|
|
. |
. |
|
|
 |
Don't Get
Typecast
By Aaron J. Moore
Posted: 11:00 am PDT 2006-10-31 |
Courtesy Of Internet Casino and Poker Room at WagerWeb.com |
|
Changing gears -- it might sound
like a skill most needed by someone working for a NASCAR team's pit crew, but it is also
an indispensable talent for any poker player. A player's ability to change gears or alter
his style of play from one hand to another is necessary in most styles of poker, but plays
an even larger role during tournaments.
Commonly, when someone's style of play is pegged by the others at the table, a certain
level of advantage is lost because it becomes easier for his opponents to predict hands.
Most players outside the upper echelon of the poker elite must avoid being
accurately labeled or stereotyped. Sure, we all know Dan Harrington is extremely
tight or Sam Farha is as loose as it gets. However, if you are as good as these guys
are, then you should not be reading this story. Instead, you should be extracting large
doses of money from the hordes of tourists currently inhabiting any of the Las Vegas poker
rooms.
In the eyes of the others at the table, the average player should avoid getting nailed
down to a certain style of play. If a player senses the others feel he is way too
loose, then he should expect a fair number of his bluffs to be called. The same holds true
for the other extreme. A tight player will find monster hands don't pay off as much
as they should because when he isn't bet off a hand and stays around for the river, most
of his opponents will put him on the goods.
If you are a regular player at a home cash game, your counterparts will usually have a
decent feel of your game. So changing gears and occasionally playing hands you otherwise
never do can help in most situations. That does not mean a player should throw away the
style of play that he is most comfortable with; rather, there is often a large value in
entering a hand with rags if none of your opponents believe you would do so.
Say a player uncharacteristically goes to a flop with something resembling 4-9 off-suit.
He has the potential to win a large pot if he can find a pair while all low cards lay on
the board. Since he is tight, others at the table might not fear him because there are no
high cards on the board. They try to bluff him, but little do they realize Mr. Tight is
now Mr. Top Pair.
Regularly playing 4-9 is not the most recommended course of action; however, tight players
should give it a chance every once in a while when the cost to see the flop is relatively
cheap.
Essentially, the key to changing gears is to occasionally implement a different style of
play when the others at the table feel like they have you read accurately. The
more you get opponents to contemplate about what you could possibly be playing, the better
chance you have of them making an incorrect read.
In tournament play, changing gears is extremely important at the beginning and the end.
Loose players need to think twice about getting flopitis and playing just about
every hand. Sure, they might take down some pots with a stone-cold bluff and feel
good about themselves. However, in a highly populated tournament, playing poor cards too
much will eventually lead to a player's demise. With so many opponents, the ultra
loose player at the beginning of a tourney runs the unnecessary risk of stumbling into too
many highly contested pots with other similarly minded opponents.
Take it easy during the early rounds of a tourney -- why risk so much on a lot of pots
before the blinds become substantial?
However, come the late rounds when players become so tight because they are holding on to
a pay-out position, getting loose will help. Toward the end of a tournament, a tight
player will usually punch his exit ticket if he waits solely for premium hands.
Don't be afraid to mix it up in the late rounds. Be a little loose and rely more on
your ability to bluff opponents rather than wait just for the nuts.
Just like an actor that doesn't want to be typecast, the same holds true for poker
players. The more varying roles you can play, the better chances of future pay days.
|
Gambling
Deals
|
|
|
