As I've just said, your opponents are less likely to think you're conning them if you're a joy to lose to and you don't seem to mind losing. But, beyond that, they will be much more willing to part with their money if you don't add psychological punishment to their defeats. Be a gracious winner and loser. If they play a poor hand, you can advertise by convincing them you sometimes play the same way (and you've been lucky doing so).
Instead of criticizing a hand that beats me, which is a mistake some pros make, I often say, "Wow! I didn't think you had that. Believe it or not, I won twice with that same hand yesterday. I don't always play it, but I'm surprised it's winning so often. Maybe it's the hand of the month!" Laugh and have fun. Think about how different this attitude is from one that makes your opponents uncomfortable about playing poorly. Also, think about how many extra weak calls you might win from this opponent in the future, just because you've shown you won't be critical of bad play and simply because he likes you!
That's right! Opponents will give you extra calls with borderline hands simply because they like you! But this will only happen if they also think that you are not painful to lose to and that you gamble, too.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Friday, February 02, 2007
PLAY AGGRESSIVELY, it's the winning way
There's a very well known Poker player, a man who enters the World Series of Poker every year, who has a talent for figuring out exactly what your hand is. But when he decides that you're holding a Pair of Jacks (in Hold 'em) and his own hand will not beat the Jacks, he'll try to make you throw your hand away.
To me, that's not being aggressive ... that's being stupid. It works sometimes, but should you jeopardize your money when you think your opponent's got a good hand? Let him win the pot and wait till you think he doesn't have much of anything. That's when you can try to bluff him out of the pot. Or wait until you think you have him beat.
Everybody in Poker thinks he knows what a tight player is, but I'm going to define it again because so many people confuse the term "tight" with "solid".
"Tight" means conservative. A tight player is a player that is tight pretty much all the time.
There's a very well known Poker player, a man who enters the World Series of Poker every year, who has a talent for figuring out exactly what your hand is. But when he decides that you're holding a Pair of Jacks (in Hold 'em) and his own hand will not beat the Jacks, he'll try to make you throw your hand away.
To me, that's not being aggressive ... that's being stupid. It works sometimes, but should you jeopardize your money when you think your opponent's got a good hand? Let him win the pot and wait till you think he doesn't have much of anything. That's when you can try to bluff him out of the pot. Or wait until you think you have him beat.
Everybody in Poker thinks he knows what a tight player is, but I'm going to define it again because so many people confuse the term "tight" with "solid".
"Tight" means conservative. A tight player is a player that is tight pretty much all the time.
Blackjack Player VS Poker Player
The difference between playing good Poker and playing good Blackjack is as vast as the difference between squad tactics and grand strategy in warfare. You can beat a Blackjack game by knowing exactly what to do in every situation...and doing it. That's tactics. But in Poker you may face an identical situation twice against the same opponent, handle it two different ways, and be right both times. That's strategy.
The difference between playing good Poker and playing good Blackjack is as vast as the difference between squad tactics and grand strategy in warfare. You can beat a Blackjack game by knowing exactly what to do in every situation...and doing it. That's tactics. But in Poker you may face an identical situation twice against the same opponent, handle it two different ways, and be right both times. That's strategy.
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