Weak poker players usually make a single mistake that makes them easy to spot. That is, they call instead of folding. This is natural, since they have come to the table in order to play. Folding is usually no fun, and if winning is paramount to you, then forget all the social aspects that make poker into such an enjoyable game.
Playing to win can be dull because the majority of the hands that you will be played will have to be folded. Every good player does this most of the time. On the occasions when they don’t, they are either playing a short handed game where it is better to take a few risks so that more hands be played, or they are sitting at a passive table where people rarely bluff and raise even less. In games like these, pros will play some speculative hands because there's little chance of being raised. It's an opportunity to build a big hand and if he makes it, he knows that his opponents will pay him off to the bitter end.
At times, there will be players who you will notice throw too many hands away when faced with a bet or raise. Against this kind of player, the cards themselves do not matter. What matters is how often the strong player can bet or raise with reasonable assurances that his adversary will fold to his unmitigated aggression. You will find that most of your (bad opponents) call too much and then make their mistake even worse by staying with the pot too long with weak hands. These players can be beaten by betting for value, not by bluffing. . Because they'll usually call when you bet, don't waste your time and money bluffing in fixed-limit games. In no-limit games, the size of a big bluff can dissuade others from calling, but when the cost is only one more bet, your wagers will tend to attract callers.
Bet when you think you have the best hand, secure in the knowledge that your opponents are very likely to call you with lesser hands. Good players fold much of the time. They fold when they have the worst of it, and they'll also fold to a good bluff made by a solid player who bets when the cards suggest he's actually made a big hand. That's not to say a good player will fold every time you bet into him. Sometimes he'll have a good hand and call or raise. He might even read you for a bluff and raise just to seize the momentum and cause you to fold a weak hand. But good players can be bluffed precisely because they are both selective and aggressive, and the selectivity quotient in their game dictates that they fold some hands because they're looking for better spots to risk their money.
That's where the art of poker comes into play, and it's an art that begins with knowing one's opponent. Some can be bluffed while others will never fold if they have even the slightest inkling that they might win-never mind the long odds against them. What works against one opponent might not work against another. To put this in terms of dueling aphorisms, in poker it's seldom a case of "what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander;" it's usually "one man's meat is another man's poison."
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