09
Betting
by admin ·
Great poker players understand the importance of MIXING UP THEIR BETS AND RAISES.
It’s so simple… yet so many players fail on this critical point. As you’ve heard me talk about, one of the keys to winning is to identify the betting patterns of your opponents. Of course, your opponents (the smart ones) will often try to identify YOUR betting patterns… So don’t let them!
Be sure to CONSTANTLY mix up your bets, raises, and even BETTING BEHAVIOR for different starting hands.
Don’t play the same starting hand the same way twice. Always change it up. This actually will give you LEVERAGE to “trick” your opponents also. For example… let’s say you raise $65 pre-flop with 7-2 offsuit after sensing weakness at the table. Everyone folds. You flip over your cards and jokingly say, “C’mon guys!”.
Another hour passes and you pick up pocket Kings on the button. You make a raise of $65 pre-flop. One of your opponents has K-J and REMEMBERS that you made the same pre-flop raise on a TOTAL BLUFF last time.
So he decides to come over the top of you for an all-in bet. And you promptly take all his money.
These types of situations won’t happen too often, of course, but when they do they are VERY SWEET!
If you find yourself totally unable to get out of the habit of betting patterns, try this sneaky little trick:
Let’s say everyone starts with 1000 in chips. The normal bets and raises are in multiples of five or ten, of course. Well, as part of your “exercise” in learning how to mix your game up, you make bets and raises ONLY with odd numbers. For instance, instead of raising 40 before the flop, you raise 43 or maybe 38. Instead of a
200 chip bet, you go for 199. And so on.
Now listen… THIS IS ANNOYING AS HELL. I’m serious… It’s one of the most annoying things ever. BUT, it’s a very useful way to get used to mixing up your betting strategy. The goal is to keep your opponents guessing at what you have… and always betting weird amounts certainly achieves this objective.