When playing poker, most players try to fool other players by bluffing about their hands. This is accepted common practice and up to each player to decide on when and how to call their bluff when placing his bets. One has to select the right time to bluff, ideally when a few players have folded, as it would be easier to fool a few than many. So this is the time for a serious poker player to be vigilant and look out for bluffs. Bluffing is the term for betting as if one has a better hand than they actually do.

One has to choose the proper time for a poker bluff to be effective; if everyone checks the turn and the river it might mean that their hands are not great and so the last player can bluff and cause them to fold.  If you can judge correctly when would be the ideal time for you to bluff in poker, you have a better chance of spotting when others do so. After betting pre-flop, a player could have hit the pot or he might just be saving face. So if the next player has a good hand, he can call or re-raise the bet just to see their next step. When the pot is reasonably large, poker players are tempted to bluff and try to drive the fish out in order to improve their chances of winning the pot. So this is another time to watch out for bluffs. If one player is playing like a rock, then he can expect someone to try and bluff him out of it. When a poker player names his hands, it is a sure bet that he is bluffing and trying to influence the bets of others.

However, this very fact can be employed by a good bluffer to try and guide the way the other players bet or fold. So it is essential to play a serious game of poker only with players you know. If playing poker online as is the recent trend, play it safe as much as possible and do not place large bets. This is why serious poker players do not change groups and generally do not welcome new players. It is easy enough to spot a bluff if one is familiar with their poker group and know their playing pattern reasonably well.

 
Understanding poker bonus and playing

The craze around online gaming is rising rapidly. People of all ages are drawn to it. Well when I said online gaming, I meant something else. If you have guessed correctly, yes it’s online gambling. With internet going to every nook and corner of this planet, online gambling has never been easier. Recently a lot of online casinos have come online providing and hosting every possible game you play normally.

Well now, that we started to talk on online gambling lets not forget, my personal favorite, the game of Poker. Lately many online sites have started offering perks to regular player in the form of poker bonuses. These bonuses are applicable only after playing a fixed number of special hands. To start with, there are several different forms of bonus. Well to name a few of poker bonuses, Signup Bonuses, Sticky Bonuses and Cash back Bonuses are quite common.

The sign up bonuses on poker games are offered by many of the online casinos to the new players to help them in making their deposit for their first time. Usually a player is required to wage a certain amount before actually opting for cash out. Sometimes to claim certain bonuses, no specific claim is required.

Sticky Bonuses are also sometimes called as non-cashable bonuses. And usually are very common. Such bonus cannot be cashed and can only be played in a bet. When a player opts for a withdrawal, the balance sticky bonus automatically gets deducted. It’s like, if a player invest in some $200, he would receive a sticky bonus of $200 match. Now if he earns a 60% gambling, then decides to withdrew, he is eligible for $440(400+240-200) as his prize amount. The sticky bonus amount which gets deducted at the time of cash out is some times also known as phantom bonus.

Cash Back Bonus in the game of poker is what I usually look for if not others. Here a player is entitled to a specific amount if he registers a loss; i.e a percentage of his investment is returned. Obviously as always, even here there are terms and conditions. Usually you need to be regular player and percentage of loss is calculated from total amount lost by the player in that week.

Poker bonuses are very common nowadays. One just needs to hit the correct note. Well from my perspective, if you go and play poker for all the bonuses, I will call you a loser.
Poker is like the icing on a cake. You cannot enjoy the icing without the cake.