Bluff Card Game

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3. When To Bluff In Poker
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One of the coolest card games to play is the game bluff. It requires players to be confident in the art of bluffing. The objective of Bluff card games is to get rid of all your cards as fast as you. This is the 1975 Parker Brothers BLUFF card game. The original box measures approx. 5' by 8 1/2' and is in like new condition. The contents are complete, unused and the game was never played. The cards and money still have the original rubber bands around them and the cardboard stands have never been assembled. Nov 13, 2018 As the name of the game goes, bluff is a game that requires you to fool your opponents by lying or telling the truth about your cards. It is important that you learn the art of deceiving your opponent with bluffs and truths. A straight face and a little bit of practice surely helps you ace the art of bluffing. Also learn how to play rummy. Two Card Blind Man's bluff: One variant of this game consists of each player receiving two cards instead of one, dealt one at time in a clockwise rotation around the table. The rules of bidding and play are the same as in the standard game, however, the ranking of the cards in a player's hand will be somewhat different.

Cheat (also known as Bullshit, B.S., Bluff, or I Doubt It^[3]) is a card game where the players aim to get rid of all of their cards.^[4][5] It is a game of deception, with cards being played face-down and players being permitted to lie about the cards they have played. A challenge is usually made by players calling out the name of the game, and the loser of a challenge has to pick up every card played so far. Cheat is classed as a party game.^[4] As with many card games, cheat has an oral tradition and so people are taught the game under different names.

Rules[edit]

One pack of 52 cards is used for four or fewer players; five or more players should combine two 52-card packs. Shuffle the cards and deal them as evenly as possible among the players. No cards should be left. Some players may end up with one card more or less than other players. Players may look at their hands.

A player's turn consists of discarding one or more cards face down, and calling out their rank - which may be a lie.^[6]

The player who sits to the left of the dealer (clockwise) takes the first turn, and must call aces. The second player does the same, and must call twos. Play continues like this, increasing rank each time, with aces following kings.^[6]

If any player thinks another player is lying, they can call the player out by shouting 'Cheat' (or 'Bluff', 'I doubt it', etc.), and the cards in question are revealed to all players. If the accused player was indeed lying, they have to take the whole pile of cards into their hand. If the player was not lying, the caller must take the pile into their hand. Once the next player has placed cards, however, it is too late to call out any previous players.^[6]

The game ends when any player runs out of cards, at which point they win.

Variants[edit]

• A common British variant allows a player to pass their turn if they don’t wish to lie or if all the cards of the required rank have clearly been previously played.
• Some variants allow a rank above or below the previous rank to be called.^[6] Others allow the current rank to be repeated or progress down through ranks instead of up.^[6]
• Some variants allow only a single card to be discarded during a turn.
• In some variations a player may also lie about the number of cards they are playing, if they feel confident that other players will not notice the discrepancy. This is challenged and revealed in the usual manner.^[6]
• In another variant, players must continue placing cards of the same rank until someone calls 'Cheat' or everyone decides to pass a turn.

International variants[edit]

The game is commonly known as 'Cheat' in Britain and 'Bullshit' in the United States.^[6]

Mogeln[edit]

The German and Austrian variant is for four or more players and is variously known as Mogeln ('cheat'), Schwindeln ('swindle'), Lügen ('lie') or Zweifeln ('doubting').^[7] A 52-card pack is used (two packs with more players) and each player is dealt the same number of cards, any surplus being dealt face down to the table. The player who has the Ace of Hearts leads by placing it face down on the table (on the surplus cards if any). The player to the left follows and names his discard as the Two of Hearts and so on up to the King. Then the next suit is started. Any player may play a card other than the correct one in the sequence, but if his opponents suspect him of cheating, they call gemogelt! ('cheated!'). The card is checked and if it is the wrong card, the offending player has to pick up the entire stack. If it is the right card, the challenger has to pick up the stack. The winner is the first to shed all their cards; the loser is the last one left holding any cards.^[8]

Verish' Ne Verish'[edit]

The Russian game Verish' Ne Verish' ('Trust, don't trust') - described by David Parlett as 'an ingenious cross between Cheat and Old Maid'^[9] - is also known as Russian Bluff, Chinese Bluff or simply as Cheat.

The game is played with 36 cards (two or three player) or 52 (four or more). One card is removed at random before the game and set aside face-down, and the remainder are dealt between players (even if this results in players having differently sized hands of cards).^[9]

The core of the game is played in the same manner as Cheat, except that the rank does not change as play proceeds around the table: every player must call the same rank.^[9]

Whenever players pick up cards due to a bluff being called, they may – if they wish – reveal four of the same rank from their hand, and discard them.^[10]

In some variants, if the player does not have any of the rank in their hand, they may call 'skip' or 'pass' and the next player takes their turn. If every player passes, the cards on the table are removed from the game, and the last player begins the next round.^{[citation needed]}

Canadian/Spanish Bluff[edit]

Similar to Russian Bluff, it is a version used by at least some in Canada and known in Spain. The rules are rather strict and, while a variation, is not open to much variation. It is also known in English as Fourshit (single deck) and Eightshit (double deck), the game involves a few important changes to the standard rules. Usually two decks are used^[6] instead of one so that there are 8 of every card as well as four jokers (Jokers are optional), though one deck may be used if desired. Not all ranks are used; the players can arbitrarily choose which ranks to use in the deck and, if using two decks, should use one card for each player plus two or three more. Four players may choose to use 6,8,10,J,Q,K,A or may just as easily choose 2,4,5,6,7,9,J,K, or any other cards. This can be a useful way to make use of decks with missing cards as those ranks can be removed. The four jokers are considered wild and may represent any card in the game.

The first player can be chosen by any means.^[11] The Spanish variation calls for a bidding war to see who has the most of the highest card. The winner of the challenge is the first player. In Canada, a version is the first player to be dealt a Jack face up, and then the cards are re dealt face down.

The first player will make a 'claim' of any rank of cards and an amount of their choice. In this version each player in turn must play as many cards as they wish of the same rank.^[6] The rank played never goes up, down nor changes in any way. If the first player plays kings, all subsequent players must also play kings for that round (it is non-incremental). Jokers represent the card of the rank being played in each round, and allow a legal claim of up to 11 of one card (seven naturals and four jokers).^[12] A player may play more cards than they claim to play though hiding cards under the table or up the sleeve is not allowed. After any challenge, the winner begins a new round by making a claim of any amount of any card rank.

If at any point a player picks up cards and has all eight natural cards of a certain rank, he declares this out loud and removes them from the game. If a player fails to do this and later leads a round with this rank, he or she automatically loses the game.

Once a player has played all his or her cards, he or she is out of that particular hand. Play continues until there are only two players (at which point some cards have probably been removed from the game). The players continue playing until there is a loser. The object of the game is not so much to win, but not be the loser. The loser is usually penalised by the winners either in having the dishonour of losing, or having to perform a forfeit.

China/Iranian Bullshit[edit]

In the Fujian province, a version of the game known as 吹牛 ('bragging') or 说谎 ('lying') is played with no restriction on the rank that may be called each turn, and simply requiring that each set is claimed to be of the same number.

On any given turn, a player may 'pass' instead of playing. If all players pass consecutively, then the face-down stack of played cards is taken out of the game until the next bluff is called. The player who previously called a rank then begins play again. ^[6]

This version, also sometimes called Iranian Bullshit,^[13] is often played with several decks shuffled together, allowing players to play (or claim to play) large numbers of cards of the same rank.^[6]

Sweden[edit]

Known as bluffstopp (a portmanteau of bluff ('bluff') and stoppspel ('shedding game'.)) Players are given six (or seven) cards at the start of the game, and the remainder makes a pile. Players are restricted to follow suit, and play a higher rank, but are allowed to bluff. If a player is revealed to be bluffing, or a player fails to call or a bluff, the player draws three cards from the pile.

Additional rules and players to play more than one card in secret, and drop cards in their lap. But if this is discovered, the player must draw three or even six cards.

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abChildren's Card Games by USPC Co. Retrieved 22 April 2019
2. ^Kartenspiele für Kinder - Beschäftigung für Schmuddelwetter at www.vaterfreuden.de. Retrieved 23 April 2019
3. ^Guide to games: Discarding games: How to play cheat, The Guardian, 22 November 2008, [1] retrieved 28 March 2011
4. ^ ^abThe Pan Book of Card Games, p288, PAN, 1960 (second edition), Hubert Phillips
5. ^The Oxford A-Z of Card Games, David Parlett, Oxford University Press, ISBN0-19-860870-5
6. ^ ^abcdefghijk'Rules of Card Games: Bullshit / Cheat / I Doubt It'. Pagat.com. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
7. ^Geiser 2004, p. 48. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGeiser2004 (help)
8. ^Gööck 1967, p. 31. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGööck1967 (help)
9. ^ ^abcParlett, David (2000). The Penguin encyclopedia of card games (New ed.). Penguin. ISBN0140280324.
10. ^'Rules of Card Games: Verish' ne verish''. Pagat.com. 17 November 1996. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
11. ^'Dupyup.com'. Dupyup.com. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
12. ^'Bullshit, the Card Game'. Khopesh.tripod.com. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
13. ^'Board Games'. The Swamps of Jersey. Retrieved 29 November 2020.

Further reading[edit]

• Geiser, Remigius (2004). '100 Kartenspiele des Landes Salzburg', in Talon, Issue 13.
• Gööck, Roland (1967). Freude am Kartenspiel, Bertelsmann, Gütersloh.
• Albert Morehead (1996). Official Rules of Card Games. Ballantine Books. ISBN0-449-91158-6.
• USPC Card Game Rule Archive (under the name 'I Doubt It') accessed on 2006-05-10.

In the card game of poker, a bluff is a bet or raise made with a hand which is not thought to be the best hand. To bluff is to make such a bet. The objective of a bluff is to induce a fold by at least one opponent who holds a better hand. The size and frequency of a bluff determines its profitability to the bluffer. By extension, the phrase 'calling somebody's bluff' is often used outside the context of poker to describe situations where one person demands that another proves a claim, or proves that they are not being deceptive.^[1]

Pure bluff[edit]

A pure bluff, or stone-cold bluff, is a bet or raise with an inferior hand that has little or no chance of improving. A player making a pure bluff believes they can win the pot only if all opponents fold. The pot odds for a bluff are the ratio of the size of the bluff to the pot. A pure bluff has a positive expectation (will be profitable in the long run) when the probability of being called by an opponent is lower than the pot odds for the bluff.

For example, suppose that after all the cards are out, a player holding a busteddrawing hand decides that the only way to win the pot is to make a pure bluff. If the player bets the size of the pot on a pure bluff, the bluff will have a positive expectation if the probability of being called is less than 50%. Note, however, that the opponent may also consider the pot odds when deciding whether to call. In this example, the opponent will be facing 2-to-1 pot odds for the call. The opponent will have a positive expectation for calling the bluff if the opponent believes the probability the player is bluffing is at least 33%.

Semi-bluff[edit]

In games with multiple betting rounds, to bluff on one round with an inferior or drawing hand that might improve in a later round is called a semi-bluff. A player making a semi-bluff can win the pot two different ways: by all opponents folding immediately or by catching a card to improve the player's hand. In some cases a player may be on a draw but with odds strong enough that they are favored to win the hand. In this case their bet is not classified as a semi-bluff even though their bet may force opponents to fold hands with better current strength.

For example, a player in a stud poker game with four spade-suited cards showing (but none among their downcards) on the penultimate round might raise, hoping that their opponents believe the player already has a flush. If their bluff fails and they are called, the player still might be dealt a spade on the final card and win the showdown (or they might be dealt another non-spade and try to bluff again, in which case it is a pure bluff on the final round rather than a semi-bluff).

Bluffing circumstances[edit]

Bluffing may be more effective in some circumstances than others. Bluffs have a higher expectation when the probability of being called decreases. Several game circumstances may decrease the probability of being called (and increase the profitability of the bluff):

• Fewer opponents who must fold to the bluff.
• The bluff provides less favorable pot odds to opponents for a call.
• A scare card comes that increases the number of superior hands that the player may be perceived to have.
• The player's betting pattern in the hand has been consistent with the superior hand they are representing with the bluff.
• The opponent's betting pattern suggests the opponent may have a marginal hand that is vulnerable to a greater number of potential superior hands.
• The opponent's betting pattern suggests the opponent may have a drawing hand and the bluff provides unfavorable pot odds to the opponent for chasing the draw.
• Opponents are not irrationally committed to the pot (see sunk cost fallacy).
• Opponents are sufficiently skilled and paying sufficient attention.

The opponent's current state of mind should be taken into consideration when bluffing. Under certain circumstances external pressures or events can significantly impact an opponent's decision making skills.

Optimal bluffing frequency[edit]

If a player bluffs too infrequently, observant opponents will recognize that the player is betting for value and will call with very strong hands or with drawing hands only when they are receiving favorable pot odds. If a player bluffs too frequently, observant opponents snap off their bluffs by calling or re-raising. Occasional bluffing disguises not just the hands a player is bluffing with, but also their legitimate hands that opponents may think they may be bluffing with. David Sklansky, in his book The Theory of Poker, states 'Mathematically, the optimal bluffing strategy is to bluff in such a way that the chances against your bluffing are identical to the pot odds your opponent is getting.'

Optimal bluffing also requires that the bluffs must be performed in such a manner that opponents cannot tell when a player is bluffing or not. To prevent bluffs from occurring in a predictable pattern, game theory suggests the use of a randomizing agent to determine whether to bluff. For example, a player might use the colors of their hidden cards, the second hand on their watch, or some other unpredictable mechanism to determine whether to bluff.

Example (Texas Hold'em)[edit]

Here is an example for the game of Texas Hold'em, from The Theory of Poker:

when I bet my $100, creating a $300 pot, my opponent was getting 3-to-1 oddsfrom the pot. Therefore my optimum strategy was ... [to make] the odds againstmy bluffing 3-to-1.

Since the dealer will always bet with (nut hands) in this situation, they should bluff with (their) 'Weakest hands/bluffing range' 1/3 of the time in order to make the odds 3-to-1 against a bluff.^[2]

Ex:On the last betting round (river), Worm has been betting a 'semi-bluff' drawing hand with: A♠ K♠ on the board:

10♠ 9♣ 2♠ 4♣against Mike's A♣ 10♦ hand.

The river comes out:

2♣

Bluff Card Game Online

The pot is currently 30 dollars, and Worm is contemplating a 30-dollar bluff on the river. If Worm does bluff in this situation, they are giving Mike 2-to-1 pot odds to call with their two pair (10's and 2's).

In these hypothetical circumstances, Worm will have the nuts 50% of the time, and be on a busted draw 50% of the time. Worm will bet the nuts 100% of the time, and bet with a bluffing hand (using mixed optimal strategies):

${\displaystyle x=s/(1+s)}$^[3]

Where s is equal to the percentage of the pot that Worm is bluff betting with and x is equal to the percentage of busted draws Worm should be bluffing with to bluff optimally.

Pot = 30 dollars.Bluff bet = 30 dollars.

s = 30(pot) / 30(bluff bet) = 1.

Worm should be bluffing with their busted draws:

${\displaystyle x=1/(1+s)=50\mathrm{\%}}$ Where s = 1

Assuming four trials, Worm has the nuts two times, and has a busted draw two times. (EV = expected value)

Under the circumstances of this example: Worm will bet their nut hand two times, for every one time they bluff against Mike's hand (assuming Mike's hand would lose to the nuts and beat a bluff). This means that (if Mike called all three bets) Mike would win one time, and lose two times, and would break even against 2-to-1 pot odds. This also means that Worm's odds against bluffing is also 2-to-1 (since they will value bet twice, and bluff once).

Bluff Card Game How To Play

Say in this example, Worm decides to use the second hand of their watch to determine when to bluff (50% of the time). If the second hand of the watch is between 1 and 30 seconds, Worm will check their hand down (not bluff). If the second hand of the watch is between 31 and 60 seconds, Worm will bluff their hand. Worm looks down at their watch, and the second hand is at 45 seconds, so Worm decides to bluff. Mike folds his two pair saying, 'the way you've been betting your hand, I don't think my two pair on the board will hold up against your hand.' Worm takes the pot by using optimal bluffing frequencies.

This example is meant to illustrate how optimal bluffing frequencies work. Because it was an example, we assumed that Worm had the nuts 50% of the time, and a busted draw 50% of the time. In real game situations, this is not usually the case.

The purpose of optimal bluffing frequencies is to make the opponent (mathematically) indifferent between calling and folding. Optimal bluffing frequencies are based upon game theory and the Nash equilibrium, and assist the player using these strategies to become unexploitable. By bluffing in optimal frequencies, you will typically end up breaking even on your bluffs (in other words, optimal bluffing frequencies are not meant to generate positive expected value from the bluffs alone). Rather, optimal bluffing frequencies allow you to gain more value from your value bets, because your opponent is indifferent between calling or folding when you bet (regardless of whether it's a value bet or a bluff bet).^[3]

When To Bluff In Poker

Bluffing in other games[edit]

Although bluffing is most often considered a poker term, similar tactics are useful in other games as well. In these situations, a player makes a play that should not be profitable unless an opponent misjudges it as being made from a position capable of justifying it. Since a successful bluff requires deceiving one's opponent, it occurs only in games in which the players conceal information from each other. In games like chess and backgammon, both players can see the same board and so should simply make the best legal move available. Examples include:

• Contract Bridge: Psychic bids and falsecards are attempts to mislead the opponents about the distribution of the cards. A risk (common to all bluffing in partnership games) is that a bluff may also confuse the bluffer's partner. Psychic bids serve to make it harder for the opponents to find a good contract or to accurately place the key missing cards with a defender. Falsecarding (a tactic available in most trick taking card games) is playing a card that would naturally be played from a different hand distribution in hopes that an opponent will wrongly assume that the falsecarder made a natural play from a different hand and misplay a later trick on that assumption.
• Stratego: Much of the strategy in Stratego revolves around identifying the ranks of the opposing pieces. Therefore, depriving your opponent of this information is valuable. In particular, the 'Shoreline Bluff' involves placing the flag in an unnecessarily-vulnerable location in the hope that the opponent will not look for it there. It is also common to bluff an attack that one would never actually make by initiating pursuit of a piece known to be strong, with an as-yet unidentified but weaker piece. Until the true rank of the pursuing piece is revealed, the player with the stronger piece might retreat if their opponent does not pursue them with a weaker piece. That might buy time for the bluffer to bring in a faraway piece that can actually defend against the bluffed piece.
• Spades: In late game situations, it is useful to bid a nil even if it cannot succeed.^[4] If the third seat bidder sees that making a natural bid would allow the fourth seat bidder to make an uncontestable bid for game, they may bid nil even if it has no chance of success. The last bidder then must choose whether to make their natural bid (and lose the game if the nil succeeds) or to respect the nil by making a riskier bid that allows their side to win even if the doomed nil is successful. If the player chooses wrong and both teams miss their bids, the game continues.
• Scrabble: Scrabble players will sometimes deliberately play a phony word in the hope the opponent does not challenge it. Bluffing in Scrabble is a bit different from the other examples. Scrabble players conceal their tiles but have little opportunity to make significant deductions about their opponent's tiles (except in the endgame) and even less opportunity to spread disinformation about them. Bluffing by playing a phony is instead based on assuming players have imperfect knowledge of the acceptable word list.^{[citation needed]}

Artificial intelligence[edit]

Evan Hurwitz and Tshilidzi Marwala developed a software agent that bluffed while playing a poker-like game.^[5][6] They used intelligent agents to design agent outlooks. The agent was able to learn to predict its opponents' reactions based on its own cards and the actions of others. By using reinforcement neural networks, the agents were able to learn to bluff without prompting.

Economic theory[edit]

In economics, bluffing has been explained as rational equilibrium behavior in games with information asymmetries. For instance, consider the hold-up problem, a central ingredient of the theory of incomplete contracts. There are two players. Today player A can make an investment; tomorrow player B offers how to divide the returns of the investment. If player A rejects the offer, they can realize only a fraction x<1 of these returns on their own. Suppose player A has private information about x. Goldlücke and Schmitz (2014) have shown that player A might make a large investment even if player A is weak (i.e., when they know that x is small). The reason is that a large investment may lead player B to believe that player A is strong (i.e., x is large), so that player B will make a generous offer. Hence, bluffing can be a profitable strategy for player A.^[7]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Bluff Card Game Strategy

1. ^'call bluff'. The Free Dictionary by Farlex. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
2. ^Game Theory and Poker
3. ^ ^abThe Mathematics of Poker, Bill Chen and Jerrod Ankenman
4. ^[1]Archived December 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
5. ^Marwala, Tshilidzi; Hurwitz, Evan (May 7, 2007). 'Learning to bluff'. arXiv:0705.0693 [cs.AI].
6. ^'Software learns when it pays to deceive'. New Scientist. May 30, 2007.
7. ^Goldlücke, Susanne; Schmitz, Patrick W. (2014). 'Investments as signals of outside options'. Journal of Economic Theory. 150: 683–708. doi:10.1016/j.jet.2013.12.001. ISSN0022-0531.

General references[edit]

• David Sklansky (1987). The Theory of Poker. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-00-0.
• David Sklansky (2001). Tournament Poker for Advanced Players. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-28-0.
• David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth (1988). Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-22-1.
• Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie (2004). Harrington on Hold'em: Expert Strategy For No-Limit Tournaments; Volume I: Strategic Play. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-33-7.
• Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie (2005). Harrington on Hold'em: Expert Strategy For No-Limit Tournaments; Volume II: The Endgame. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-35-3.
• Bill Chen, Jerrod Ankenman. The Mathematics of Poker.