Your Best Game
If they want to maximize their winnings, advanced players should
figure out which poker game they play best and why. Since winning at
poker means having a higher level of skill in certain areas, a true
winner should know why he is winning in order to maximize his
advantage over his opponents. Different games and different betting
structures require different skills.
I cannot tell you at
which game you will most excel. The only way for you to know for sure
is if you keep track of your poker statistics by using a tacking
program.
However, there are certain ingredients that are
necessary for success at certain poker games. Poker players need to
have an advantage with the technical and personal aspects of poker.
The technical aspects are poker math, such as mastering pot odds and
playing tight. The personal aspects are skills such as bluffing and
varying your style of play. Here are the qualities that I believe
certain games reward:
Limit hold'em rewards technicial skills, especially patience and an
understanding of hand value. Since many hands go to a showdown,
reading one's opponent only helps so much because it is harder to
bluff and pot odds will often make a river fold highly risky.
Shorthand requires a mix of people and technical s People
skills are important for analyzing a shorthanded game. Since there can
be more bluffing at a shorthanded game, you will need to know when to
increase or decrease your aggression. In general, more fancy moves can
be made in a shorthand limit game than a longhand game, making people
skills all the more valuable. Nevertheless, it is still limit hold'em,
so technical skills are still very much important.
No-limit hold'em also requires both technical profi and people
skills. Technical skills will help you understand how much you should
bet and how much you can afford to call. People skills will help you
in a hand (by putting an opponent on his cards) and determine your
general strategy.
No-limit hold'em fundamentally comes down
to how people utilize aggressive betting. Steal a lot of pots if
people are meek, but fold if stern resistance comes to your bluffing.
If people are being very loose, be patient and trap them. You should
often be able to wipe them out in one hand.
Pot-limit Omaha is gaining in popularity among pl especially
no-limit hold'em players. The skills required to excel at pot-limit
Omaha are similar to those of no-limit Hold'em. However, the variance
at pot-limit Omaha is so high that players need to have more "gamble"
in them than typical no-limit hold'em players. Being able to tolerate
huge swings and avoid tilt is more important in pot-limit Omaha than
any other poker game.
If you are very good at remaining patient, p quality hands, and
playing pot odds, stick to limit hold'em. If you excel at poker
because you know how to deal with opponents, you want to be in a
shorthand, pot-limit or no-limit game.
Next Article:
Playing Multiple Tables