Ok, when you play poker, bluffing every once in a while seems only natural. Anyone with the poorest game knowledge knows that bluffing is part of what makes poker so challenging and exciting. It is one of the reasons why we find playing poker such a fun pastime. Let's face it: poker is all about taking risks. And, indeed, with every step you make, you take a risk, and if you eventually happen to win, the achieved conquest feels highly satisfying.
However, there certainly should be a great difference between bluffing and cheating. Bluffing is typically considered a legitimate winning strategy. All sorts of bluffing methods are intended to mislead opponents regarding the bluffer's hand. Sometimes, you seek to give the impression that you have a strong hand, and, at other times, you seek to achieve exactly the opposite goal (meaning, to project weakness). I find it difficult to put the word "innocence" in the same sentence with "bluffing," but the way I see it, there is something 'innocent' about bluffers. It's a whole other story when it comes to cheating, however.
Cheating is defined as an intentional attempt to disrupt the game's course and give an advantage to the cheater through a completely illegal method. Most of today's online and land-based poker rooms take precautions against cheating players. Highly elaborate technological means are employed to prevent cheating. If a cheating scheme is detected, the cheaters are severely punished. Such punishments as being kicked out of the poker room are very common. And, that's nothing but fair, right?
However, where does that fine line that separates bluffers from cheaters lie? I've been combing the Internet in search for an answer to this somewhat philosophical question. Although there are specific descriptions of all sorts of cheating techniques, the difference between cheating and bluffing is typically blurred.
When I turned to my friends with this query of mine, none could provide me with a singly coherent answer. For instance, while some of them called 'semi-bluffing' a pure cheating technique, others completely disagreed with such an opinion... Then, they argued among themselves for hours only to leave me even more confused than when the discussion initially started. Could somebody please tell a beginning player such as myself, if there are any official rules separating cheating methods from bluffing strategies?
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