Poker Strategies: Do not Play Like a Rock
With the pitfalls of playing too many hands now in virtually all strategy guides, newcomers to the game have often veered in the opposite direction; their Poker playing style is now limited to using only the premium hands, which leads to other problems.
A very tight Poker playing style will earn you the moniker of being a rock, because you are just sitting there tight, not doing anything except waiting for the AA and KK to be dealt. This strategy will not work for a number of reasons.
First of all, you play the game to win money, and your chances will increase the stronger your Poker hands are. However, the premiums will only come your way once in a while.
In the meantime, you pass up a lot of potentially winnable pots, and at the same time, the blinds will eat into your bankroll. It will not be at the same rate as in a tourney, but it will catch up to you as the hours pass by. If you do not play more hands, you will not be able to recuperate what you are losing in the blinds.
The other problem with using this Poker playing style is that once you do get the nut hand, you will get very little action. Contrary to what people believe, even a fish will be able to detect if you only play the premium hands.
Once your opponents realize this, you are in trouble; the competition will be aggressive when you hold marginal hands, and fold when you get the nuts. The end result is that you will win a few pots, but they will be few and far in between, and small ones at that.
The way out of this dilemma is to play more Poker hands. Add a little variance in your style. If you have been playing tight, throw in a few ATs and J10s. Learn to judge the table that you are in. You do not always need pocket Aces to win; most of the time your opponents will be playing weaker hands, so be willing to play more hands.
This does not mean you should be loose, but rather show some aggression. Do this and you will be able to shed off that rock image and you will be able to profit more. By learning to be selectively aggressive, you will make a lot of money from the other ultra tight players on the Poker table.