Players use many ploys to win at poke.

From the novices sighing when they are holding a monster, to the top players who seem to just get into your head and make you do things. No matter what it is, if you can perfect the art of rocking your opponent back on his heels, you will win more money.

I know a guy who will take really subtle jabs at you with his table talk. At first is seems all in good fun, but a few comments later, and this guy can get anyone to start steaming. I just can’t figure out how he does it, and he can’t really explain it, but it sure does work.

Some guys are much easier to tilt than others. Less tilt happens at the higher limits, but it still runs rampant. The worst part about tilting, is that you can’t see it coming. Someone just keeps jawing at you the whole session, eventually your mind is going to focus on how annoying it is, and the second your mind strays from the task at hand i.e. winning at poker, is when you start making mistakes.

Poker is war. Chips are your ammunition. You have probably heard this many times, because it is absolutely true. Protect your ammo because when you run out, you are toast. You must find a way to beat each opponent. Annoy them, befriend them, push them around, make them hate you, make them like you. Do something. The best players all formulate a plan throughout the game of how they will win the most chips from each of their opponents.

It is all about money. That nice old lady who is down 3 buy-ins bets into you on the river, and you have the nuts you’d better be raising. Even if she reminds you of your grandmother, raise. If you see a guy buy in for a third time and he mutters under his breath “there goes the rent money…” Hammer on him, he is playing on scared money.

When someone is not emotionally stable in a poker game or is playing on short money, he is often susceptible to being bluffed out before he hits his breaking point where he gets desperate.

Don’t soft play anyone. If you think this is wrong, you should be playing at one of the online poker sites for play money. It doesn’t make you a bad person to want to extract every bit of value from a hand, no matter how nice, or stuck your opponent is. It makes you a smart poker player.

Good luck at the tables