Know your enemy

Know your enemy is an expression that can easily be applied to playing poker. If you don´t know anything about your opponents you are not as well prepared at you would be if you know the playing style of the people you are trying to win money from. Sure, you can learn the game concept and probably do well by just applying these to your tactics but if you also know a little about how your opponents play in various situations you can win even more.

To keep track of the way other are playing at the tables there are programs that can keep a record of how they play in certain situations. Maybe someone always calls on the flop and also always folds when the pre flop raiser fires at post flop bet. Good to know, and it can also help you decide if you should keep betting when missing the flop or just checking.

Notes about players can also be useful and even simple notes like “floater” or “calling station” can help you adapt your play to the situation at hand. Important in poker is indeed to various your own play so that the opponent can’t read your play and fight back with a strategy that might cost you money.

Changing gears during a tournament can be the different of being at the final table or just busting out on the bubble. It sound easy but it can indeed be hard to accomplish. If you are a tight player you must know the way of playing aggressive or the other players will notice this and you will have a hard time winning hands at the table. The goal everybody should thrive towards is being a player that mixes up his or hers play so much that the other players in the pot never for sure can put you on the hand you are holding.