Marcus Bateman / Marcus Bateman / 29 June 2009 / 1 Comments

One of the strangest phenomenons in poker is that the very highest stake games often play much more like the very lowest stake games than they do the mid stake ones. This is a pretty odd point, as in nearly all sports and games the standard just generally improves all the way up to the very highest level (think of snooker, tennis or football as examples).

If you spot a high stakes game that looks like a crazy free for all, take some time before jumping in - it may well be that what looks on the face of it to be crazy plays are actually some of the best in the game in the context of that particular table

In poker however, this effect is very different, and although the general standard improves as the stakes rise, the style of play differs greatly in between limits. At the very lowest limits, the key mistake is that player's are simply calling with too many hands. As a result, most of the money to be made at these stakes simply comes from picking up big hands, isolating limpers, and just using the strength of your good hands to win the money.

At the mid stakes, most players have a decent grasp of hand values and pot odds, and as a result the games become both tighter, with players calling with a smaller percentage of hands, as well as playing in a more aggressive manner, with many more players coming in for raises instead of just calls. The players at these limits are typical poker 'grinders', using a reasonably in depth knowledge of the game to pound on anyone venturing up the stakes from the lower limits.

At the very highest limits though, these mid stake players get destroyed by the very best players, simply because they play too few hands. Due to the very best players fully understanding hand ranges, implied odds and balancing their bluffing frequency correctly, they are soon able to tear apart all but the very best tight aggressive players through pushing them off some of the few hands they do play, and by relentlessly attacking their blinds. Here the games start to closely resemble the low stakes games, with the key exception that calling is basically all replaced by raising and re-raising.

The best players are keen to use their skill to the utmost in any game, which usually involves playing in as many pots as possible against any players they view as weak. As their skill post flop is so good, they can easily loosen up their pre flop starting requirements considerably, simply because they nearly always have a very good idea of where they are post flop.

The very worst poker players are extremely unpredictable, and as a result can only really be tackled by hand values, as you can't bluff someone who does understand hand strengths properly. The very best players are also extremely unpredictable, except they do fully understand hand values and your likely range, and as a result their apparent wild behaviour is actually just a calculated strategy to win your money as quickly as possible.

If you spot a high stakes game that looks like a crazy free for all, take some time before jumping in - it may well be that what looks on the face of it to be crazy plays are actually some of the best in the game in the context of that particular table.

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