Making A Game Plan.

 

 

How do you make a game plan when playing poker? Read on to find out...  

Why should you have a game plan?

We will cover the basics first. The first step when playing poker is not joining a table, but involves doing your homework and researching/understanding as much as you can about your opponents. One way of doing so is to watch a table from a short distance, making mental notes as you observe the players behaviours. Pay attention to the type of moves they make, but also their reactions throughout the games.

 

Stage One:

Spend ten minutes observing the game; you should be able to do so, even if you play online. While observing, make note of which players are active, and which are reactive - in other words, who is leading the game and who is following. You will find that in most games, there is one individual, or a collection of individuals, who are controlling the pace of the game, who are the most influential. The most influential players are not necessarily those who are winning, contrary to what you would expect. The telltale signs, the players exerting the most influence will be the play makers/pot builders, those who are confident when they win, or dejected when they lose – they often chase losses too, so look for players who play desperately. In tournament situations, this step is not always possible, if this is the case then move on to stage two.

Stage 2:
Once you have made the observations of stage one, you now need to sit at the table in a strategic way that is informed by the information you discovered. For the first 10-15 minutes of the game just sit back and do a little more observing at close quarters. Depending on where you are sitting in relation to certain player types should inform your decisions. For example, if you have a speculative hand, one that you would fold if somebody raises, do not bet money if you know that the following player is chasing losses – they will raise because they need the money and you are not willing to take the risk. Other types of player are the 'Fish', ‘Barracuda’ and ‘shark’ and you should alter your game according to where they are positioned in relation to you.

 

Stage Three:

During the course of a game, players situations will change dramatically, they can go from winner to loser, and vice versa, fairly quickly. Some players will be playing a tight game, sometimes in the hope of protecting their winnings; these players are easily bullied out of participation in hands – meaning that you can steal the pot.

Sometimes players go into ‘tilt’, this happens most often when a big winner has lost and is chasing his lost winnings. You can make their game harder by making small raises when in position – thus putting them off and increasing the likelihood of winning the pot.

 

 
 It’s difficult to cover all the different players in a game and the different scenarios that may arise, games run at different paces at different times and you need to be flexible to these changes when formulating a plan.
  

 

Playing in a tournament:

In a tournament, you are likely to play against amateurs who do not have an adequate understanding of time management, raising blinds, chip management. You need to take all these factors into account in any game you play. In a tournament situation you need to be more impulsive, sitting back and observing too often will mean that you will be out before you know it.

 

In Short:

Understand as much as you can about your opponents.

 

During the game continuously monitor and evaluate the information you have acquired about your opponents. Make informed, measured, decisions using the information you have learned.

 

Think about what your opponents are doing; do not just focus on your own game.

 

Work out which type of player you are up against and use that knowledge to your advantage.

 

Most of all have fun!

 

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