Thursday, August 11, 2005
Watching other people
I know you're reading this website and other websites and thinking to yourself: "yes, well that situation is black and white, a lot of times when I'm playing somebody it isn't that easy". Well, thats why there is no computer that plays poker. Thats why poker is still a game of skill not a game like blackjack or something where there is a way to play it everytime. Sometimes you have to make your own judgement call. And making these judgement calls really depends on what kind of player you're going up against. Now, when you're playing online, if you're like me, its not possible to watch every play and mark down what everybody is doing. Not only is that time consuming, but its not fun, and it defeats the purpose of playing the game in my opinion.
Therefore, what I like to do to figure out my opponents is to think about how I can win a big pot off them. I imagine in my head a situation where I have a certain two cards, and I can see how the betting goes, and how I can win a big pot. I'm not talking about imagining myself with AA and the other guy with KK and raising him all in. Nothing that specific, and not anything that obvious. This strategy might seem confusing to you. I'll try to give some examples.
For instance, lets pretend you see a player who is raising on almost every hand, and then if somebody raises him, he usually calls. Now, in order to play this guy I would picture in my head folding more often preflop and waiting for good cards before I call the blinds. Then, let him raise it, then you can raise it back over top of him pretty much sure that you have the better hand.
*** important note: try to determine who the loose players are and who the tight players are. Just watch who plays more hands preflop, who bets more, who calls all the time, etc. Then, focus your attention on the loosest players first because these are the players chances are you're going to be in more pots with (and the people who you'll win more chips off of). Just stay away from the tight players at the beginning (unless, of course, you have something really great). Its fine to bet small amounts at them to bluff them out as they are tight, but avoid big pots with them early on. ***
I'll talk more about this topic later on.
Therefore, what I like to do to figure out my opponents is to think about how I can win a big pot off them. I imagine in my head a situation where I have a certain two cards, and I can see how the betting goes, and how I can win a big pot. I'm not talking about imagining myself with AA and the other guy with KK and raising him all in. Nothing that specific, and not anything that obvious. This strategy might seem confusing to you. I'll try to give some examples.
For instance, lets pretend you see a player who is raising on almost every hand, and then if somebody raises him, he usually calls. Now, in order to play this guy I would picture in my head folding more often preflop and waiting for good cards before I call the blinds. Then, let him raise it, then you can raise it back over top of him pretty much sure that you have the better hand.
*** important note: try to determine who the loose players are and who the tight players are. Just watch who plays more hands preflop, who bets more, who calls all the time, etc. Then, focus your attention on the loosest players first because these are the players chances are you're going to be in more pots with (and the people who you'll win more chips off of). Just stay away from the tight players at the beginning (unless, of course, you have something really great). Its fine to bet small amounts at them to bluff them out as they are tight, but avoid big pots with them early on. ***
I'll talk more about this topic later on.
