Texas Holdem Poker Tip Online: Awareness

A solid texas Holdem Poker Tip Online is being aware, for me it means observing the play. Yes, that means that you should be observing your opponents even when you aren't involved in a hand. Why? Because you'll be able to gather so much more information out of the players you are playing against.

When that time comes and you're in a pot against a player you have solid reads on and he makes a big bet, you will know what that means and you will be able to make the correct decision a lot easier.

Learning While Not In A Hand

Lets face it, if you're playing winning poker you aren't going to be involved in a lot of pots. You'll most likely be seeing anything between 14-24% of flops and you'll miss most of those flops too. So what better way to spend your time than observe other players and try to guess their handrange (all their possible hands).

This is the best way to improve your hand reading abilities. Look at how people play, what are their patterns? how do they play their weak, medium and strong hands?

The majority of poker players never change how they play their different hands (weak, medium, strong). That's why taking notes is so important. When you finally get involved in that pot versus that specific player you will have a much better clue to what he actually holds and you can make nice folds and nice calls much more easily.

The big problem good players make is trying to base decisions on reads they do not have. I see this all the time, let's say someone raises and I am new to the table and reraise and he now decides to call me with a very marginal holding because he "feels" I am reraising with a weak hand. This is very bad and puts him in a losing position because he doesn't have any facts on how I play, he is just wildly assuming what I have.

When you encounter a good player, you'll notice that he is mixing up his play and he is, sometimes, playing his strong hands like his weak hands. Or his draws like his strong hands. Even if a player does this, it doesn't necessarily mean he is any good, as he could have huge flaws in his game. Remember though, even good players most often play their different hands the same way.

Being Aware of Your Image

I want you to start being aware of your image. If you go to a party and never say a word to anyone and generally avoid people you will most likely have crafted the image of a shy person. The same concept works at the poker table. If you raise a lot, you'll have the image of a loose & aggressive player (LAG). If on the other hand you fold a lot but are selectively aggressive you'll have the iamge of a tight & aggressive player (TAG).

In the beginning, it's going to be a lot of guesswork before you start getting the handle of things. Don't sweat it, you'll learn if you persevere.

How Are People Perceiving You

An important part in this Holdem Poker Tip Online is when you are thinking about how people are perceiving you to not fall into the trap of thinking how you think they SHOULD think. That's a big black hole for many players. What matters isn't what you think, but what they think. It's easy to misjudge what people think about you especially if you aren't mentally focused (if you are on tilt).

What really counts is how they actually think. If they think you're a loose moron, even if you've been playing tight and solid, it doesn't matter if you think they should think that you're tight.

In a situation like this, what you have to do is keep playing tight because the player you are facing will keep paying you off. He thinks you're a loose aggressive douchebag. Poker is a game of judgment, and that's why I keep repeating that it's such a profitable game because players can distort their reality to such an extent to make their bad decision a correct one, even if it was a horrible decision in reality.

I've seen this so many times, and if you don't catch it, then it'll be like a note on your back. People will keep kicking you in the ass, but you won't know why because no one is telling you why until you look at your back in a mirror or ask someone for help!

This is also where tilt comes into the picture. When you're tilting, your emotions are intense and out of control. And when that happens, it is hard to be calm and objective. That's why a break is best because you aren't making the best decisions in that sate of mind.

You might want to check out my articles on poker tilt and discipline.

I hope this texas Holdem Poker Tip Online (and offline!) helped you.

Summary

  • Learn when you aren't involved in a hand
  • Think about how people perceive you and how you can use that
  • Be aware of tilt as it will cloud your judgment

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