Making Wise Decisions about Your Poker Battlefield

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Search this site: HomeNewsPoker RoomsPoker RulesPoker Tips Holdem RulesHoldem StrategyHoldem TipsPoker SchoolLive Tournaments Making Wise Decisions about Your Poker Battlefield Published by Brian Cherry on Aug 31, 2010

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Today’s Texas holdem tips are about decisions. Not everybody makes good decisions. This is not just something that plagues poker players (and more than a few poker pros) this is trait that seems common to the human experience at any level. For example, somebody I know once showed up to a Manowar concert wearing a cardigan and dock siders. Needless to say he became a plaything of the hardcore metal heads, skin heads, bikers, convicts, Odin worshippers, and the occasional writers who find themselves attracted to that band’s music. I don’t know what decision process he used before deciding a sweater with a guy playing polo was appropriate to wear at a concert where the band sings songs like “The Blood of My Enemies”, but that is the sort of guy I want to play Texas Holdem against. With that said, I as a poker player, I also don’t want to be the person making that sort of bad decision. So the first thing that a poker player should know when playing Texas holdem is to be aware of the ground you are standing on.

The sort of competition you find when you play Texas holdem is going to depend heavily on exactly where and when you are playing. The sort of poker player and poker pros you find yourself competing against is going to be different as you move from an online poker room, to a casino, to playing Texas holdem with your friends from the office. This means that the Texas holdem tips and strategies you employ will also change depending upon what battlefield you decide to go to war on. A poker player or the poker pros that make their living playing online poker will be more aggressive than the sort of poker player you will find at the casino. For example, the turnover in an online poker room is so high that many times taking the time to establish a table image will be a wasted effort. A poker player simply may not hang around in the room long enough to get to know your Texas holdem style. In many cases, when playing online poker, this makes the strategy of switching playing styles less effective. Also, somebody playing online poker will find that they often will get more action then they want on their bluffs. Playing against an internet poker player or one of the cyberspace poker pros will require an opponent to get comfortable firing off all three barrels when they are bluffing. In short, this is not the sort of environment you want to come into wearing your cardigan.

Conversely, internet poker players often find themselves challenged when sitting down to play holdem at a casino. More than one player has found themselves seated with some live casino poker pros who have happily given up ground when the pots were tiny only to deliver immaculately timed, stack killing knockout blows later in the game. In many cases, it is the casino player who takes longer view of a poker game. Those who are very good may spend many early rounds setting you up for a death blow that may not come for hours.

So, be aware of the ground under your feet when you are playing poker and know when a cardigan is the proper attire and when you should be wearing leather (preferably with spikes sticking out of it).