No limits: playing your cards or playing your opponents?

[Adidas]

Hi,

I recently got myself interested in poker (that's what taking the first week off from work in more than 5 years will do :D)

Anyhoo, at first I started by reading a lot of books and memorizing a lot of numbers. But now I'm starting to feel this game (no limit in particular) is much more about playing your opponents rather than playing your hands. This is a feeling that's growing stronger the more I watch the show 'high stakes poker'. Dear oh dear, talk about messing with people's head. The actual cards don't seem to matter (that) much.

So, am I on the right track here? Is poker much more of a mind game than endless statistics? And how can someone who plays mostly online manage to fair half-decently in real life? I'd imagine the dynamics are completely different!

Cheers!

[supafrey]

nopes

[MrDarling]

well its both actually.

If you don't understand the strength of your hand, reading your opponent wont help much.

If you can't read the board and know how the next streets will change hand strength and how often that will happen, reading your opponent wont help.

However, knowing who you can bluff, who you can thin value bet and who you should always fold too will increase your win rate.

[Muck]

Both. But it usually comes down to the limits.

At high limits you really need to know every aspect of the game including the softer skills.

At low limts it's not worth trying to get inside your opponents head because most of the time they're a f**king idiot who can't see what you're representing. Just play the hand.