Poker strategy

Aggressive tactics

admin — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:10:54 +0000

Aggressive poker players tend to Bet and Raise while Passive players usually Call and Check. Generally aggressive play is thought to be stronger than the passive play as it can persuade the opponent to make some mistakes. But if passive play is a deception technique then it can have the same effect on opponents as an aggressive play. ‘Raising’ can be used by the player if he ahs got the best hand as then he can get more money in the pot. He can also ‘raise’ to force the opponents out who could have bettered their hands during the play. In case a player has an inferior hand, and he ‘raises’, he can bluff an opponent with a better hand and induce him to fold. Sometimes, a player may also ‘raise’ to get some information because he is uncertain of his own hand. He can know about opponents hand and its strength. These characteristics are usually shown by an aggressive player. As opposed to this, a ‘calling’ may deny the option of re-raising to the bettor. Even if a player has a strong hand, a passive player will Call in early rounds so that he may not give away his strength to the other players. By this, he also gives an opportunity to those players who are after him to Call, thus building the pot. There may other reasons for a player to call like to see more cards or to limit the loss in equity.

Hand reading

admin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:22:51 +0000

Hand reading is a skill that a poker player has to develop to increase his chances of winning, especially in high stakes games. Hand reading is a guess that a player makes about the hand of an opponent on the basis of previous hands and actions. A player should remember that which player raised and checked in the previous rounds and should observe the betting also closely. Another term used in strategies is Tell. ‘Tell is a change in the action of an opponent which can help the other player to modify his actions. By these signs, a player can avoid making mistakes; instead he induces the opponent to make a mistake. Opponent profiling is another skill which poker players have. In this the player observes tendencies of one’s opponent. A player can make guesses about whether the opponent has strong cards or weak cards depending on how he is playing. A ‘Table image’ of a player is the perception that everyone has of a player. By playing or making a move that’s very out of character, you can catch others off guard and they may make mistakes. There are two types of players; loose players and tight players. Loose players play more hands and generally continue even with weaker hands and thus they do not fold. On the other hand, tight players will play few hands and typically, they do no continue with weak hands and mostly fold. A trick like bluffing is not very effective on weak players as they are less likely to fold.

Seating of the player

admin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:42:01 +0000

The seating of the player or the position where the player is sitting has a very important part and effects the actions of the player. If a player acts first than opponents then it is called ‘out of position’ and if there opponents before him then it is called that player ‘has position’. Players sitting closer are the ones who have to take a decision first. They are at a disadvantage because the later players can act after looking at how other opponents have played. Players in late position also come to know about the opponent’s hands but the earlier players have no way of knowing this for their opponents. As the number of opponents goes down, the probability of your hand being the best goes up if you are sitting in a late position. Blinds are the least desirable and money losing positions as they are forced to bet in the initial round. In most bluffing conditions, the late position has an advantage. If all the other players have called or checked then the player may decide to bluff. But if there have been raises and re- raises then you may have to fold. Some players may resort to isolation play. In this type of play, players usually ‘raise’ so that few or many players can fold, so as to make it a specific contest between two people. For very aggressive players, isolation play is the most common tactic. A player is also isolated when he is playing aggressively; could be out of desperation to avoid elimination. In few situations isolation play is encouraged.

Bluffing

admin — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:41:31 +0000

Bluffing is determined by a lot of factors like number of opponents, type of poker players, position of your hand, and the size of the pot. Bluffing and slow playing tactics are used by players to deceive the opponents so that they play differently than they would if they see others’ cards. Bluffing is one form of deception. It is best to bluff when there are fewer players. Before bluffing one should know the type of players he is up against. Bad players usually do not fold and bluffing against them will be futile. Another important quality is to read the opponents. Though this requires some experience, player can predict how each and every player will act and that can make bluffing easy. The kind of image that you have on the table is also vital. If a player has a loose image, that means he plays more hands than others, it may be difficult for him to bluff. The size of the pot is also a big factor. As more players will be vying for it, it may be difficult to bluff. But a bluff if successfully pulled off when the pot size is large could mean huge gains for the player. Hence the hand and skill of the player largely tells when to bluff. Slow playing is when a player, even when he has a strong hand, bets very weakly, giving others an opposite impression. It is also called trapping or sandbagging.

Casino card game - Poker

admin — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:40:31 +0000

Poker is a card game played in casinos and it has betting rules and hand rankings which decide the winner. It is a highly skill based game. A skillful poker player can win from almost any situation. While play is on, bets are placed in a pot. After each round, the winner is declared according to the hand ranking. There are many different variants of the game poker and each has different rules. There can not be anyone strategy to win poker. It only has some concepts which a player can acquire to make the opponent do some mistakes and to increase his chances of winning. There are some techniques which a player can master to bring odds in his favor. Pot odds are chances of winning and it is the ratio of size of pot and size of bet required to stay in the pot. Bluffing is one technique which poker players commonly use. It is generally the most effective technique. Similarly, slow playing is also one of the techniques which is opposite of bluffing. These techniques are basically to lure the opponents to make mistakes or change their actions.
Aggressive playing poker is considered when a player opens and raises and it can make money even with weak hands. Though, it is considered to be superior to passive play; but any kind of tactic should not be used excessively as then your play will become very predictable. Aggression in certain situations is effective.