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Deception can be a useful tool in poker. It is nice when an opponent is playing against you thinking you have one hand when you actually have another. You are forcing your opponent to act incorrectly. An example of deception was used in the previous section where a check on the Turn convinced your opponent to think he had the better hand than you had. Bad players make these mistakes without another player deceiving them. They deceive themselves and will often call you down when they are very unlikely to have the best hand. Against good players who can play more correctly, you will want to vary your play now and then. Play the same hand differently in the same situations if you can do so without giving up much edge. This will make your opponent think twice on future hands. The benefit may not only be on the hand in question, but could extend out to future hands.
Here is a situation:
You are in the big blind and you hold ATs. Everyone folds to the button who is a good player. He raises and the small blind folds. In a situation like this, re-raising or calling is fairly close in value. It is nice to mix up your play by sometimes re-raising and sometimes calling so your opponent will not have a good handle on what you have when you are re-raising him.
Continuing on with the hand, let’s say you simply called his pre-Flop raise.
Your hand: ATs
Flop: A-Q-3 rainbow
You check and he bets. A check-raise may scare off your opponent if he does not have an A, but since you want to also sometimes check-raise when you have KJ and JT (for just a gut shot straight draw), you also need to check-raise sometimes when you do flop an A. When you are check-raising without the A in future hands, your opponent may assume you do have an A and fold if he does not have one himself. If you play a hand like this the same way every time, it will allow the more astute players to put you on a hand too easily. For example, if you always check-raise when you have an A in this spot, but never when you have a straight draw, then your opponent knows he can fold a hand like QJ. On the other hand, if you never check-raise when you have a weak A, but always check-raise with the inside straight draw, then your opponent can feel comfortable calling you down with the same QJ hand. Mixing up your play will put him on the defensive, and he will not be sure exactly what you have. Scenarios like this come up more often in shorthanded games than they do in full games.
When you vary your game, your play may look dumb once in a while. In the above scenario with a flop of A-Q-3, if you had check-raised with KJ and lost the hand while being forced to show it down on the River, it may look like you were gambling it up and taking unnecessary risk. Some observers may even think you are on tilt or playing poorly, and not give you the rightful respect you deserve as a poker player. When this happens, it is best to try to use this to your advantage. Now you should play a bit tighter and semi-bluff less in future hands because the observant opponents are going to be more likely to call given your previous play.
With all that said, it would be wrong to vary your play too much if it means you are giving up too much expectancy on the current hand compared to the possible expectancy you may receive on future hands. Some players will take this idea too far and play wild and crazy just to establish an image of a maniac. They will surely increase their expectancy on future hands when they do get back to playing correctly. However, they may be losing too much on the current hand in order to establish that wild image. A good way to vary your play is to change up in situations where there really is not too much difference how you play. This way you are not losing much edge and yet gain the benefit of making it tough for your opponents to read your hand correctly.

Unpredictable players are not necessarily good or bad players. When they act, it is tougher to pinpoint their hand compared with pinpointing a predictable player’s hand. Unpredictable players will use strategies such as bluffing and semi-bluffing often, sometimes too often. Even though good players can be somewhat unpredictable, there is only so far they can take this. If they are too unpredictable, it will mean they are playing too many hands, and giving up too much edge for the quest to be unpredictable. Instead, good players will choose spots to be unpredictable, spots where playing unpredictably may give them the greatest edge. Players who play unpredictably all the time invariably play too many hands and are giving up too much edge for their trickiness.
The loose aggressive player
The loose aggressive player likes to play a lot of hands. Unlike the calling station, he likes to play them aggressively. He will raise and bet when his cards are warranted, but he may sometimes bet and raise when it is not clear that he has the best hand at the moment. The loose aggressive player likes to bet on the come. He will use the free card raise as often as he can, even if he just has overcards. Once he raises for the free card, he oftentimes feels compelled to keep betting due to the perceived weakness of his opponents if they are just calling him. It may feel necessary to rope-a-dope (to play passively so the aggressive player will keep betting) the aggressive player by calling him instead of scaring him off with a raise or a re-raise. The loose aggressive player is always trying to steal the blinds, even from middle position. He will bluff more often than the average player and he loves fancy concepts such as semi-bluffing, raising for free cards and check-raising. But he will overuse these concepts. Because he plays so many hands and is aggressive with them, it may be harder to predict his holdings. He may sometimes run over his
opponents when he has the better hand, since other players are more willing to call his bets and raises. Loose aggressive players are usually not good players, however they can get in some streaks where it may seem like they are the best player around.
The maniac
The maniac is Mr. Hyde to the loose aggressive player’s Dr. Jekyll. The maniac is completely out of control and raises sometimes even without looking at his hole cards. Everyone is licking their chops to get a piece of this guy. Maniacs will raise and bluff way too often and they will usually lose their money quickly. Maniacs may not play like maniacs all the time. Sometimes players who are just having a bad day turn into maniacs when they are on full tilt. This can happen after they have been dealt a couple of bad beats which could lead them to play very aggressively in order to get back to even. The maniac is a horrible player and is great for the game.
The professional players
Professional players are sharp and are constantly thinking about the game and their opponents. They are the best players and the ones that you least like to see at your table. They could be playing poker as their main source of income or they could be playing it as a supplemental income. They are playing poker to win unlike other players who may be playing for the gamble, the entertainment or just the competition. Professional players understand the importance of playing aggressively when they have a solid hand and they also understand the importance of choosing their hands selectively. They will try to extract the most amount of edge from their opponents when they have the best of it, but try to get away cheaply when they have the worst of it. Professional players have thought about and studied the game, be it through reading, talking to other players or just thinking about the play of hands on their own. Professional players will still have a wide range of characteristics in their style. Some will be more aggressive than others, some will bluff a bit more than others. Of course, there are always those who consider themselves as professional players who really are not.
Players can change styles depending on if they are winning or losing
There are players who will try to play solidly when they first sit down, and continue to play solidly if they start off winning. But some players can change their styles drastically if they start to lose, particularly if they take a bad beat. All of a sudden, these players will go from playing solid to being a bit more aggressive. Then they will semi-bluff and bluff more. If they continue to lose and get some of their bluffs called, or worse, they get more bad beats, then they could wind up opening up their game and could turn into a maniac-type of player.
This is a situation where having played against the player in the past and knowing this particular characteristic is very useful. If it is the first time you ever played with him and he plays like this, you may assume this is how he plays and use that information the second time you play at the same table with him. But the second time around, he may be running good and playing solidly, in which case, your perception of him will be completely off.
Getting a sense of opponent’s pattern of play
In order to identify how players play, you should get a sense of their pattern of play. Players tend to be consistent with their styles, so if you observe their play, you will have a better idea of what you are up against in future hands. Here are a few things to watch for and what they may mean.
1. Do they like to be the bettor or raiser or do they like to be the caller?
Players who like to bet or raise are aggressive in general. This may mean they are a bit unpredictable as they can bet or raise with a wider variety of hands. Players who like to call or check are more predictable because when they bet or raise, you can be more assured they have a strong hand.
2. Do they play straightforward or are they tricky?
Players who are predictable tend to play in a straightforward manner. When they bet, it means they have a quality hand, when they check it means they have a mediocre or poor hand. Tricky players like to check-raise, slowplay, semi-bluff, bluff and raise for free cards. Many of these plays constitutes playing in a disguised manner in one round but showing the true strength of the hand in another.
3. Do they like to raise with a draw or will they only raise with a made hand?
Players who like to raise with draws are more unpredictable. They could be raising with made hands as well, so when they do raise, it is less clear what type of hand they have. Players who only raise with made hands are more predictable. If you do not have a better made hand yourself, you know you have to catch to beat them.
4. Do they have a good understanding of the game of Hold’em?
In all of these cases, it is important to know if your opponents have a decent understanding of the game. If they do not, then they may be acting based on their misconceptions. For example, a player who has a straight when there is a possible flush on board may disregard the possibility of his opponents holding a flush and may think of the strength of his own hand in isolation. These players are unpredictable only because they have a poor understanding of the game, thus their actions are tougher for an experienced player to rationalize.
Sharp players may play differently against other players than they will against you
It is possible that sharp players will play differently against other players than they would against you. If you are a decent player yourself, the sharp players will likely know this and play against you accordingly. They may bet for value against weak calling stations, but would not when you are their opponent. They may call down aggressive semi-bluffers, but may not when you are the player doing the raising. They may semi-bluff the tight players, but may not if they think you are likely to call. It is useful to know what they think of you and how they will play against you in specific situations. All of this takes time in studying the players to pinpoint their level of understanding.
Playing against a professional player
Professional players are sharp and observant. They will observe your play and have a better idea of how you play than other players will. Normally you want to stay out of their way if you have a marginal hand. But if you are involved with a professional player, you need to think about what he thinks of you. If you have been playing tight, they may peg you as a tight player. Then you can bluff or semi-bluff with a higher degree of success. If you have made some fancy plays, such as semi-bluffing and raising for free cards, they may be more inclined to call you down. However, in the long run, it will be difficult to trick a sharp, observant player into thinking you are what you are not. You have to accept the fact that these players will have a decent handle on your game. The
money you expect to make at the table is going to come from other players.
Pre-Flop Tight Players may not play tight on every round
The typical conception of players who play tight pre-Flop is they can be bluffed out of a pot in later rounds with a well-timed bluff raise or semi-bluff. Although this stereotype may be used when you do not know the players well, it shows the importance of observing and judging individual players on how they play their hands. Tight pre-Flop players who have entered a pot are entering the pot with higher quality hands than other players. If they are entering the pot with higher quality hands that means they will typically have more reason to continue on through the hand than they would if they played more starting hands.

Predictable players are easier to play against than unpredictable players. When predictable players act, the strength of their hand will typically be clear based on their actions. It may be that when they bet or raise, they have a strong hand. It may be that when they have a strong hand, they never raise on the Flop but always wait to raise on the Turn when the bet size doubles. Conversely, it may be that when they raise on the Flop they never have a made hand but are raising for a free card. A good, sharp player has a better idea of the strength of predictable players’ hands based on their actions, although a poor player may not pick up on it. Different players will be predictable in different ways. Here are some of these stereotypes.
The average player
The average player does not do anything too extreme, he likes to play, but he is not overly aggressive with his hand nor does he play too passively. He will bet when he has a good hand, he will raise when he has a great hand, he will call when he has a passable hand, and he will fold when he has a poor hand. The average player will give himself excuses to stay in the hand rather than fold. The average player in any particular limit is different form the average player in another limit. For example, the average player of the $20-$40 games is a different player than the average player of $5-$10 games. In general, the average player of the $20-$40 game is a better player, he plays tighter, is more aggressive when he should be and has a few tricks up his sleeve. Although the average player of the $20-$40 games will still play too many hands, he will play fewer hands than the average player of the $5-$10 games. The average player in $5-$10 games does not do anything overtly stupid like call two raises with 96o, but he plays even more hands than the average player in $20-$40 games. The average player will put in a bluff now and then but not all that often. When he raises, you can usually count on him having a premium hand.
The calling station
The calling station likes to play along, and follow with everyone else. He does not want to disturb the game and perturb any of his fellow comrades by unnecessarily raising. When the calling station bets, you know he thinks he has a good hand. When the calling station raises, you better run for your life, because he has a monster. The calling station will play many hands, has no problem limping in while in early position, calling a professional player’s early position raise, or calling a bet when he has a pair of 8′s when there are three overcards on the board. Beware, the calling station could be unintentionally trying to rope-a-dope you. If you play too aggressively into him without a made hand, he will simply call you down with a middle pair or a bottom pair. You do not want to bluff the calling station because he thinks it is a social game like the one in his hometown where everyone plays just about every hand to the River. He is our friend and as our friend, he will not get scared by your actions, he thinks you are his friend as well. A calling station is always a bad player.
The rock
A rock is not a sharp player, but his strategy will make him a small winner in most limits. As
strange as it may sound, the rock and the calling station have some similarities. Like the calling station, the rock will only bet with good hands and only raise with strong hands. As with the calling station, you must be careful when the rock bets or raises and give them respect when they show aggression. That is where the similarities end. The calling station plays a lot of hands, while the rock plays very few hands. The rock may sit there for hours folding his starting hands and will have no problems folding his blinds, thus making him a prime candidate to steal the blinds from. When he does play a hand, watch out, he’s got something good. The rock usually thinks he is a better player than the average player. He values patience above all else, and since he is the most patient at the table, he usually thinks he is the best. In some games, he may be right. A rock is typically a good player, although he will not extract as much edge out of the game as better players will. Rocks can be long term winners in low limit games and some middle limit games, but they will need to expand their game and creativity in order to win in the higher limit games.
The solid player
The solid player is a player who has an idea of correct play. He knows he needs to be patient to win at this game, but he is not overly tight. He will play more hands than a rock and he will usually be aggressive when he does play. If he raises from early position, he is predictable because he will have a quality hand. If he open-raises from late position, his hand will be harder to predict because he understands he can loosen up in that position and he is not afraid to steal the blinds. You normally want to avoid the solid player when he is raising. He may not bluff or semi-bluff enough because he does not usually take too many chances. Some players will play like a solid player only to morph into a different type of player after a while at the table. The solid player is a good player.