds he desired to hit that 'lucky' card. You can chant your lucky chant, you can rub the lucky rabbit's foot, you can rub your lucky card protector in just such a way, but it won't change the shuffle.  What is coming is coming and is based in odds.  Luck...no secret there.

      Yeah, I know I didn't get to the 'secret'. It might be in the next one, it might not...just keep reading.

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http://www.glossforum.com/2009/04/06/what-makes-a-good-player-part-5-coming-soon/page1/