Do you play the cards or the player??

[Risto234]

Definitely both

 

[SrWesleiNF]

I see that the interesting thing is to have the balance between the cards and the players, thinking that we will not always have a hand to play I see that the players must be analyzed and played too.

 

[eddy78]

interesting

Hi, it is a kind of mix for me, depending on the opponent that I'm against I will loose or tigh my range up accordingly.

 

[Loky13]

I think the best way is to play both the player and the cards,i'm afraid you have slim chances if you don't pay attention to both..

 

[zinzir]

I have been having this debate with others for years, so now I am bringing it to the CC community to see what y'all think. I feel that the cards are never totally irrelevant but that it is most important to study your opponents and play the player and that the cards don't really matter that much. I catch a lot of sh** for this because the other side thinks that you have to play the cards, you throw away the trash and play playable hands depending on your position.

The others that I keep getting into this debate with are solid, successful players (as am I) so there really is no comparing results. So, what do y'all think? Do you play the cards or do you play the player?

Playing solely the player is an awesome concept, and it is so cool when it works. However, doing that consistently in a successful way is something we watch in movies and on TV. In reality, you have to use all the information you can possibly get and be an advanced player just to break even, simply because the rake removes continuously money from the table and the are so many more losers than winners. So, in my opinion, playing the player is important, but in addition to and not instead of playing solid overall poker including starting hand selection, position, odds etc.

 

[eniseysmail]

My opinion is that you need to be different at the table. You cannot use one style of play.

 

[Wiflopper]

Both! if the two players in front of you fold their blinds %100 of the time over 80 hands what do you do with 92 off suit?

RAISE 2.5-3x every time.

 

[Pickat]

I don't think you can do either by themselves . It takes a combination of the 2 to be successful.

 

[tmsr]

I'd have to agree with everyone here, it's both. Sometimes it's even the whole table, not just one person. Generally it's about picking your spots and knowing when to make moves.

 

[Datdude1]

I believe it's a mixture of playing both the cards and your opponent. I try to concentrate on how people play and try to exploit their weaknesses and lean on them more if I feel that his cards are weak but remember that even an inept player can get good cards from time to time.

 

[frnandoh]

The difference between us and pros is that we play knowing only few tips and pros plays with a big bag containing all resources of knowlege and info.
Yes, they use his own cards TOO.

 

[frnandoh]

My opinion is that you need to be different at the table. You cannot use one style of play.

Gto teach us to play by the same way with value and bluff

 

[antonis32123]

I play the cards , position , stack . this is my primal objective according to my skills . But if I have enough info on a player , I will try playing him , bluff a little more .

 

[Aprendiz_Edu]

have to have both.
I am a beginner, I learned that the first thing we need to do is create our image and at the same time observe the table, then we will use the image we created TAG and use against other players, position, action, opponents, stack and hand etc.

 

[THQ01]

One of the universal leaks I find from players I coach are that they are often just playing their cards. I try to embed a mentality of playing the situation rather than the cards.

 

[Branimir84]

Its a false dichotomy. Both are intertwined at their core.

 

[TeUnit]

I had a coach once who was very fond of saying "find a reason to play the hand"....what he meant was look for more spots to steal, look for more spots to squeeze, look for more spots to stab at the pot, etc. So I am always trying to be better at playing the player.

 

[delirium1129]

If you'll play the card you'll be exploited if If you'll play the player you'll exploit your opp. I think the answer is obviously)

 

[xOneCoolHandx]

One of the universal leaks I find from players I coach are that they are often just playing their cards. I try to embed a mentality of playing the situation rather than the cards.

I agree with this approach. I try to evaluate how to play a situation depending on the opponents tendencies and ranges. To me, it really doesn't matter what I hold in these situations unless I see that it might get to showdown.

 

[Index12]

Playing the players doesn't make much sense to me as a beginner so I stick to playing the cards. I simply just don't understand the little nuances aside from big bets= big hands.

 

[XXPXXP]

I think play cards and player are both important.
but if to choose from one , I would choose cards first.

 

[terryk]

I play the table.

 

[James_Harrison]

Ill tell you with some of these new tournament structures they have and with everyone going crazy im more often than i ever have before not playing the cards.But, instead, if the money is all in the pot and we can rebuy.. im playing the odds(implied etc).

I also like keeping notes, so there are alot of times where im playing the cards differently.

But still, obviously, most of the time i am playing the cards, almost robotic (i hate that word) we all are, whether our ego may tell us differently or not. We all look at our hand (unless we are Annete Obrestad of course) .

 

[berryryan2488]

You always play the player as well as the cards. You should always try to gauge your opponents range, betting patterns and physical cues. Being able to read a player helps you to make better decisions when it comes to your own cards as well. If you have the ability to play blind and read only the player then that's great, you're one of the most talented players on earth. Life is about balance and poker is no different. You need a good balance between solid reading skills and solid card playing

 

[Kenzie 96]

Online I play the cards more as I frequently don't have any info on the players, if I happen to be playing a CC event against folks I have some information on then I incorporate that into my decision making. When I played live in my youth against regular players, definitely played the player & situation more.