Free Poker Tournaments Guide to Bad Bluffing and Coward Method

Many poker players struggle with bluffing. Even apparently easy game scenarios such as free poker tournaments online can be difficult; hesitation or faster than usual play can be easily read by experienced players and the bad bluffer wiped out. When moving away from online games to a live casino game everything gets harder.

So, if you are not the best bluffer, what can you do to help your game?

Well, for a start, look at changing the way you play. The main reason for being so bad at bluffing is lack of courage, also known as being a coward. You can turn this around though and for this reason we will call this the 'Coward Method'.

How it works - An Example Game

To start with during the initial stages of a free poker tournament you wait for the right hand before starting.

Remember though unless you have that winner hand A,A or A,K etc it is best not to get involved in the big raises and the All In bets early on.

Most of the time the player that does this is probably a new player or an amateur player. There may well be times where a couple of them may have a great hand. Either way the Coward Method will keep you in the game past these mad moments

Now comes the time to bet.
You have a decent hand, half the table have either called the Big Blind or Folded. You decide to call as well. Luckily nobody decides to raise to a stupid amount and the Dealer does the Flop.

Yes, two pairs. Scan the cards and estimate the chances of being beat with the cards as they stand. For example if you have the highest pair and for good measure a second as well you can check whether you are at risk of straight or a Flush.

It's looking good so you decide to Check. Yes that's right Check. Your plan now is to convince the others you have a bad hand. If somebody bets pretend to think about it and then Call. This should give the other players the impression you're not confident about your hand and hopefully they will up the betting at the end.

The Turn and still nothing significant to leave you worried. You check again, the same thing happens, small bet, Call and then the River, no reason to be worried, you still have the Highest Pairing and a second pairing.

This time the Opponent does a Higher Bet, this time, you think about it for even longer and then double the amount the Bet.

This approach normally causes either a match bet or an All In. This depends on the player. I have noticed some Players after putting down a large number of Chips during one hand get annoyed at this point and throw everything in.

Success the plan worked and now you have a tidy amount of chips. Sit back and Fold a lot of hands from this point on waiting for that right hand again.

Of course this doesn't always work, despite how confident you can be you can't always have the best hand and luck still has a say in the result of a game.

Also it can be a risk Checking when you have a winning hand, by the time of the Turn and River you may have blown it. By not betting you could be keeping in a player who would normally have folded. However I personally have had far more success playing this way.

Normally as the Blinds increase you have to get stuck in a bit more. Those early successes count for nothing in the end if you don't attempt some of the bigger pots. However you should still be conservative about it and choose carefully the hands to play.

I recently played in a poker tournament where I ranked 2nd of out 102 starters. I only lost due to the other player bluffing me. He had gone all in a few times and I finally decided to call him. Typical on this occasion he had a great hand. If I had played to my strengths and waited he may have gone All In against one of my good hands.

Hopefully I have provided another option for players who don't really have a game plan. Try this out in lower stakes and free online poker tournaments and get comfortable with it, then you can go try some high stake hands and come out ahead.