Champion of Poker

Following on from part one of this series then, it is precisely why I do not always use poker software to download hand histories or software that assesses the history of other players. I am basically not interested in what a poker player has done two weeks ago in some online poker game, I want to know what they are doing now, I want to know what they are feeling now and what if any factors may be causing them to play more aggressively etc etc.

If I sit down at a poker table and there has not been a raise for three rounds before the flop then I know that this is not a fast table. This means that the players are limping in trying to make big poker hands as cheaply as possible.

If the table speed is slow then I will do the opposite and play fast because it is this type of game where I can take control of pots by making non conventional plays like open raising with a 7-5 of clubs for instance. Deviation plays like this can be very expensive when attempted in the wrong game. I play hands like this for numerous reasons.

A It makes my poker game un-readable and confuses my opponents.
B. It gives me added chances to take someone’s entire stack.
C. The game speed is slow and I can take control of hands easier.

The flip side to this is if I sit down in a poker game that is very fast and there are raises all over the place. The speed of the game is fast so I am going to be playing in a slow gear and will basically just let the maniacs get on with it. In fact if the game were six handed then I may well just go and find myself an easier game to beat. Most of my aggressive style will be nullified by my aggressive opponents basically doing the same thing.

My style takes advantage of fear and caution and “book” play on the part of my opponents. I win money in poker and a lot of money at that by being prepared to do things that other people feel uncomfortable doing. Money in poker does not come easy; I have never said that it does. But sometimes you just have to back off and find yourself an easier table and there is no shame in that at all.

There are far too many available games in NL Texas Hold’em poker and especially in my favourite six handed games for me to waste time and money by sitting in games where a persons natural aggressive tendencies are the theoretically correct way to play the game even if they do not realise that fact themselves.

What table Speed suits you?

It took me an awful long time to find something out about table speed. This was that differing table speeds suited different people depending on their personality. From my own personal experience, I studied for years to beat Limit Hold’em full ring games. Yet these games require a tremendous amount of disciplined folding to be successful in them. More on this in part three of the series.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson