Selecting Your Style Of Play

As with every beginner poker player we all develop our own style of play as we learn the game and start to get more experience at the tables.  This  may seem like a natural progression for every poker player but there are some essential steps that should be taken when defining your style of poker which well help ensure that you are developing a successful style and strategy against your opponents as you build your poker arsenal.

Perhaps the most important step to defining your style is to know yourself and be honest about what kind of person you are.  Can you put all your chips in the center with 7 high?  Will you compete your entire stack on a straight draw one out of the money in a tournament?  These are all important questions you should consider when building your playing style.  You have to be honest with yourself and decide what you are comfortable and not comfortable doing as a poker player.

If you answered yes to both questions above, chances are you will be an aggressive player by nature.  This can be a very effective playing style if done smartly but also spells disaster for many beginners who do not know how to be smart aggressive players.  If you think you will be aggressive in your playing nature, do it smartly, remember other people at the table will be watching you so choose your timing.  Don't bluff every opportunity especially against tight opponents.  Act strong, bet big but play smart.

If you answered no to both of the above questions, chances are you will be a tighter more solid player.  This style requires smart thinking and discipline.  Since you are going to play semi-cautious and tight, you need to make sure you don't get run over.  Play your good cards well but try to mix it up so it is not overtly obvious when you have good hands.  You need to learn to adapt to your aggressive opponents and constantly adjust your play to ensure that you don't get blinded down and out bluffed frequently.

No matter what style to choose or end up adopting, always work on refining your skills.  Some of us just fall into our styles while others make a conscious effort to adopt on style over the other.  So which is better?  There are many opinions on this but in reality they are both the same, it just matters what you do with it.  Good luck on the tables.