Varying Your Game

If you play every hand the same way, your opponents will catch on, adjust their games accordingly, and reduce your winnings. Every poker player has to learn how to vary his game to keep his opponents off balance. Here is some info on varying your game effectively.

Your most important decision in varying your game is how often to do it. If you are playing against the same opponents over and over, you need to do it much more than if you are playing against a variety of opponents. The usual cardroom has fewer games at the higher limits. So, the higher the stakes, the more regulars you face, and the more you need to vary your game.

Another important decision is when to vary your game. Some times are much more effective than others. Since varying your game often includes playing a hand you do not ordinarily play, and playing a hand more strongly than it is worth, this should be done at a time when your opponents are least likely to expect such behavior. It is human nature that a player who is stuck in a game plays too many hands and overplays them. So, you should refrain from this behavior when losing. Frankly, it is sometimes hard to distinguish between someone who is varying his game and someone who is simply steaming. So, tighten up when you are behind and save the tricky stuff for when you are in front. This will keep the element of surprise on your side.

Now that we have discussed the how often and the when, let's talk about the how. Varying your play includes being restrained with good hands and betting strongly with weaker hands. It is essential when playing poker to vary the way you play your good hands. I have seen lots of players whose first reaction when having a good hand is to check it. If someone else has bet, they just call. This comes partly from human nature, which takes pleasure in fooling someone. It comes partly by poker betting structure, which is to raise the limit as a deal progresses. To use this sandbagging as an occasional weapon to fool opponents makes good poker sense. To do it routinely does not.

Let's talk specifics now. In limit hold'em, I limp in with a big pair perhaps only one hand out of 10. The idea, of course, is to hope someone raises, so you can three-bet. For this purpose, aces and kings are far from equal in value. If you have two of the four aces in the deck, the chance of someone else raising after you call the blind has been considerably reduced. For this reason, I thing that K-K is the preferable hand to hold when limping in with a big pair. As for two queens, it is so important to raise to protect your hand that you should hardly ever use deception with it. A big pair is not the only hand with which you can limp and then three-bet. A-K suited can also be played in this manner. I much prefer it to A-K offsuit for this purpose, because I am more happy to play with a lot of other people in the hand when I have that nut-flush possibility working for me.

Fortunately, I am not always first to act when holding a big pair. When someone else raises (or three-bets a raise), I am presented with the option of popping it again or making a deceptive call. My standards for slow-playing in this spot are very clear. I do not like to slow-play unless I am both heads up and in position. Giving more than one player a break on the admission price goes against my grain. And I hate to keep knuckling it after the flop. All too often, the opponent checks it back on the turn and folds at the river, and I never get to collect a full-size bet on the entire deal.

The flip side to slow-playing is overplaying. You can throw in a raise on a hand that's worth only a call. Here's the type of situation in which this is attractive: If you have a hand that likes multiway action, such as a suited ace, it is OK to raise a large field of players when no one has shown strength. One example would be in the big blind when there are several limpers. Everyone has acted except you, so a raise merely builds a bigger pot, with your chances looking about as good as the next person's. Another example would be on the button with a bunch of limpers. True, the blinds haven't acted yet, but you have maximum position to compensate for that.

Another time to raise without having a truly strong hand is when you have a pocket pair that is not normally a raising hand, but most of the other players have folded and you have an opportunity to isolate on someone. A pair likes one-on-one situations, if there is a decent prospect of being in front at the start. So, if the cutoff seat or button opens with a raise, go ahead and three-bet that person if you have a pocket pair and intend to play. Against a gambler, pocket sixes is a three-bet hand in this situation. Against a rock, it is a fold. You should not call with the hand; go with it or muck it, but don't wimp with it.

After the flop is an important time to vary your play. Combine technical soundness with a bit of trickery. You can check a good hand if you feel sure that a particular player will bet, or if you can afford to give a free card. I seldom check one pair, because it is an easy hand to outdraw. But if I did, it would be when my pair was big enough that I would not be blowing the pot to a hand that hit a bigger pair because I checked. So, I would have aces, or at least kings. To check when you have top pair that's composed of only an intermediate pair is poor poker if there is any chance of the flop being checked around.

Raising the pot preflop without a pair and failing to improve is a necessary part of hold'em. (To make sure you have a pair before daring to raise is unduly conservative, to put it mildly.) You must vary how you play hands such as the unimproved A-K. Sometimes you bet, sometimes you check-fold, and sometimes you check-call. If someone else bets, you may fold, call, or raise. One could write a small book on how to play this hand in various situations, but the need for deception from time to time should be obvious.

We have only scratched the surface of how to vary your game. But, as can be seen, players who (when stuck) raise the pot on some piece of garbage, and then try to run everyone out after missing the flop, are a lot closer to being steamers losing their money than being good players who know how to depart from a set routine of playing poker hands. Use a rapier, not a sword.

Editor's note: Bob Ciaffone's latest book, Middle Limit Hold'em Poker, co-authored with Jim Brier, is available now. It and his other poker books, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Hold'em Poker, can be ordered through Card Player. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons. E-mail [email protected] or call (989) 792-0884. His website is www.diamondcs.net/~thecoach, where you can download Robert's Rules of Poker for free.par }