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So you want to get really good at poker and beat all comers. Well, that’s a long road you’re gonna be travelling, but you can start by adding a little deception to your game. It doesn’t do much to help your ambitions if your game is as predictable as clockwork. All you need to do is upset the established pattern.
Here are some deceptive maneuvers you should add to keep the opposition guessing:
Check-Raise
If you have b cards, when the action turns to you, sometimes check and then rise when your turn to act arrives again. Let's say you are in an early position and hold the Ace of Hearts and Queen of Spades. The flop is Ace of Spades, Queen of Hearts, and 6 of Spades. If you check and the next three players in middle positions also check, but the late position player places a wager, you can raise their bet. By doing this early, you will make it costly for players that are drawing hands to stay in. Any players holding straight draws or over cards simply won't call. If they do, you have a hint as to what cards they may be holding and you have increased the pot-size.
Free Card
In the late position, rise with a drawing hand on the flop on occasion. This tends to make the other players check to you on the turn, letting you either check if your hand isn't great or bet if the cards hit. You'll save money if your hand doesn't improve and make more when you do get the great cards. This can backfire when you get re-raised on the flop! If that happens, it will cost you but it is still a good way to learn about the other player's cards.
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Semi-bluffing
A semi-bluff is betting or raising when your hand is not that great but you have lots of outs that could allow you to outdraw the other players if you get called or raised. However, you can win the pot right then with the semi-bluff. If there are three players in the hand and they all check to you, you can bet without holding a hand that is a sure winner because of the large number of outs and their check indicates they have lousy cards.
Slow-play
Sometimes, when you hold a b hand, you can slow-play it. What this means is checking or calling on a betting round but bet or raise on later rounds. In Texas Holdem, it is often done on the flop because it keeps players in the pot and a raise on the turn or river cards will happen when it costs more to stay in. This could backfire when when other players take free cards and actually beat your cards! A few times that slow-play is not recommended are: when a free card is likely to beat you, when there are too many other players in the hand or when the pot is really large.
These are just a few of the strategies you can use to shroud your game in mystery, keeping you from being predictable. The thing to learn is to mix and match optimally to as to maximize the effectiveness of these poker strategies. As you gain in terms of skill and experience, you can maybe even make up some strategies of your own. The idea, of course, is not to overdo it, lest you become all too predictable in your quest for unpredictability.
