Wednesday 4 February 2009

No single strategy to play poker

Everyone gives advice on playing poker. There are a lot of books, magazines, websites, blogs, videos, tutorials, podcasts and what not to feed you with poker advices. Poker advice is everywhere! Novices’ can also get into the game easily; learn from all the material that is available and even hire coaches to teach them. Online poker had made it so easy that it doesn’t take long for a person to become comfortable with the game.

Having said all this, one thing that should be kept in mind is that there no single strategy that rules the game. There is no rule that will always help you in poker.

Card games like poker have been played since the 15th century. And since then, many players have invented many ways of playing this single game. Each player has his own way of playing it. As you grow as a player and become better and better, you start making your own rules and strategies. So, this obviously means that there is no single way or strategy to play poker.

Usually, good poker players try to classify their opponents into certain categories. They place these players or opponents into different categories depending on their skill at the game. For example, we have the scared fish. This person hardly calls or bets. Also, as soon as they anticipate danger, they fold. And in most cases, it turns out that there was no danger at all. Another category is that of a novice. Players usually underrate novices. But, it might so happen that this one is very good at the game and might pull a good play form under his sleeve. Another category is the bragger or slimy loud-mouth. Now, this one’s interesting, because these are players who think that they are poker pros and actually act as if they are one, but actually, they don’t have enough skill at the game…..if we continue discussing like this, the list will go on and on. In fact, you can set up your own categories. But you should understand that these classifications and categories and very broad. You might find some players who fall exactly into you predefined categories and always play similarly, but there might be some others who come in combination of different types….and don’t fall into any one of your categories in particular. Here, you should understand that no two players are exactly the same.

One thing is for sure that strategies that work for one player, might not work so well for another player. Every player has his own strengths and weaknesses and plays in his own way to be successful. The way they play also depends on their experience. As they start playing more and more poker, they get to understand the game better and design their own strategies to win. Because players keep changing and adapting, they never actually fall into these pre-defined categories. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use this strategy of classifying your opponents. It does work, but it just means that you should know that all players can’t be the same.

Well, I had said all this just to inform you that the people writing poker columns and giving poker advices are biased. They are just giving the strategies that worked for them in the game. But you should know that the same strategies might not work for you. As the players and he game evolves, so do the strategies. They change and new strategies are developed by players every now and then.

If you look at the differences between casino poker and online poker, you will understand what exactly I am saying about the game “evolving” and the strategies changing. There are many things we can do while playing online poker but not during table poker.

So, you must take these poker advices in moderation, particularly when you are happy with the strategy you are using right now. It might cause as much harm as good. So, you need to careful while switching strategies.

For more such information on poker, check out these sites to the right side of this page.

Good luck!!!!

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