Changing Speeds to Fit Your Game

By Guest Blogger Manuel Salgado

The major mistake most new players to poker make is playing by a set of inflexible rules. You may have heard a someone say “never play against a raise” or “never draw to a gutshot” etc, etc. The fact of the matter is that a good gameplan is always dynamic and flexible.

For example, most books targeted at beginners tell the player to play only a select few premium hands. This is a correct strategy against most players beginners play because those opponents tend to play too loosely. When you are facing an opponent is playing too many hands, the winning strategy is usually to tighten up and play a starting hand range that is stronger than that of your opponent.

But what happens when you face an opponent that is playing tighter? In those situations you can play a wider range of hands with the objective of making your opponent fold more often than not.

Now this is not to say that you immediately want to start playing loosely against a wide range of opponents who you feel play tightly, but to give you an example of a time when your observations can lead you to play a strategy which would otherwise not be optimal. The key is to always observe your opponents tendencies and to exploit the weakness in those tendencies. The more you are able to change gears the less likely you are to predictable and thus exploitable.

Each week, Manuel Salgado will be providing you with a quick poker tip here at All Poker Addicts. Manuel is available for private online poker lessons. For more information, please email him at manuelasalgado@gmail.com.

Image credit: Kori Ellis