Grab that stick, kid!
Imagine this: you’re at the start of a race. Your car shining, motor running smoothly, the oil-level is perfect, you are in excellent condition.
The light hits green and you’re off. Nobody even left in the dirt behind your wheels; you’re gone with a head start so far from any opponent that no other car will ever even get a chance to keep up with you.
You’re driving your course and even though your feet pushes the petal down to the floor, in your rear-view mirror you all of a sudden see all the other competitors gain field on you.
What on earth just happened? Where did these guys come from? They were lengths behind you and your foot is completely down!
Well, have you considered changing gear?
I already said in my first article that a good player should have more than one trick up his sleeve, and I would like to repeat that statement.
I know, I know: “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it”, “Never change a winning team”, all that other bullcrap telling you that you should stick true to your first idea, … . In poker, all of that is nonsense. If you do not change your standard strategy even during a single session of play you’re doomed to go down. The trick is never letting your opponents notice that you did change gear. If you’re aggressive, advertise your killer hands, if you’re almost in hibernation, show off your bluffs when you make them, and in general, make people sigh and frown when they see your next action. Whether you’re playing loose or tight, your opponents should always fear a bet from your side, you should always have them thinking and alert for one of your moves.
Standard tactic for this is of course taking down pots with big hands and showing them off. I generally don’t like this tactic (and many with me) because it can only lead to 1 of 2 things.
When you play standard tight aggressive poker, people will generally attack you on a lot of pots, since you “are not allowed” to call a hand where you are not sure you get the right odds, or, when you do get your odds or hit the nuts, you’ll call, or raise and your opponents will simply abandon the hand. You win a rather smaller pot that doesn’t cut your losses you made by constantly going belly up to people when you don’t have the goods. Tight aggressive plays have become so standard at a table that people clinging to it, usually are extremely predictable and easy pickings for more experienced players.
If you want your table confused about your play, don’t show hands. Not bluffs and not the absolute nuts. That way you can play them both in the same way. The way you like best. I’m not so fond of tactical geniuses telling you to play your nut hands like you’re bluffing and bluff representing the nuts. Eventually you end up confusing yourself instead of your opponents and once again become very predictable. Pick 1 standard play that you can use for both. I usually go for 3 to 4 times the BB when I’m opening raiser, 4 to 6 times the BB when I’m picking off limpers and 2,5 times the initial raise when I’m re-raising. This information is simply an example, of course. You should find your own comfort zone for starters, and more importantly: even I, myself, tend to deviate from these numbers. For example: in tournament play, I generally go to 2,5 times the BB once the levels are aggressive enough for your table to respect any raise. No need to go into hyper aggressive plays if not necessary. Mind you: this is completely incorrect for tournaments with a high ante-structure, or even any ante-structure at all!
So, now you know that change is necessary and even logical. We are left with the “how”.
First of all, back to our driving analogy. If you want to change gear, be it up or down, take your foot of the gas. Take control of your car before making the switch. If anything it’ll prevent you from having to hit your brakes. Not hitting your brakes in a poker game is always the way to go, simply because the time-element in slowing down with cards is less noticeable than lifting your foot in a car. Braking on the other end is always an enormous sign. If you can gradually make your transition, chances are, nobody will notice.
Secondly, don’t turn your car around. Alter your course, don’t overthrow it. If you only have a fast and a slow strategy, get back to the basics and practice more on different styles.
Before even considering a successful night full of strategy changes, make sure you have at least 5 or 6 choices to go from, even if some of those are simply passing a few minutes unnoticed before going into another gear where you are more at ease.
Next, once again: there is no “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” at a poker table. Remember this: it is always broke! The minute you play it, it’s out there, people will notice and catch on. The longer you play it, the more broken it becomes. You need to start planning your next change in tactics from the moment you start your current one.
Finally, watch your table: if you have a loose table, don’t go maniac unless you can be the king of the hill. If you have a tight table, play only like a rock, if you are close competition for Everest itself. If you can not be the player pushing the table atmosphere to the extreme, abandon play and start exploring the exact opposite strategy. Establish a tight image at a loose table (it’ll help you bluff later) or a loose image at a tight table (you’ll love to see people run head first into your monsters).
Finally: all of this generally concerns No Limit Texas Hold’Em, most of my tactics do, by the way, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t work for other types of poker.
Always bear in mind, though, that other types, mean other basic principles.
Therefore, I’m going to go against my own teachings and step out of my comfort zone. Next article will be about Pot Limit Omaha.
For now, don’t let the crazy ideas haunt your sleep, and if they do, come and sit against me at a table.
The Mad Man
