When you bluff and there are still more cards to come, you typically have two ways to win. The bluff might succeed on its own merits, making other player to lay down the best hand. What is more, you may get the needed card on a following round and really complete the winning hand. Poker players refer to this as semi-bluffing, (term was coined by noted poker theorist, player, and author, David Sklansky).

To put it simply, a semi-bluff is a bet made on a hand that is usually not the best hand at the time of the bet, but has the potential of improvement to become the best. When the bet makes all players to fold, it succeeds as a bluff; if it fails to do s, the hand can still get better on future rounds. The odds that the bluff will succeed on its own accord combined with the chances of the hand improvement are what make the semi-bluff a really valuable tactical weapon.

It is better to start bluffing with more cards to come when you have a couple of ways to win. If you decide to bluff with a hopeless hand and there are still some cards to come, you will probably cost yourself money in the long term. As bluffing is only efficient when you use it judiciously, you are better off constraining your bluffs to situations where you have a couple of ways to win: your bet makes your opponent to release his or her hand, or they choose to call and you still have an chance to win by getting the card you need to complete the superior hand.