Bluffing refers to the wiles and stratagems a player may employ to accomplish the first half of Sklansky's Fundamental Theorem of Poker - inducing someone to act (bet) in a way that they would not, if they could see your cards.

Sometimes it is important not to bluff, but be thought to bluff. That's as critical as being able to bluff and be thought to tell the truth. If bluffing were a requirement, then everyone would know never to trust anyone else. The whole point is to create uncertainty or ambiguity. For that reason, when context requires, this text refers to the bluffing tactic as "bluffing (or not)."

Sometimes, a betting decision may be called a "semi-bluff" because it communicates a certain strength that is not there in the hand, but might reasonably show up in a later card or draw.

At the same time, the second half of Sklansky's Fundamental Theorem merits attention: Try not to be misled by what others say or do. If someone makes you behave differently from what would happen if you could see that player's cards, then you have lost ground in the quest, and perhaps the pot as well.

Finally, before addressing bluffs specifically, one important "behavioral" point should be cleared up: On the Mississippi river boats in the early 19th century, poker had not yet come to be called "poker." It was just called "the cheating game". To be sure, there was a good bit of genuine cheating going on. But it is more probable that this name refers to misleading opponents about cards. The term "cheat" was not used then exactly as it is today, but rather had the implication of "confiscate" or "deprive."

So "cheating" probably just referred to winning pots through a betting system that involved bluffing. The importance is that bluffing (or not) is not a sign of bad character. It is not a violation of the ninth commandment (or eighth, depending on how you count them). This is not "cheating" in the sense of cheating in a relationship, a usage that did not come along until the 1930's. No, it's just part of the game.

If you are uncomfortable about purposefully misleading the opponents, you should probably aspire to be good at a different game, like Monopoly, because this one aspect, more than anything else, is what gives poker its central appeal.

So now that it has been established that bluffing (or not) is the central part of the game and not evidence of bad morals, it is time to look closely at what it is all about.