i was playing 1,3 last night at the bellagio at a pretty loose passive table. There was an LAG to my left, basically the only one, who would bet pretty much anytime someone would check to him...anyone other than me lol. I tried to trap him at least twice and for whatever reason it seemed that I was the only person at the table he didnt seem to want to get out of line with and I was struggling in general to get more than 2 strees of action. I couldn't get action from this guy on pretty much any board whether I had it or not so I decided to show him a 10 high bluff so he/ the table in general would call me down in the future. What're your thoughts on this? Is it worth doIng or would a table change have been better? Tbh I was at a really easy table and I really wanted to stack this guy aswell which was part of why I chose to show the bluff over a table change.

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So true, IRTM. One time, I was bluffing and I turned my hand over so proudly that villain (probably drunk or high) insta-mucked mis-reading my body language for hand strength. His neighbor who had seen his cards told me later. Unreal. Since then, I always proudly show down if called.

i think its largely unnecessary and we can use your judgement of this LAG as an example. Did you ever see any showdowns with him? Did he show any bluffs? No, yet you had a stone cold read that he was full of **** based purely upon his actions. They will make the same assessment of your play as long as you are playing regularly. In fact live players are pretty sensitive to lots of raising and cbetting and will often mislabel you a maniac just because you raised 3 hands in the last hour. Probably dont have to show too many bluffs

Don't show bluffs. It causes your opponent to play twice as hard against you. Who needs that? Not me.

As a LAG bluff maniac, ill say that showing a bluff (a decent amount i do from time to time because of ego just like IRTM says, but also because I nearly always show at showdown to avoid accidental folds of the winning hand) is bad because it lends itself to unpredictable results. Some people call you down, some C/R you, some fold more figuring they will have to call down too much. You get into situations where you level yourself guessing how they responded to your bluff, and predictability in your opponent is very valuable. It is pretty certainly not EV+, but id also guess the MAWG “dont dance in the endzone” type posters may overvalue the amount of EV you lose but i certainly dont think you should do it as a ploy to gain EV

Honestly if youre mad you arent getting action you are not playing the game right.

If you want the table to loosen up just loosen up yourself. They'll eventually get tired of your constant raises, in this way they think they're outplaying you instead of being embarrassed you outplayed them. Or at a minimum just find a new table, I mean really game selection isnt that hard live. If your table is full of a bunch of shorstack OMC's then just get up and find another.

This used to work when I played limit. In the first 20 minutes of a session I would make some stupid bluff that had a 0% chance of working and people would be all "WTF?!?" at showdown. Then for the rest of my time people were at that table they would call me down with bottom pair for the rest of the night just in case I was doing it again.

In NL I don't think this is strategy works nearly as well. Like IRTM said, I don't feel the need to flex my ego at the table. Just quietly hand your cards back to the dealer when you get the pot, and move on. However if I do get caught bluffing on the river I flip my cards up with pride. At this point I have to be aware of how that affects my image and possibly adjust.

Princess Azula's drunken ramblings said it best.

Sounds like he had you on a little bit of tilt.

Showing a bluff to get action is the oldest trick in the book. You’re basically announcing to the table that you’re a nit that needs to show a bluff to get action. Not attacking you personally OP, as I’ve seen a bunch of people ask the same thing.

Someone who is an aggressive bluffer wouldn’t need to show a bluff to get action; it’s more obvious to other players that they don’t always have it. Only people that play more straightforward feel the need to show a bluff (to induce action).

I will never understand why someone would willingly show a bluff. That’s not true. I get it, but it’s illogical. It’s either ego or bad logic. Either way it doesn’t have a place for a good player.

We have to change gears in live action.

Maybe not everyone is watching, but try raising five times in one orbit, or stealing any time it's limped around to you, and most Villains will be sufficiently observant to see what you are doing.

If you go out of your way to show a bluff, but don't raise a lot or steal a lot, few Villain's will be fooled. And what if you don't get a hand for another ninety minutes? The attention you thought you wanted will now be an albatross around your neck, and you won't get a lot of action when you finally catch something and make a hand.

Steal when you can until you can't. Play good hands until you find the right spot to steal again. Make people look at you funny, make them change seats to get behind you. Shove on the flips now and then. Be unpredictable. Let your action speak for you.

Princess Azula has it right.