Best Poker Tips

I believe it was Doyle Brunson who said that ’poker isn’t a card game played with people, but a people game played with cards’.

And he’s right too. It’s all about knowing your opponent and that often starts away from the poker table. You see, the way people behave in their everyday lives reflects on their poker game. If you know a guy who doesn’t like to take any risk ever, you know he’s most probably not going to do that at the poker table as well.

So what you have to do is make mental notes of the players you’ve played against. Obviously about the way they play, but the things they’ll tell you as well. If you’re playing a tournament and you talk to some student, who tells you he suddenly found himself in the money (possibly rather lucky), you can bet your ass he’s not going for the win. He’s just going to be happy not to have lost any money. 

Reading is a big thing. It can vary from judging if someone is going to play tight or loose, to what specific hands he’s got. 

Here’s a little tip: If a player has a messy chip stack, he’s likely to be playing messy as well. And with messy I mean loose. Not regarding the ‘rules’ of solid play. So if this player raises you three times in a row, he’s probably just messing with you. But if he were a neat player, with a tight chip stack, he’s likely to be playing accordingly and in case of the three raises he’s probably got the goods. 

You can get some very useful hints just by judging what kind of guy is sitting in front of you. Is he a beginner? Then he might be susceptible to tricks. Is he an intermediate player? Then there’s a good chance he’s going to try some acting on you. 

So that’s where you start reading. Find out who you’re playing against and use that knowledge so you’ll be much better off making your decisions.