Bluff not to win money, bluff to learn poker.

[Slava_sky]

I am a bluffer. I have lost a lot of money, when I was bored to play and to wait for a cencored card and wanted to make action quicklier. I have won a lot of money, making good bluffs, but usually not from bluffs(though they bring money also), but when I was planning to bluff, but flop or turn brought me good combination, and opponents were ready to action.

The poker community convinces people to play "right". To choose the rights cards, to play "right" position, to play "right" against opponents.

But by playing "right" you don't learn poker. You win money, but you don't learn poker. Because you just repeat learned by heart actions without UNDERSTANDING what you are doing and WHY you are doing this.

At some time I even played 6-max without cards. I played only position. I didn't care what hand I had on the button - without raises behind me I made the one. Usually I went heads up on the flop, checked to me I bet the pot, I take the pot. Then I repeat the same on the CO, the only thing, that I lost the money, when button called my pf raise, so I learned quickly to pay attention

But the main money came to me not because of the pure bluffs, but when actual hand came. Of course I played QQ, KK, AA in any position(though threw away AK in UTG without any doubt), and sometimes flop or turn brought me great candies. And I have found, that I have won on those hands much more, than when I played "weak-tighty [censored]" and caught the same hands.

Because I have played those hands much more professionally. I have payed attention on the things which are essentional to bluff, but which don't seem so, when you have AA or a set and planning to double up: position, the number of opponents, their bets.

Before I knew, that those thing are important - but I didn't UNDERSTAND WHY.

By bluffing, when those thing are the most and only importand, I understood - why. I had my own meaning of them - not the Sklanskys one, not the Harrington one, not 2+2 one - but mine. And that's how I learned to use it.

And the other reason bluffing really teaches you - because it is ALWAYS your fault, when you lose the money in bluff. When you have good hand and lose, you always can say "I was unlucky and I did everything right". And a lot of losers say that. Even if you are right, your don't learn anything from saying that [censored]. But when you are bluffing - you don't have excuses. YOU made the decision to bluff, YOU made all the actions you made in that pot, and YOU made the decision how to bluff. No RNG helped your opponent to call you. So - the only thing left to you is to analyse, what YOU did wrong, and to realise, what you should have done. That's where learning process goes.

So, in my opinion, the only thing, that can help you learn the game more and become BETTER in poker - is bluffing.