Experimenting with other styles of play.

[Izzeee]

How many of you make it a practice to play differently than your normal game play?
For example, If you're normally an TAG, do you deviate from that style and play as a LAG for an entire tournament. I do this as a stress test in micros just to see how far I can get. Anyone else try this from time to time?

 

[marvinsytan]

micro stakes i just stick to basic TAG plus deviate depending on my stack sizes and how my opponents react

 

[takinitSLEAZEE]

When I started taking poker seriously I would deviate from my norms. On more than one occasion I shoved all-in w/every hand that had a J or better. I believe I made a couple of final tables that way. It was in micro-stakes trnys at pokerstars years ago. Now I just play my game and try to adapt to situations as they present themselves.

 

[lukovnikofff]

I don't have a specific style of play, I always play according to the situation, I just try to adapt to the table I'm playing at! I think that playing in the same style is not very profitable, since they will read you over time and find your vulnerabilities, I think that you need to constantly change your playing styles, this will allow you to be unreadable! But this is just my opinion and it may be wrong! Good luck to everyone at the tables!

 

[skalibur]

each one has a strategy

How many of you make it a practice to play differently than your normal game play?
For example, If you're normally an TAG, do you deviate from that style and play as a LAG for an entire tournament. I do this as a stress test in micros just to see how far I can get. Anyone else try this from time to time?

each player has a different style and strategy of play. I really like to differentiate and use the strategy that is working best at the moment..

 

[Shumkoolie]

I adapt to the situation at hand. For example, if the table is tight and players are overfolding, I'd open more frequently. Conversely, if it's a loose table, I'll narrow my range so that I can exploit people playing marginal holdings.

I experienced the former situation in a PLO tournament recently that I won. It was a PKO and we got down to the final four players, and I had just doubled up against the tournament chip leader to become the overwhelming chip leader. Once that point hit, I was opening up probably 80% of my hands because they just folded and I could pick up easy chips. If they 3bet me, I'd just fold if I had nothing, but I was still accumulating chips.

I had the good fortune of hitting some real good hands, even with those marginal holdings because even had I lost a hand, I still had an overwhelming chip lead. Also, because of the money jumps, I used ICM to my advantage. Luckily I was able to knock out the last three players fairly quickly and won the tournament. *** IMPORTANT - I ran REALLY well too which always helps. ***

I experienced the latter when I was playing for a satellite ticket, where I was in a spot where my ticket was pretty much secured, so I was folding everything. I even folded Kings pre-flop one hand, and Jacks in another.

It's all about adjusting to the game conditions you're facing at the time, which was mentioned by skalibur, lukovnikofff, takinitSLEAZEE, and marvinsytan.

 

[MAGICUZ]

My playstyle depends on many factors(from the players at the table, what stage of the tournament, from the buy-in and much more)

 

[fernandofcp]

I had not yet thought of this possibility as a strategy. Once I get the chance, I'll try to play differently than usual. It's always good to look for new paths that will allow us to achieve the desired success in poker. As it is a metal sport, the mind must always be open to new things.

 

[Sivraj]

I'm a freestyle strategist I try to play conservative and aggressive to stay unpredictable and adaptive. Sometimes I succeed with this style and at times I fail miserably. Kind of like Bruce Lee's Jeet kune do there is no style to that martial art it's free and adaptive what works in a particular situation works be like water.

 

[akmost]

Play the same way at all the phases of a tournament is a tremendous mistake IMHO. As other posters have already mentioned many factors determine the aggression or the tightness of our play style. Tournaments are a war of different dynamics , ICM , small vs big stack , early vs late position , line up of the players etc.

There are situations when we should play the very top of our range and some other situation when we can literally open raise any two of open shove any two. But in general what I do is to have a baseline for my range from each position(based mostly on the line up and my BBs). In the ''neutral'' phases of the tournament I follow it otherwise I try to adapt my playstyle as I have mentioned above.

 

[Luvepoker]

In the early days of my learning how to play poker I would try playing this way to see how things went and to improve my game. Today I don't do this it all.

 

[Maxmustdie]

if bain is small i play aggressive
if the bain is big and the tournament is significant, i play carefully in any case

 

[terryk]

I like to be aggressive at the beginning of tournaments and tighten up after accumulating a big stack,,,it buys you time and improves you odds of running deep. :deal:

 

[AKQ]

How many of you make it a practice to play differently than your normal game play?
For example, If you're normally an TAG, do you deviate from that style and play as a LAG for an entire tournament. I do this as a stress test in micros just to see how far I can get. Anyone else try this from time to time?

Ahhh the ol golden days before gears

I used to try different play styles

Each strategy has its own unique edge to win and can be viable

But once you have practiced enough...

instead of switching styles for different tourneys.tag lag lp tp etc
Try to switch styles on a hand by hand basis, based on various table dynamics

sometimes i like to play blind as my strategy

 

[AKQ]

I like to be aggressive at the beginning of tournaments and tighten up after accumulating a big stack,,,it buys you time and improves you odds of running deep. :deal:

I like to be ________ at the beginning of the tourney
Terry I don't know how I play
I don't ever plan anything

But when I see a chance to outplay my opponent
I take it

Though I'm sure my backers all have mixed opinions on my average style:joyman:

 

[makisaa]

Yes, I always try to do something new, something better. The evolution is going on! I think it is natural to search new ways of play.

 

[77ecos]

it is best to adapt quickly to the table you are playing at, obviously having a base and a style but the ideal is to try to mix it up to be a difficult player to decipher

 

[pavel1111111]

I usually vary at the tables, but it's not a bad idea to try in tournaments

 

[steve01991]

I try to change my game as much as possible. It only makes sense to do this because if players are taking notes on you, then you cannot maximize profits because they will have a one up on you.

 

[Chebchoub]

Hello

How many of you make it a practice to play differently than your normal game play?
For example, If you're normally an TAG, do you deviate from that style and play as a LAG for an entire tournament. I do this as a stress test in micros just to see how far I can get. Anyone else try this from time to time?

I do not think that it is always possible to rely on the same style, but to achieve good results we depend on the hands, our position on the table and the level of the players

 

[infonazar]

I never actually change the style of play. I always play the same, sometimes I can play more aggressively. This approach allows me to make a steady profit, so in general I am satisfied with my results.

 

[Bennoda]

yes, I am constantly experimenting, in fact, my style of play also depends largely on the format of the tournament in turbo, I will play more slowly, everything also depends on the situation, and I think the style of play needs to be constantly changed

 

[Amanda A]

Yes, sometimes I will try and work on things like 3betting light or check raising and take risks in low buy in tourneys that I might not take in others.

 

[elJenio8]

I usually experiment when im boring and the tournament doesnt mean to me a lot.

Because i have my style of play

 

[caracaski220]

caracaski220

I have different styles of play depending on the game and the table. I ampretty constant in the game I play deppending on those variables.