Poker Pros Change Gears Quickly

You have probably heard the term “changing gears” before when it comes to poker. Changing gears is much like a change up pitch in baseball where a fastball pitcher will all of a sudden come in with a slow hanging curve to totally trip up the batter. In poker you want to do the same thing so your opponents don’t know what you will do next and professional poker players do this very well.

Many poker players are easy reads and reveal themselves for who they are after just a few poker hands. The tighter players that only raise with powerhouse hands such as Aces or Kings will not win a lot of chips with those hands because the other players will likely fold their hands. Then there is the opposite type of player, the maniac, who raises all the time and that destroys the respect and credibility of his hands.

The professional poker player is the one who changes gears quickly. He will play identical poker hands differently from hand to hand or night to night and that makes him a very difficult person to read. Poker pros that alternate between aggressive and tight play will not only cause hesitation and doubt among the other players at the table, they will get their opponents to overanalyze and think too much about what they are doing.

If you want to play like the poker pros you can’t afford to grant your opponents at the table the luxury of easy reads and predictable plays and bets. It is all about changing gears and the best poker pros do it on a regular basis.