Exploiting Your Opponents Weaknesses

There are many players who will hearken back to the old days of the game, when playing poker was all about intimidation and hard as nails ruthless and aggressive play.  In these early days, it was all about learning to study the tells, the emotional reactions that players have to the cards that they were dealt and strategies that were formulated in the poker room and casino games.  This  largely psychological battle in addition to playing the odds was physically tiring and emotionally draining.  In the modern day, this level of stress and pressure is cranked down a few notches, unless you are participating in extremely high limit or no limit games.  But the pressure to succeed will always exist and is found in anyone who decides to that they intend to win and play for money.  The cash value nature of winning at poker requires that you leverage every possible advantage that you have against your opponent and do your utmost to win every hand.  This includes exploiting every possible weakness that you can identify and your opponent.

The trick to beating skilled opponents is not really about being extremely talented or aggressive; it is really about reacting to and understanding your opponent.  Just as in the old days of the game, when the pros preached understanding body language and reading tells in opposing players, the modern-day player must be able to understand what's going on in the head of his opponent, and predict what moves that they will make and what plays will be played.  No matter how skilled your opponent is there is always the possibility that you can begin to understand how they think and how they play and how they react.  Understanding his behavior is far better than getting good cards playing strong hands or being an aggressive player.  Once you have ascertained what type of poker player you are playing against, you can begin to formulate a plan to beat them.  Whatever they are doing incorrectly, you can learn to exploit it and learn to predict what they are planning.

They will either be not willing to fold or too willing, to aggressive or too passive, too loose or too tight.  All of these trends can be exploited, even if for a limited time, in your opponent.  Utilizing this information simply requires that you play against your opponent long enough to gain some understanding of how they play.  Once you have gained some insight into the method of your opponents play style, it is a simple matter to formulate a winning defense and exploit what you have learned against them.