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How To Beat Anyone At Poker
The trick to WINNING POKER is to always be at least ONE STEP AHEAD of your
opponents...
To be one step ahead, it helps to understand the COMMON EXPERIENCES and
thoughts that every poker player goes through.
It seems to me that there are three distinct LEVELS of poker intelligence.
Knowing which level your opponent falls under can be a MAJOR ADVANTAGE for
you at the table...
I call these the "Three Stages of Sophistication".
As you read these, think about the guys you play cards with.
Think about what level they're at... AND... think about which stage YOU
ARE IN right now. It will help tremendously.
Here they are...
STAGE 1: Analyzing the CARDS.
This is when a player focuses his mental energies strictly on the cards.
This is someone who waits to play only premium hands, and perhaps spends a
lot of time calculating "pot odds".
Usually, this type of guy plays TIGHT, and is fairly "see through". He'd
be better off playing LIMIT Texas Holdem rather than NO-LIMIT.
STAGE 2: Analyzing the PLAYERS.
This is the person who understands that to win at no-limit Holdem, you've
got to PLAY THE PLAYERS, not just the cards.
This is the guy who sits there all night and STUDIES your every move. He's
convinced that there are "secret tells" behind every player...
And he'll do ANYTHING to figure them out.
You can spot a player like this just by watching him when the cards come
out. If he's watching YOU, rather than looking at his cards, then he's
probably in the second stage of sophistication.
STAGE 3: Analyzing how players will analyze YOU.
Stage 1 players are easy to beat. You can bluff them out of big pots, rile
them up, and then sit back until you catch a monster and put them all
in...
It's like taking candy from a baby.
Stage 2 players are harder to beat, because they understand the Cardinal
Rule of no-limit Holdem, which is to...
PLAY THE PLAYERS, NOT THE CARDS.
You can't always push them around at the table, which means you have to
devise a different strategy...
Which is why Stage 3 is so powerful.
Because when you're a Stage 3 player, you KNOW that the Stage 2 player is
analyzing you. And you simply stay ONE STEP AHEAD of him.
A Stage 3 player is someone who gets pocket Aces before the flop and takes
FOREVER to call a pre-flop raise.
Why?
Because by taking his time and making it LOOK like he's contemplating a
decision, the Stage 3 player knows HIS OPPONENTS WILL THINK THEY CAN BLUFF
HIM out of the hand.
Sure enough, after the flop one of the STAGE 2 players will go all-in...
trying to buy the pot... not knowing they just fell right into the Stage 3
player's trap.
To be a Stage 3 player, you've got to ADOPT YOUR STYLE OF PLAY ACCORDING
TO WHAT THE OTHER PLAYERS THINK ABOUT YOU.
That's the key.
Here's an example that happened to me recently...
I was in a local game with a bunch of friends and players who know me
well.
I've built up a reputation in my town for being an AGGRESSIVE player at
the table... who's always pushing around the action and throwing out
feeler bets.
In addition to being aggressive, people also know me as a BLUFFER. My
buddies have seen me push my entire stack into the middle on a 2-7 offsuit...
when I can't even beat the board.
And they've seen this happen MORE THAN ONCE.
This reputation has a TREMENDOUS IMPACT on my strategies at the table. And
I can use this "image" to my advantage.
In this particular example, I was dealt pocket 3's while on the button.
Three of my opponents limped in and the action was to me.
I liked my positioning, so I decided to throw out a pre-flop raise in
hopes of spiking a three.
"Make it $20 to play", I said.
This was a rather large bet with respect to pot size, but I did it for a
reason. I wanted to either STEAL THE BLINDS by forcing everyone to fold,
or create heads-up action... which would give my small pocket pair better
odds at winning.
Anyway, Blake was the only player to call my bet, so I was feeling pretty
good about my chances.
The flop came out:
A, 4, 3
All different suits.
Fantastic. I just spiked my three... which gives me trips. AND there's an
Ace on the board.
Blake checks.
Now here's where I have to make a decision...
Do I slow-play the hand by checking right behind him?
The answer is NO.
Because like I said, I have a reputation with these guys. They know I
bluff a lot, so they'll usually give me a lot of action.
So instead of slow-playing, I actually OVER-BET the pot in this
situation...
Blake called my large pre-flop raise... and now there's an ace on the
board. So he's probably sitting on a hand like AJ or AQ and thinks that HE
is slow-playing ME.
"Seventy-five to play", I say in a very arrogant tone. (This was a large
bet for this particular game.)
Blake- who is a Stage 2 player- thinks I'm pushing him around. He's
sitting on about $300 in chips and decides to go all-in.
EXACTLY what I wanted.
I call, and throw over my threes.
He throws over A9 off-suit.
And sure enough, I took the pot down. All because I was ONE STEP AHEAD of
him...
I KNEW that he was analyzing me and putting me on a bluff, so I reeled him
in by "over-betting" the pot with a touch of arrogance.
Of course, I didn't always know how to do this.
I can remember a hand I once played COMPLETELY WRONG on a riverboat in St.
Louis.
This was when I was first really "getting into" poker. The guys on the
riverboat didn't know me... so they weren't familiar with my style of
play.
They didn't know I was a very aggressive player who often bluffed. (Which
I was, even back then.)
It was the second or third hand of the night and I was dealt pocket 6's.
One of my opponents made it $10 to play and I was the only one to call his
bet.
I spiked my six on the flop... which means I had three-of-a-kind.
My opponent was first to act and threw out another $10 bet. The action was
to me.
Unfortunately, I was only focused on my cards and my opponent. I was
between levels 1 and 2 of the "Three Stages of Sophistication."
I figured he had a strong hand since he'd raised the pot twice... and I
was excited as hell about my three 6's.
So without hesitation, I made a raise.
"I raise you $40", I said... in the same "pushy" tone I'd use with my
buddies.
My opponent thought about it for a moment and then mucked his cards.
I had COMPLETELY misplayed the hand... and all I made with my monster was
a lousy 20 bucks.
The MISTAKE I'd made was failing to adjust my style of play to WHAT MY
OPPONENT WAS THINKING ABOUT ME.
Back at home, I would've gotten a call with my $40 raise.
But not on this riverboat.
Because on the riverboat, my opponents didn't know me... they didn't have
a "read" on my style... and we were only a few hands into the game.
For all they knew, I could've been an extremely TIGHT player... just like
most of the young guys they show up on the riverboats.
Anyway, the lesson I learned is this:
THINK ABOUT WHAT YOUR OPPONENTS ARE THINKING.
Do they see you as tight, aggressive, reckless, bad, good, crazy...?
See the game through the eyes of your opponents, and you'll be able to win
against ANYONE, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE.
A lot of pros will tell you that the only way to master these skills is
through EXPERIENCE.
But don't take this advice too seriously.
I've known guys who have played poker for 40 years and STILL can't play
worth a damn.
And I've known guys who pick the game up and after ONE YEAR are making a
FULL-TIME INCOME in card rooms across the country...
The secret is NOT experience.
The secret is KNOWLEDGE.
What matters is how far along you are in your "Poker Intelligence".
If you're young, and you understand the strategies and techniques I share,
then you can have a MAJOR ADVANTAGE over your opponents...
Because a lot of guys will underestimate you.
If you're older... or more experienced... the exact OPPOSITE is true.
You'll be at a clear DISADVANTAGE if you're up against someone with a
higher POKER IQ than you.
The solution... no matter what your age or experience level... is to KEEP
READING MORE and STUDYING MORE about the game.
Discover the strategies and exact STEP-BY-STEP TECHNIQUES to follow for
different scenarios...
You'll be AMAZED at how quickly and easily you can start winning more pots
and moving up to the higher stakes games.
And before you know it, you could be making some SERIOUS CASH playing
no-limit Texas Holdem poker.
Sound good?
If so, then the first place you should start is with my groundbreaking
eBook, available for immediate download right now.
It will take your poker skills to a level you NEVER thought possible.
P.S. Just think: Your opponents DON'T EVEN KNOW these "Three Stages of
Sophistication" even EXIST.
Let alone how to IDENTIFY and PLAY against players in each stage.
This single tidbit of information alone can give you a HUGE edge at the
poker tables.
Now imagine knowing HUNDREDS upon HUNDREDS of strategies and "poker
secrets" just like this...
What would that do for your game?
How much money could you win at the tables?
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