A player who calls too often is called Calling station. Usually he enters a hand based on the hope that he’s going to improve his combination but he does not succeed. That is why during the next bettings he folds. The calling station usually looses against tight players and has an advantage with too loose players. If your opponents always answer you bets, this is very favourable for you and you need to encourage their mistake. In order to do that, from time to time you have to enter the game with weak hands and to lose. Let them think you bluff very often and their actions are right.
Reasons to check
- You think that if you post a bet and your opponent calls, you are going to lose;
- Your cards are not strong enough to enter the hand and you hope that other players also are going to check and only one is going to call and then you can enter the hand;
- Your opponent is playing very aggressively and your hand is not very strong to raise;
- You play against a tight player who opened the game or answered your bet during previous betting;
- Your bet was raised by one or several players before and you think that these players are going to open the game or raise;
- If before the game was opened, the first bet was raised and the third player called, it will be better for you to play check no matter how strong your hand is;
- You have strong hand and you think that if you open the game, other plkayers most probably are going to fold but id you don’t open the game, some of the other players are is going to do it;
- You have very strong hand and you play slow because you don’t want to scare other players too early and you want to have the opportunity to bet or raise late;
- You play after the player who uses strategy check-raise and you believe that he is going to use this strategy now;
- You have played frequently check-raise and your opponent thinks that if you check it is more dangerous than if you open the game;
- You want to look like a passive player;
- You don’t want to bluff;
- You want to make your opponent bluff (steal ante) and then punish him;
- You have very strong hand but you think that another player has stronger. For example, in draw poker when you have a weak straight and your opponent also refuses a draw. In stud poker, when you already have a flush, you can see that another player has four cards of the same suit on the table and one of them is higher than your flush highest card;
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The maniac is a loose-aggressive player – he calls and raises frequently with not strong enough cards. When at the table there is one maniac, undoubtedly, all other players are going to have profit. When there are more, it is necessary to play very carefully and your play should be very flexible. When you are in early position and after you there are many maniacs, you should enter the game only with very strong hand. If after you there is only one maniac and you are the dealer, even if you have mediocre cards, you still have a very good chance to win. Depending on you cards, your style with maniacs should change from passive to extremely aggressive – with strong hand you can and you should raise or re-raise; with mediocre cards, the better choice for you is not to confront them since it is very dangerous.
A player who plays extremely tight is called Rock. Tight play is not the best decision since very soon you will be very easy to read and the other players will not answer your bets. The Rock is an extreme and you should play this style only if there are a lot of other extremes at the table such as maniacs. If he gets callers when he opens the game, chances are he will take down the pot. The Rock plays a few hands and places value only on the strongest pairs. From time to time he can play smaller plays but he is not going to raise with them. The Rock can make profit only if other players do not pay attention that he plays too few hands of the hands he is dealt.
Loose play - To play loose means to play a lot of hands, to bet and to call even with weak hands. Loose play is not the best strategy at all. If you choose to play loose, you probably will lose from the tight player. Nevertheless, if all players play tight, you can continue more often with weak hands (steal blinds). But it is wrong to think that if your opponents play loose, you must play tight. Of course, in this case you will make money but you can make much more if with loose opponents you play much more loose than usual. If you know that a loose player always enters the game with a pair of nines, your pair of tens has a very good chance to win. So if you fold everytime with this pair, you are losing a potential profit.
The play speed is measured by the aggressiveness or passiveness of the players. The fast play is aggressive, the slow one – passive. Good players change the play speed all the time and that makes them unpredictable and difficult to read. Some players use the slow play to trick their opponents. When they have very strong hands, they just check or call. This strategy gives them the opportunity to make more money and provokes their opponents to attack or bluff. Actually, the slow play is a misleading (deceptive) play with very strong hand.