how to change gears during a poker game.

Changing Gears as a Poker Strategy

People often confuse changing gears with bluffing, and whilst bluffing is part of a well balanced strategy for changing gears, it plays only a small role. An example of changing gears is choosing to play AK conservatively against solid tight players but playing the same hand aggressively against looser and weaker opposition. Changing gears is'nt just about bluffing, it's about changing strategy to achieve a goal.

The size of your stack has a big influence on when to change gears, if your stack is much smaller than the average you will have to move up a gear, if you have plenty of chips you can pick and choose your gears more freely and less out of necessity. The sum of the blinds in relation to the size of your stack also has an impact, if the blinds are large in relation to your stack, you must change up a gear or be left shortstacked.

Changing gears is also about understanding the elements around you and reacting to them when they change. The best poker players understand when to change gears instictively and pick the right players to do it against. If the table is playing loose, you may choose to drop down a gear and wait for a premium hand, if the table is playing tight, you might prefer slowly chipping away at your opponents by continuously putting small amounts of pressure on them.

Timing is important; if you have just been caught bluffing twice in a row, now might be the time to change gears, your opponents will likely be suspicious of your play. For example, if you hold a strong hand in relation to the board such as three of a kind, instead of trying to trap your opponent, consider betting into them making the same sized bet you got caught bluffing with. Another example of timing, if you notice a shortstack who is about to be swallowed up by the blinds goes all in pre flop, you suspect him of having a marginal hand, you may choose to change gears and bet what would normally be considered a slightly less marginal hand much more strongly than normal in an attempt to isolate the shortstack and get heads up with him, you change gears with a hand like A7 because you suspect the shortstack has an inferior hand and expect all active opponents to fold to your reraise.

Another reason to change gears is if your play has become too predictable and your opponents are getting a good read on you. If your opponents are folding to your bets because they suspect you have a solid hand most of the time, make sure to change gears and win as many small uncontested pots as you can before your opponents realise they should start looking you up more. Effectively, if your opponent has found a way to counteract your playing style, you should mix up the way you are playing to negate their defense strategy, your aim is to get them to misread your hand in the hope of putting them in an awkward situation. For example, if you notice an opponent always betting into you, they may have noted you as a passive player they can push around, if this is the case you can cash in on that image by suddenly changing gears when the opponent least expects it.

There is less value in changing gears in fixed limit games because the payoff is restricted, grinding out profit through solid play is usually the way forward in limit games, but in no limit games the payoff is far higher; limit is about winning pots, no limit can be about winning your opponents entire stack.

While it is possible to change gears just for one specific hand or situation such as in a ring game, another commonly accepted principle is the need to change gears within a tournament. Arguably sit and gos provide the best example because it involves all facets of a multi table tournament boiled down into a mini single table tournament, it is common to play tightly in the early stages, then loosening up as the blinds increase, until the point where the blinds become so big that the majority of constested hands involve players pushing all in against each other trying to either pick up the blinds or double up; this all happens in the space of an hour normally.

With multi table tournaments, changing gears is a much slower process which involves playing tight solid poker for the majority of the tournament and moving up the gears towards the end of the tournament, typically at the final table.

Playing textbook poker is invariably the best strategy against low quality opposition, but in order to remain competitive in the higher stakes games, you must develop the ability to be unpredictable and this involves being able to change gears aswell as recognise when others are changing gears and reacting to it.

Poker Strategy : heads up.

Heads Up Poker Strategy

Heads up poker is like no other form of the game, you are constantly involved in a hand as either the big blind or the small blind and button holder. The action is non stop and your starting hand selection must be lowered in order to allow you to play the vast majority of hands dealt to you.

There are two ways to win a hand, either by having the best hand in a showdown or by forcing your opponent fold. This statement never carries more meaning than in heads up play and you will need to adapt your shorthanded strategy to remain competitive.

Arguably any hand is worthy of raising in heads up play because you are playing the player more than the cards, but any ace or king deserves raising, also any pair, high ranked suited connector or hand with two face cards is worth raising for value; whether you hit the flop or not it's worth following through with a bet on the flop to start building a clearer picture of where you are in the hand.

Pot Odds, mean less because you rarely get the correct odds to draw to certain types of hands, a better way of dealing with the mathematical aspect of the game is to make the pot big when you feel you're infront and keep the pot small if you feel you're behind.

Betting on a draw becomes more attractive with so many flops missing both opponents, betting out on the best of your draws is a prerequisite to playing dominating heads up poker, waiting until you have made at least a pair is not an option as you will be providing your opponent the opportunity to win far too high a ratio of pots, you want to win more pots and more of the big pots than them, betting on draws puts you in a strong position to force an opponent off a hand and maintains constant pressure on them aswell as allowing you to win with the worst hand occasionaly. Pair draws such as AK or KJ are a good draw to bet with before the flop and also after the flop for value even if you have'nt made a pair, straight and flush draws are worth betting too, although if the draw does'nt hit by the river you are left in a sticky situation with just a low ranked high card, have a clear preference for higher ranked suited connectors over lower ranked ones because you have a more solid unmade hand to work with in the later rounds of betting.

Studying your opponents actions and reactions is one of the keys to success in poker, never moreso than in heads up play. Be prepared to bide your time initially until you have a clear picture of how your opponent intends to play against you; once you understand how they are playing, find ways to exploit their weaknesses aswell as eccentuate your skills.

The Rules Of Texas Holdem.

Texas Hold'em Game Rules:

Each player is dealt with two down cards that are theirs alone. Then the dealer places five “community? cards face-up that the players share to combine with their two cards and make the best possible five-card hand.

• Play begins by dealing two cards face down to each player. These are called “hole cards? or “pocket cards?.
• Then the first round of betting follows.
• Play proceeds clockwise from the blinds where players are free to either fold, call the blind bet or raise.
• The blinds are usually “live?, meaning the players may raise themselves when the action gets back around them.
• Next, three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table; this is known as the “flop?.
• A new round of betting begins starting on the first blind, immediately to the dealer's left.
• Another card is dealt face up, the “turn?, then another round of betting follows, again beginning to the dealer's left.
• Then the final card is dealt, the “river?, and the final round of betting.

Players remaining in the hand create the best five-card hand using any combination of the hole cards and community cards. The highest hand wins the pot!