Running the Table
It only takes a few of orbits around the online poker table to see how a player plays. If you’re an observer, you can easily pick out the rocks, the fish, and the loose-aggressive and tight-aggressive poker online players. And in any given poker game you’ll probably have a mix of all of them in there in some distribution or another. Well I heard some advice recently that struck me as great and so simple it could be considered the elusive obvious. Make other players play a style they’re not used to. It’s the simple power of adaptation. If they’re playing too many online poker hands (limping a lot) make them pay more to play. Press them, float them, and generally just give them hell. It’ll make them want to play a lot fewer hands against you in the future. A player that’s too tight? Steal his blinds until he finally gets the picture and tries to defend them. Then, when he does, pressure him on the flop. You have a superdonk at your table, raising too many hands, just start calling and wait to catch and bust him. Patience and observation. Essentially, what you’re doing is making players who all have a certain style get away from it. You’re manipulating their game with yours. In a nutshell, you learn the player’s tendencies, you exploit them, and you play your own hands like a variety pack. The end result: Profit.
