Online Poker
Middle Stakes No Limit Holdem Poker Strategy – Making Adjustments
An area of improvement in your middle stakes no limit Texas Holdem poker games which you may not have considered or worked on is your ability to make adjustments. Adjustments are alterations in your play based on the circumstances, and as no limit Holdem is a constantly changing game, your skill in this area will play a large part in your success. Here are some areas where in game adjustment are key.
New Information
At your local casino’s $200 max buy-in Texas Holdem tables, Joe puts in a serious pre-flop overbet one out of every ten times he enters a pot. You’re pretty sure this indicates a low to medium pair. At one point, Joe bets $100 after a few players have limped into a $25 pot, another player moves all-in, and Joe folds. Later, Joe makes a similar play but the $100 bet puts him all-in. Another player calls, showing AK, and Joe flips over 77. An ace comes on the river and Joe is forced to re-buy. A few hands later, Joe, in the big blind makes another one of his $100 overbets after six players limp. Everyone folds, and Joe flashes pocket aces! Does this mean Joe makes this play with any pair? Has he changed his strategy because he was busted? Or is he simply deviating from his normal play to discourage action the next time he flops a medium pair? Clearly you need to reevaluate your read on Joe. If you had been counting your chip stack during this hand, you might have missed it and continued to assume Joe is never super strong when he makes this play, a potentially costly error.
Player Disposition
You’ve been playing a $3/$6 no limit game at one of your favorite online poker sites. You’ve been running over the table, taking advantage of some tight, weak players who are folding post flop almost every time you show any kind of strength. Suddenly, players are starting to play back at you. You need to know why. It may be that they’ve picked up on your style and you need to switch gears for a bit. It may be that most of the tight players you’ve been taking advantage of have been switched out for more aggressive players without you even noticing. Or maybe the players you’ve been picking on are getting short stacked and desperate. You must analyze these possibilities and adjust your game accordingly.
Table Image
If you’ve cultivated an image as a loose aggressive player, whether it’s because you happen to have been playing a few extra hands and getting lucky, you’ve noticed that this table is a bit too tight, or because this is your natural style, the moment you think players are picking up on how you play is a great time to switch gears and alter poker strategy. If players are giving you a lot of action, you can start sitting back and waiting for premium hands, or even continue to play many hands but play them completely straightforwardly, releasing immediately when you miss the flop and betting more strongly the harder you hit the flop. Other players need to make adjustments too, and when they don’t is when it is time for you to cash in.