Understand Who?

I recently received an e-mail from a regular reader of "Improving Performance" who is relatively new to the game but has certainly been bitten by the poker bug. He has been playing for the better part of a year and has read several good books and plays both live and internet low limit hold'em. He feels he understands the game well and is very frustrated that he isn't a winning player. His analysis of why he can't seem to win is interesting and I believe common among low limit players in his predicament. He wrote in part, "As I become more and more knowledgeable about the game it just drives me crazy that I see such horrible play by my opponents and I still can't seem to win. I believe it is because they just don't understand. They don't understand the game and they certainly don't understand what raises mean. I raise when in proper position with a good hand and they just call and call and wind up sucking out to beat me. I think I should move up in limits to where the players will better understand my moves. What do you think? Any advise would be appreciated."

Well, that's an interesting approach on how to turn a losing game into a winning game. I wrote back and told him that I thought he had the "understanding" dilemma backwards. I explained that I felt he should be more concerned with knowing/understanding what was motivating his opponents and less concerned about them understanding his moves. It's been said that if your opponents are clueless to begin with that they aren't going to pick up on and understand the message you are conveying. If you can't figure out how to beat the low limit games you really don't have a prayer in beating the higher stake games. The only positive element of moving up unprepared is that the rake in the lower games is just horrendous. Of course, trying to save some money through a lower rake while your more experienced opponents take your whole bankroll doesn't seem like the best course of action. I constantly harp on the importance of learning and understanding your opponents' tendencies and how the table is playing. If you're sitting at a table full of calling stations you should certainly be able to take advantage of this loose and losing style, assuming, of course, that you have the patience and discipline required. Many players in this environment tend to play down to the style that is prevalent at the table. A horrible course of action. Take advantage of your opponents' mistakes, don't join in the lunacy! When you can regularly book wins at the limit you're playing is when you should consider moving up in limits, not because you believe it is the solution on how to win. To move up in limits because you can't beat the limit you're currently playing is analogous to bankroll suicide.

So who should we be concerned is understanding? Our goal for this session is to know the answer to this question. The answer is three fold and in order of importance is: First, understand yourself, then understand your opponents and, finally, understand your opponents' image of you and therefore their most likely reaction to what you do.

See you next "TIME".