Identifying the way players change their poker plays while grinding on the felts will give you an edge in the game because most of the time there are so many players out there that ignore this vital aspect of poker. They will not only miss the fact that you are now playing differently, but they will also continue playing in exactly the same way giving you less to think about.
Sitting at a six-max game
You log-on to your online poker account and jump into a 6-max game. The first thing you do is watch how the other players are playing their game while only entering into your first twenty or so hands if you are holding premium hands. This means you will enter with quite a tight table image and most likely be in the action twenty-five percent of the time. Once you have started to gauge which players are calling and which players are folding without much encouragement, you start to get a feel for the current table dynamics.
Someone leaves the game
As the game progresses, one player exits the table leaving just five players seated. At this point you can slightly loosen up your game from middle position while your opponents continue to play their same style. Just because a single player has exited doesn’t give you cause to go crazy, but you will be able to spot the chance to loosen up slightly as there are less players likely to call behind you. In the meantime, you pick up a couple of sneaky blinds and if a tight player re-raises your raise, you can fold knowing that you at least tried to seize the opportunity.
The empty seat is filled
A new player now joins the action filling the table up to six players once again. You decide to slow down while you gauge this player’s style. This is great for your game because you were just playing quite aggressively and it is likely someone would have eventually called you down or re-raised you. At the same time you spot another player at the table playing similarly to you. Firstly, you have identified a player that is a danger because he/she is obviously watching the game and willing to change gears. Secondly, you are playing tighter throwing your opponents’ off track. All these changing dynamics have now served your game well.
Increased number of showdowns
You have also notice that there is an increased number of showdowns. Some of the players at the table have livened up because they are trying to make their mark by showing the new player this is their table. This great because you get more chances to see the starting hands other players are willing to call raises with as well as the types of hands they are willing to go all the way to the showdown with. Once again changing table dynamics serve as an advantage.
Playing Online Casino Games and Changing Gears
You can also change gears when you play online casino games. Malaysian casino website c9bets has some great tips on strategy when playing online casino games that also relate to poker. Here we learned quite a lot from their blog and practiced using casinos such as 918Kiss. Mostly we played Blackjack using a strategy where we would change gears according to the flow of play. It really worked well because it stops you chasing losses and helps you not go on tilt when you are on a bad run.
