Deception

By employing deception, a poker player hopes to induce their opponent(s) to act differently than they would if they could see their cards. Bluffing is a form of deception to induce opponents to fold superior hands. If opponents observe that a player never bluffs, they won't call their bets unless they have very good hands. Slow-playing is deceptive play in poker that is roughly the opposite of bluffing: betting weakly with a strong holding rather than betting strongly with a weak one. If opponents observe that a player never slow plays, they can pounce at any sign of weakness.