The Book of Bluffs: How to Bluff and Win at Poker

I read reviews that this is mostly Omaha and stud bluffs. That the book would cost you money at the tables, that some people could never bluff, that making a move with a fistful of outs is not a bluff. Well, most of the bluffs in the book does cover hold'em. The omaha and stud examples are there for a reason: they are used to demonstrate a universal idea that can be used in all forms of poker. The author carefully explains why a bluff might work and masterfully includes bluffs that fail to show you where you might go wrong. Someone saying that making a move with 5 outs is not a bluff is probably not a winning player. And finally, if someone elects to never bluff, they are missing an important part of the game. Remember this quote from Tom McEvoy, "Poker is a game of people played with cards, not a game of cards played with people." If you sit at the table for a session or play a long online MTT and hope to come out ahead because you won a card catching contest, you are giving your opponents a tremendous edge. Matt Lessinger shows you some easy bluffs we all do and advances to the bluffs that require the situation to be just right, you have to have a good read on your opponent, etc. The end of the book highlights the greatest bluffs and includes interviews with those involved in the bluff. These were bluffs from the WSOP. There were a few examples of keen bluffs from the WSOP 2003 and 2004 final table. I have both of those on dvd and it is incredible to watch the final table after reading about how a specific bluff came together and why it was attempted. This book started out slow and once it got into the really advanced bluffs, I never put the book down. It shows you that with practice, you can look for great bluff opportunities at the table. To become a really well-rounded player, you need to have a few bluffs up your sleeve. This book provides the information to get you started in that direction. I am not someone who naturally likes to bluff or thought I would ever be interested, but once I tested a few out, I definitely saw a change in my results. I'm sure as time goes on, I will be able to recognize proper times to attempt a bluff and add more of them into my game plan. This book was really well written. There was a nice mix of successful and busted bluffs to teach you based on the successes and failures of others. Matt explains why a bluff was successful or failed, which is important to keep you from making mistakes with your money. He also covers some of the best bluffs in WSOP history. Here, we see that to truly become a world class level player, the bluff must be used. It is such a powerful weapon that to never bluff would be giving too much advantage to your opponent. You didn't really think the guys who won all these poker tournaments caught the best cards the entire time did you? Definitely a 5 star poker book. I would highly recommend it to other players looking to add to their game.

Mr. Gelling is right in one aspect of his review, which is that there is a bit of bluff mania going on. But that doesn't diminish the value of this book at all...instead, you simply rev back your bluffing motor to those exactly perfect spots and, concurrently, wait for others to make their amateur moves and then pick them off. The other reviewers capture the value of mastering this skill --whether or not you will actually use it yourself-- and so i won't repeat their generally accurate comments. I'll just make three main points. One, as I mention above, this is first and foremost a well written book. It is smartly organized, internally consistent, and concise. It is not surprising that ML is also a columnist for Cardplayer. Two, this is a detailed book. In taking you through a variety of lessons and hands, ML is careful to capture exact elements that make bluffs work or not work and usually avoids the ridiculous generalizations that are the bane of much of this genre. As an example, after Moneymaker discusses a hand from the 2004 WSOP (one in which he was the target of a bluff, not the actual bluffer), ML adds his own observations from the ESPN footage of the hand. To me, this is indicative of someone who not only knows this subject inside and out but is willing to go to extra lengths to make sure you do as well. Three, this book is truly useful. It doesn't go overboard and suggest that you bluff all the time everytime. It doesn't suggest that bluffs can work all the time, either. A considerable amount of time is spent in discussing when bluffs don't work, why they don't work, and when to let them go...although it also doesn't suggest that just because you get caught in a bluff you should give up bluffing altogether. Instead, it puts some valuable tools in your hands and you, the player, get to decide when to use them.

Bluffing is a fundamental part of poker. Without it we would all be at the mercy of the cards. That being said, it is also one of the most misunderstood and misused plays in the game. Real poker is a lot different than what you see on tv. If you wonder why you get called when you move in with 2-6 when it worked on the WPT, this book is for you. It goes through 49 different bluffs and tells you why they worked or why they didn't. It explains the things you need to look for when you make your move. It covers it all, your opponents style, chip stacks, positional bluffs (early and late position,) attacking weakness, and knowing when to abandon your bluff. It really helped me take my game to a higher level. I would say it is a must read for anyone who considers their self a student of the game of poker.

This is an excellent book, filling a strangely neglected gap in poker "how-to" literature. I particularly enjoyed the interview with Chris Moneymaker about "the bluff of the century," as I heard Sam Farha's side of the story for my book "Diary of a Mad Poker Player" (Chapter 25 "The Man Who Bluffed Himself"). Lessinger writes clearly and insightfully, and his analyses of sample bluffs are illuminating. I kept wondering, while reading the book, why no-one had written this before. Great stuff.