Although winning at an online casino is exciting – sometimes there’s nothing better than beating your friends at poker at a poker night. If you already play poker and have a good knowledge and understanding of how it works – then the likelihood is that you will be way ahead of your friends when it comes to the strategy for Texas Hold’em. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you will win, as although you may have done your research when it comes to books and article – you need to make sure that you are adjusting your strategy to the individual. One of the biggest mistakes poker players can make is thinking that they should play the same kind of game against everyone.
Poker Playing Styles
There are 4 types of playing styles when it comes to poker, which tends to be: pre-beginners, beginners, intermediates, and intermediates who think they are better than they are.
All eyes are on you at the poker table, so everything you do is a secret part of a poker conversation. It’s like having your very own secret language. If you make a move that’s completely beyond what they know about poker – you may as well be playing a completely different game. If the idea is to leave the table as the winner, make sure you understand which type of player you are up against.
For Pre-beginner Players
These are usually people who have never played poker, or very little of it. They tend not to know the rules and be oblivious as to what’s going on at the table. This, however, means that they are massively unpredictable which can be dangerous. They are the kind of player who will have nothing of value in their hand but go all in. They don’t know how to strategize which makes it really difficult to see whether they have a good hand or not. Instead of being the one to guess what they are going to do next, let the others at the table do that.
For Beginner Players
These people may have visited an online casino once or twice before, but they are no experts. They will most likely understand the basic rules of poker – and they will play the most basic of strategies, nothing more than that. They will make decisions that are purely based on the 2 cards that they hold. These players are actually easier than the pre-beginners to get a handle of, as they are much more predictable. You know straight away that if they are playing strong that they will have a good hand, and if they are playing weak – then they are more likely to fold. The best way to overcome them is to be aggressive. If they hit back, then they are confident – and you should stand down. Sites such as Stakers are changing the world of online casinos so Poker is much more accessible to that kind of player – so they might become better sooner than you think. Make sure you take advantage before they get some more practice in.
For Intermediate Players
If your poker games become a regular thing, or they do visit some online casinos – people who you regularly play with will become intermediates fairly quickly. They will now have a better knowledge and understanding of the game than before, which might mean they start to mix things up a bit in terms of their poker strategy making them a bit more difficult to read. They will also make much fewer mistakes as intermediates than beginners. You should approach intermediates the same way you would beginners in your style of play and play aggressively. Make sure that you put as much pressure as you can on them to see how they react. The idea is to try and make them fold, and not feel confident in their hand. If they come back at you, then you should fold as they won’t be at the stage they can bluff yet – but if you have a really good hand, make sure you punish them.
Intermediate Players who think they are Pro’s
Depending on your inner circle, you could very rarely come across one of these players – or actually, be sitting at a table full of them. It’s important that you quickly uncover these players and adapt your approach to fit in with their playing style. They will normally boast about how good they are at poker, or constantly tell you the odds you have, and basically use terminology as if they have read a book or 2.
The best strategy for these types of players is to wait for them to do something silly. They will play a similar game to that of an intermediate player – however, they will throw in a few bluffs every now and then and act much bolder overall. The good news is they don’t have the skill to be consistent in the quality of their decisions. Let them bluff, as the reality is they will go wrong at some point.
They also usually seem to have a bit of an ego problem, which is more good news for you. If you punish them, they are likely to make a rash decision, and the likelihood they will act confident and rebuy. Unless you think that you have an unbeatable hand, you should probably just fold if you think they are bluffing. Running their bluffs will allow you much better chances in the long-term.
If you have a big poker night on the cards and want to make sure you are the one that leaves with all the chips – then the biggest tip we can give you is to figure out what kind of player you are up against and adjust accordingly.
