Bluff/To call someone's bluff

My word of the day is bluff. As a verb, to bluff is to act more confident than you are. In poker, it means to behave as though you can win, and by doing so to intimidate the other players. In movie poker games, sometimes a character will say, "he's bluffing!" which means that he doesn't really have a good hand. We also use this expression for any situation where a person is acting like they have superior power but may not actually have it.

A related expression is "to call someone's bluff." In poker, this means to challenge the person show their cards and risk losing. In other situations, it means to challenge the person to reveal the real situation. "He was acting like he could drive a race car, but when she called his bluff he admitted that he had never actually driven one."

P.S. This post, and all others related to poker, are dedicated to Vassilis, AKA "Nick the Greek," a wonderful writer and friend, who always has an ace up his sleeve.