Mental Factors and Tilt
May 19 2008
Anyone who has read any poker book or watched even a little poker on TV knows that to be a winning poker player you have to be aggressive. That’s why poker players who play scared are doomed to failure. By playing scared poker and avoiding all risks, you’re taking any and all aggression out of your game and leaving yourself wide open to being devoured by the sharks.
Most players play scared to try and save their chip stack from taking a big hit. In reality by playing scared they’re causing their stack to slowly lose the same amount as a big hit would cost them. If you’re playing a scared player, you can almost always be assured of two things. First, they will almost never bluff or chase a draw. And second, they will only call a large-sized bet when they’re holding a monster hand. Now that you know this, whenever you spot a scared player you can read them like a book and easily take their chips.
Playing against a scared player is easy. Bet whenever they don’t and you’ll steal pot after pot. Fold whenever they bet big or raise, and you’ll never lose very many chips to them. A scared player can be the luckiest player in the world and still lose all their chips over time because they aren’t aggressive enough.
Ready to start playing aggressively? Try your hand at an
online poker tournament!
