Poker Chameleon: How To Adapt Your Poker Accordingly
So you can always out-fox your opponents to pull down the big pots...
CHAMELEON NOT COMEDIAN Poker chameleons are players who have learned that the different positions you find yourself at a table should influence the style of play you adopt. You always want to be changing your colours to suit your situation. For example, if you’re seated immediately to the right of the button your early position dictates that you should play tight. This implies you’ll be tossing away any hole cards that are less than likely winners. You can’t afford to risk a raise on a mid pair when you have no idea of what monsters lie in wait. Of course when you find yourself actually on the button then you can afford to be aggressive. If you have an Ace and a good kicker you should be out trying to steal the pot with a raise. A majority of players will fold to a raise from the button and those that don’t can usually be bullied out with another raise at the turn. This is not a trick to pull too often as experienced players will be aware that the button is an ideal place for pot theft. Mix it up a little. Be a chameleon not a comedian.
YOU’RE OUTNUMBERED! Another time to change your colours is if you find yourself at a table where aggression seems to be blazing like a wildfire all around you. I call these situations “testosterone tables” and they are great places to be if you know how to adjust your play. Simply become very conservative and be patient enough to wait for a strong hand. You can then afford to go for it because at a table full of aggression any number of players are going to bet into you and boost the Value of the pot with your name on it. This scenario of course also works in reverse and requires another colour change. If you’re at a table of tight-wad ultra conservatives it is essential that you adopt the style of the aggressor. The cautionary note is that if a conservative player starts to raise you’ll need to swiftly soften your stance and be prepared to fold quickly as the major likelihood is he’s holding the goods or is trying his bi-annual bluff, in which case let him have his day in the sun at your (not too costly) expense.
PROFESSIONAL CHOICES You’ll often read that top professional players love hole cards like nine-ten or ten-Jack suited. Now these are not on the wish list of the ordinary online player. The average player would immediately admit they are praying for pocket rockets or a pair of Kings or Ace-King. So why do the professionals have a different thought process? It’s usually due to the fact that they want to make a big win at a high stakes table. They would sooner have to muck their cards quite often at the outset trying to build that killer run or flush which stands a good chance of wiping a table out.
