Staying a Step Ahead (1 of 2)

NOTE: First, this advice is targeted more toward beginning to intermediate players. Advanced to expert players … by definition you must already know these concepts. Second, this advice is geared toward live ring games in which you will be seated with many of the same players for some time – players you do not know and that are unfamiliar with your style. It could be applied to online play, but due to players constantly shuffling in and out, the techniques are less reliable in cyberspace.

Let’s get down to business. Today’s discussion is about what most pros would call “Changing Gears.” I call my specific formula “Staying a Step Ahead,” and I do so for a specific reason (which shall become apparent as the discussion progresses).

When I sit down in a poker game, I force myself to play extremely tight for the first 15-20 hands. Premium starting hands only. Even when I continually see players get rewarded for playing the craziest of starting hands, I will probably fold 18 of the first 20 hands passed my way on the first round of betting (pre-flop for Hold ‘Em and Omaha, 3rd Street in Stud games). Why do I do this, you may ask? The answer is table image. I want the players at my table to think I’m a rock – that I only play the best of hands. I want them to know that when I bet or raise, I am not bluffing, that I’m probably holding a monster, and that I’m not going to slow-play. I want the first two or three hands that I show down to be winners, and by a large margin. I want them to think twice about re-raising me.

Cultivating that tight table image will pay dividends later, and I’ll explain how in a moment. First, I want to highlight another benefit of starting a poker session with such tight play. Since you’ll be folding most of your starting hands, you will find yourself with a lot of spare time at the table and not much to fill it with. I believe this “spare time” is not spare at all, and that a player is foolish to waste it reading or listening to the iPod. You should be working during this time! I always use my first 15-20 minutes at an unfamiliar table to make it familiar. I watch everyone. I see whose shoulders are slumped, who is more upbeat, who is talking, who is silent. I find out which players have the most chips, and which are constantly reaching into the billfold for more 20’s. I watch to see who is watching me. I want to know who else is paying attention the way I am; those are usually the players to watch out for. I listen as well, to every bit of conversation I can pick up. Which players are muttering to themselves or to other players about bad beats and/or bad luck? These are the players I want to pick on. Which players clearly like to gamble, and bluff too often? Which players are really as tight as I’m pretending to be? How big are the pots, on average, in relation to the blind/ante size? I use the time I spend between folding garbage hands to absorb every bit of data about the table that I possibly can.



Check out the rest in Part 2 ...