WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Experienced players look at many factors when choosing a game to play.
That’s because they have a good handle on their own technical poker skills and have learned to recognize the characteristics of a game that are profitable for them.
I do very well in wild and crazy games. I ’m an expert at those types of games, and enjoy them.
I do well at other games, but I don’t get as much enjoyment. So I look for a lot of chips on the table, seven or more players seeing the flop, players cold calling raises before the flop, a lot of laughing. When I see this at a Holdem table, I know I’m going to like that game.
The limit might be 1-5, 3/6/12, or it might be 20/40; it doesn’t matter to me.
The action and the players’ attitudes attracts me to the table.
Many players don’t do well in that type of game; they’ve developed a playing poker style that just doesn’t work for wild games.
So they avoid them and look for games that are better matches to their style.
Beginners haven’t developed that self-knowledge of their own playing style or personality, so game selection can be tougher, but you can still do it.
In fact you should do it. You can evaluate a game based on two scales: a tight-loose scale and a passive-aggressive scale.
You’ll want to play in loose games.
Not only are the players in a loose game making a mistake by playing too many weak hands (we’ll talk more about hand selection later in the book), but playing a lot of hands gives them many opportunities to make even more mistakes.
Don’t forget that your profits come from your opponents’ mistakes.
Whether you will prefer a loose-passive game or a loose-aggressive game depends to some degree on your own preferences and personality.
Most beginners should opt for a passive game.
This is because in a passive game you won’t be presented with as many situations where you have to make a critical decision.
Once you get some experience at making these heat-of-the-moment decisions, you’ll find the loose-aggressive games much more profitable.
Pick the Right Table / Picking a Seat / Theories of Poker / Betting Theory: The Odds
A Theory of Starting Hand Value
A Theory of Flop Play: Counting Outs and Evaluating Draws
The Dynamics of Game Conditions / Table Image / Player Stereotypes
Women and Poker / Spread-Limit Games / Double Bet on the End Games / Kill Games
Short-handed Games / Tournaments / No-limit and Pot-Limit Poker
