Sklansky and odds on bluffing

[denouement]

Hi, everyone, I am fairly new to poker and have begun reading Sklansky's theory of poker. I was wondering if anyone can translate this paragraph for me:

"When using game theory to decide whether to call a possible bluff--assuming your hand can beat only a bluff and assuming your judgement doesn't give you a hint--you must determine the odds your opponent is getting on a bluff. Make the ratio of the calls to your folds the same as those odds. If your opponent is getting 4 to 1 odds on a bluff, you must call randomly four out of five times to make that bluffing unprofitable."

All I need to know is what it means to "get 4 to 1 odds on a bluff" Does that mean 4 times it isn't a bluff and one time it is, or vice versa? Or does it mean neither of those two things. Much help appreciated.

Denouement

[a500lbgorilla]

You're just gonna post this everywhere until you get a response arn't you?

I'd need a little context to figure out what he's saying. You could probably search the 2+2 forums and find a thread or two on the subject.

Though, I guess the guy was bluffing at a pot 4 times the size of his bet. So he'd need to be called on that bluff 4 times or whatever times to make it unprofitable.

-'rilla

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[Aceofone]

All I need to know is what it means to "get 4 to 1 odds on a bluff" Does that mean 4 times it isn't a bluff and one time it is, or vice versa? Or does it mean neither of those two things. Much help appreciated.

Denouement

"4 to 1 odds on a bluff" means that he must be successful in his bluffing attempt at least 4 out of 5 attempts to break even.

[a500lbgorilla]

All I need to know is what it means to "get 4 to 1 odds on a bluff" Does that mean 4 times it isn't a bluff and one time it is, or vice versa? Or does it mean neither of those two things. Much help appreciated.

Denouement

"4 to 1 odds on a bluff" means that he must be successful in his bluffing attempt at least 4 out of 5 attempts to break even.

Don't you mean unsuccessful? I don't usually bluff at pots with 4x pot bets.

4:1 is the ratio between his bet and the pot he will win if it is successful. So it only needs to work 2 out of 5 times to be profitable and 1 out of 5 times to break even.

-'rilla

[Aceofone]

My bad, I went back to TOP and read the "Expectation" chapter, and you are correct.