poker is about people

recently i have been running very good online offline home games and pickup. it's like my game has just clicked for the better. i have never cashed in back to back mtts before and in a week i got three in a row $100+ cashes. the reason... i stoped gambling, stopped playing cards. and have started to play people.


no reason to think i can't outplay the world right? my chips have NEVER been all in once preflop. i'm playing people checking to the maniac for my chips, raising the tight aggressive players who has read
more poker books then he has played hands, overbet the semi pros who claim to have a handle on the game.




i'm not better than anyone, but i do know i'm playing better for thinking everyone has tells.


i guess this isn't game helping concept but more me bragging about opening my game lightyears. if it belongs somewhere else please move it.

You can tell alot of times what people have by the amount they bet. Play in the same home game and you know when someone puts out their mid-pair feeler bet. You can do it online and get people of low pairs or week aces. I've played in freerolls with tape over my cards online and have cashed. I usually dont look at my big blind hand in home games if it checks around to me-and try to steal it without looking. The more situations you are in you know how people should bet and act-

There are still times when I lapse into the "I just play my cards" mode, but learning (which I still am) to adapt to the opponents has certainly been a key part of my improvement. Poker is situational, so the same cards don't always have the same value depending on the situational specifics. For instance, a hand like TT is very strong against maniacs who play lots of marginal holdings, but not so good when a rock has come in with a raise in front of you. That's a very simple example, but the point is that since all opponents are not the same, you shouldn't play against them as if they are.

"Think of poker as a game of people that just happens to be played with cards"

Can't remember who said that, but it's very true.

And no I don't think you're bragging, poettic - i just think your actually understanding one of those many quotes on poker we always hear about. We always hear "play the people, not the cards" or other quotes, and sure we understand them, but we haven't experienced the full effect of what it means (and why it's a famous poker quote), and don't truly understand it.

Good for you for having sort of a poker epiphany - I'm hopin to experience mine sooner than later