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Poker Strategy: Changing Your Playing Style

Copyright © 2007, RealPokerLessons.com

Playing poker last night with some friends, I ended up heads up with a good friend who is a really good player. I knew that "he knows" how I play and how I think. So from experience (since he knows how to read me very well), I decided to try and completely change my game up. But how do you do that? Good players (like my friend) will usually suspect that I'm changing something up and get more suspicious. So this time I decided to "really" change my game up.

On one hand for example, I had a pair of J's in the whole. He checked and I checked. Of course I know that I'm completely taking chances here, but with him, I knew the second I raised would be the second he would fold; or he would know what type of hand I had. I checked all the way to the river and finally bet the minimum, and he called. I won. Was it a good play? Heck no. I gave all free cards; however, I knew that I had to change it up for him particularly. Now if he put me all in after the flop, I would have had to fold.

The point is, when a good player knows you to a T, you have to really try and switch up your game, unless of course they're in a gambling mood or on tilt or something.  On another hand I raised with 24 suited, and he called. He knew that I wouldn't normally raise with those hands, so I did it on purpose to throw him off. But I also know that he knows I will "sometimes" do that as well to throw him off. So when the flop came 236, I knew I was in excellent shape. But I checked to make him think that I had two over cards and missed my flop. He of course put in a bet, so I called, believing my 2 was good. The turn was a 7 and I put in a bet. I knew if I bet then, he would believe I still missed and was trying to bluff at it and take it down, so he called. When he called, I believed he had an A (because I know his play too) and he thought his A high was still good. The river was a J, and I checked and he checked. I checked because I believed he thought I had over cards, and if I checked then he would think that I was trying to trap him by finally hitting my J. He checked behind me and my 2's won. He was surprised. But the point is, for players that know you're every tick, you have to really change your game up but of course be very careful when you do it. I ended up winning the game.

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