Select the Best Game for Your Skills

I have always been a staunch advocate of learning to play as many variations of poker as you can. From a practical standpoint, however, it may be easier and more financially rewarding to specialize in one form. Since no-limit hold’em is currently to most popular game, it is a good game on which to focus. Even after you have decided to focus on no-limit hold’em, you have to choose from among four major variations:

• Brick-and-mortar casino cash games
• Brick-and-mortar casino tournaments
• Online cash games
• Online tournaments

How should you decide which one to emphasize? There are two ways. The most logical is to examine your skills and abilities and then pick the variety of no-limit hold’em in which your particular abilities are most valuable. The other method is to choose a variety that you think will be the most profitable or enjoyable, and develop whatever skills are most appropriate for that variation. The most important skill for cash games is the ability to play disciplined sessions without steaming. Another very useful skill for cash-game players is the ability to wait for good games. You are never forced to play in tough games. You can always play a smaller game or spend some time improving your skills while you wait for good opportunities. You must feel comfortable playing with medium to deep stacks, and your strategy must be appropriate for those stack sizes. You should become proficient at learning about your opponents, and perhaps finding ways to manipulate them.

Many of the skills that are most important for cash-game play will be much less important to the tournament specialist. Avoiding steaming is usually not a big issue. Lose an unlucky pot or two, and you are knocked out of the tournament. Once you enter a tournament, you can’t wait for good tables. You will bounce randomly from great tables (lots of bad players) to bad tables (good to very good players). Deep-stack play occurs only in the early stages of tournaments. Even medium-stack play doesn’t last too long. Almost all of the crucial decisions that you make from the middle stages of a tournament to the end concern preflop all-in bets. You need to be very clear regarding which hands you are willing to shove with for any given position and stack size. You also must know which hands are appropriate for calling when your opponent moves all in. Notice that preflop all-in decisions almost never arise in deep-stack no-limit hold’em cash games. In tournaments, it is useful to be able to get some quick idea of how your opponents play, but you will seldom play with them long enough to really learn much about them. Players who play in tournaments with large fields must reconcile themselves to the high variance that they will experience. They may go through long stretches without a meaningful cash, which can be psychologically and financially devastating if they aren’t prepared for it.

In brick-and-mortar casino games, you will see everything your opponents do; you will hear everything they say. The ability to draw inferences from their behavior is far more important than the ability to play a mathematically precise strategy. Game theory might tell you that it is correct to call 33 percent of the time in a given situation. However, reading an opponent will tell you to call this time because he’s bluffing, but might tell you to fold next time when he isn’t.

Your demeanor at the table is very important, especially in home games. You want to be fun to play with. That will keep weaker players at your table longer, and will get you invited to the most desirable games.

The consummate online specialist has a mathematically sound strategy. He doesn’t rely on reading his opponents as much as he relies on doing precisely the mathematically correct thing. Computer skills are a big plus. These skills will enable you to play more tables simultaneously, use or create valuable software, and keep track of who the weak players are. Once you know who they are, you can get on the waiting lists for their tables.

In short, you should aim to play the variations in which your skills are most useful. You also must work on developing the skills that will be most valuable for the variations that you intend to play. I divided the variations into four categories, but easily could have added more variables, and created more categories.

Another important variable is the number of opponents you feel comfortable with having. Do you want to play heads up, in six-player maximum games, or at nine-handed full tables? Each of these requires special skills.

Is your intention to play for smaller stakes against really bad players or for medium to big stakes against players of varying strengths? Some players are really great at beating up on weak players, and have huge win rates against them. Others are more skilled at exploiting some tiny advantages against competent players.

If you eventually reach a stage where you feel that you have mastered one category or have gotten to the point where a great deal of effort is needed to make slight improvements, consider adding a second string to your bow. Many players enjoy specializing, while many others get bored with doing the same thing day after day. They crave the excitement of tournaments or the action of Omaha eight-or-better. Don’t be afraid to start adding new games to your repertoire, but do it slowly and for small stakes. ♠

Steve “Zee” Zolotow, aka The Bald Eagle, is a successful games player. He currently devotes most of his time to poker. He can be found at many major tournaments and playing on Full Tilt, as one of its pros. When escaping from poker, he hangs out in his bars on Avenue A — Nice Guy Eddie’s at Houston and Doc Holliday’s at 9th Street — in New York City.