There are two kinds of bluffs in poker online : a naked bluff and a semi-bluff. The naked bluff is a raise based on nothing - the player has raggy cards and is just trying to scare away other poker online players. The naked bluff is difficult to execute and requires acute powers of observation and the ability to create an image that influences other poker online players’ reactions. The semi-bluff is a raise made by a player who is trying to scare off other players but who also has a draw that could materialize - outs to a straight, flush or other hand. A semi-bluff works best from late position when the other players have checked ahead of you. When you make a semi-bluff, most marginal hands will fold. It will also make other players wary about betting when the next card outs come because they anticipate another raise from you. If the field is small, down to heads-up or only two other players, even if your draw misses, another raise could force them to fold. It’s possible your opponents’ were on a draw and missed too, and they will believe you already had a made hand that was not dependent on the draw. Bluffing should only be executed with care, and a drawing hand semi-bluff against limpers or checkers sometimes wins the pot outright or creates a strong image that can be leveraged on later streets.