The majority of profit that you will make from poker will come from taking advantage of mistakes made by weak players. Whilst you will win some money from solid players it makes sense that the bulk of your money will come from the opponents who make more mistakes than the average player.
If you play poker online then you will often find yourself surrounded by weak players, especially at the micro-stakes and low stakes game, which are a frequent haunt for recreational and amateur poker players. The most common mistake experienced players make when they face weak players is to over think their hand and makes fancy plays that are completely unnecessary.
The reason that fancy plays are not only unnecessary but also unprofitable is that the weak players simply do not understand what you are trying to achieve. They look at their cards and the community cards, see if they either have a pair or a draw and if the answer is yes they will call your bets. They do not care, or realise, that your bets are consistent of those made by someone with a set, all they care about is getting to showdown with their hand.
You should do your best to keep things simple when playing weak players, a playing style sometimes referred to as “ABC Poker.” This means playing exactly by the book, raising strong hands preflop, betting all streets for value and protection and folding when you think your opponent has you beat. Save your fancy river check-raise bluffs for when you are rubbing shoulders with the better players of this world.
Be aware that weak players are absolutely everywhere in poker, regardless of the stakes being played. It should be obvious that the lowest stakes available will have the most weak players in them otherwise they would be playing for much more substantial money but some high buy-in tournaments have more than their fair share of weak players. For example, the $10,000 World Series of Poker Main Event is often regarded as the weakest $10,000 tournament due to the sheer number of people who win their seat into it from a satellite tournament. Should you find yourself in Las Vegas playing in this event, keep things simple against the weak players and you could find yourself on your way to a big money finish.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Of course if you find a good player or two on the table you could try some metagame but have to aggree ABC is the way to go.
Agreed mate. I find you can outthink yourself sometimes and there is certainly a lot to be said for ABC Poker.
Thanks to Ladbroke Poker for the article which was submitted by Thomas. Check them out!!
Weak players can be really beneficial to experienced players at the tables, their lack of knowledge and most importantly position, can often leave them easily exposed to the powers of the more superior players.
However, it is equally a positive aspect for the rookie player, as sometimes they have no idea what they are doing, it can be very dangerous.
I’ve been knocked of a late stage before the bubble, after some clown pushed an all in with an off hand, it cleaned up my queens no problem. He made the money and he never had a clue about the game.