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EASING THE TRANSITION TO THE MIDDLE LIMITS: PART I
Most serious intergame poker players would like to play at the highest limit that their bankroll will allow, and at which they can still achieve a good hourly rate in relation to the limit. No doubt many readers of this book are playing in lower limit games with the hope of moving up to the middle limits.
To help increase you chance of success, I am going to provide some strategy tips that should help as you venture into bigger games. (I am not discussing bankroll requirements here, a subject of vital importance as you move up. This is covered well elsewhere in books such as mason Malmuth’s Gambling Theory and Other Topics ). Bear in mind that threes are only helpful tips; the real key to success is a well rounded set of poker skills . This can be acquired through study and experience. Nevertheless, as you move up you will encounter opponents who play differently, on the whole more skillfully, than what you are used to. These tips should help ease your adjustment to these players. In Part II I will discuss three more general concepts. Here I offer three strategy tips:
1.Take advantage of players’s aggression.
As soon as you move up, you will notice that your opponents will tend to play more aggressively than what you have likely become used to in smaller games. They will try to steal from you more often, and will keep the pressure on with bets and raises, forcing you into more difficult decisions. Moreover, you will encounter this in what will more often be heads-up or three-handed pots. In general, this is indicative of the improvement in play which comes with increasing limits (see below). You must think about how to deal with these more aggressive glossary poker players. Over time you will need to identify the individual characteristics-apart from the common trait of aggressiveness – of your opponent’s play so that you can zero in on and take advantage of their weaknesses.
You will also need to develop your ability to think and make adjustments quickly in the heat of play. Short of such complete strategy development and execution, there are a couple of simple strategic ideas which can help you as you begin adjusting to skilled aggressive players. First, notice that the more consistently aggressive a player is, the more relentless his bets and raises, the more often he is betting without a hand. In other words a player who is skilled, but very consistently aggressive is surprisingly similar to a habitual bluffer. Thus, you can play such a player something like you would a habitual bluffer inducing bluffs by checking and calling more often.
You do this some of the time with mediocre hands, such as middle pair, to let the aggressive player bluff off his money in situations where his actions would be less profitable for you if you bet. That is, if you bet he might simply fold many hands, and would raise with others. If he approaches being a habitual bluffer, you would generally profit less from either of these actions than from his betting after you check. Note, however, that with such a marginal hand as middle pair you must read your opponent well. If his holdem hands selection is fairly tight there will often be a reasonable chance that he does indeed hold top pair or better. You do not simply call him down automatically. It’s a delicate decision. One advantage however of this check-call approach for the player just moving up to a higher limit game is that it allows you to avoid the tricky decisions that arise from being raises.
The Strategic Moment in Holdem / One Way Not to Fold /
Beating the Berserko: Preflop Against a Maniac /
On Into the Storm: Playing the maniac After the Flop
One Reason to Reraise a Maniac / A Simple Read / Countering a Good Reader
Thinking About What They’re Thinking / Out On the Edge
Considerations in Two Blind Stealing Defense situations
Easing the Transition to the middle Limits: Part I
Easing the Transition to the middle Limits: Part II / Multiple Changing Images