| More than Good Cards are Needed |
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Good Cards Don’t Cut It in Poker From previous lessons that you may have taken on poker or from the meager experience that you’ve had so far in this game, you should realize one fundamental poker fact: perceptions and not the actual worth of your cards determine how the game will play out. It’s Not the Cards Specifically, how other players read you and your poker strategy has a large bearing on whether or not you will win a hand or not. It wouldn’t much matter if you actually have good cards, for instance. What actually matters is that your opponents think that you have good cards. This is not to say that your cards no longer matter. Of course, it does. However, the value of your cards is felt only at the end of the game or at the showdown. There, it is an irrefutable fact that the value of your card combination would determine whether you win the pot or not. As luck would have it, though, rarely do players reach the showdown stage in poker so how you present yourself to others does matter more than your cards’ actual value. Play on Their Perceptions You will win the pot if you know how to lead your opponents on. If you are skilled in making your opponents believe that you have a monster hand when, in fact, you have a very weak hand, then you would have a very big chance of walking away with the pot. This is the main reason why you should carefully study how other players perceive you: if you manage to find out how they think of you and your strategy, you will be able to use their perceptions to ‘bluff’ them. For instance, if you have a pretty tight reputation at the table, you would know that people would usually think twice about playing you when you are betting aggressively – especially pre-flop. They’d think that you could be holding no less than a pair of Aces, otherwise, you wouldn’t be so reckless. Your opponents’ perception that you are a very tight player can then work to your advantage: you can actually steal blinds this way since your opponents would be more likely to fold when faced with your suddenly aggressive bets. Likewise, if your opponents perceive you as a tight player and you play very conservatively, they’d continue upping the bet. They’d think that you have perhaps a drawing hand and choose to scare you off. Of course, in reality, you actually have a monster hand and are just making your opponents stay in the game so you can win more money. |
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