Marcus Bateman / Marcus Bateman / 20 May 2009 / Leave a comment

One of the key things you need to understand about the psychology of poker is what people's drives and motivations are when in groups.

All human beings seem to have an innate desire to conform to how those around them are acting; be it in the form of normal people committing great crimes because those around them are, such as in Nazi Germany, or even just wanting to dress and look like your peers (how many 'non conformist' youth subcultures actually just end up all looking just like each other?).

....this is especially true for the instant bet, which many bad players often wrongly interpret as weakness, seeing it as some compulsive move, when it fact it is usually calculated..

In poker these sort of considerations can prove extremely useful when trying to manipulate those around you, particularly in terms of the pace with which they make decisions. If you play fast in a hand, weak players around you will tend to speed up their own play as a result, and vice versa if you slow down. This is a useful tool to remember when considering your path in a hand.

If you have flopped a big hand, and are confident from the way your opponent has behaved that they have a marginal one, speeding up your decision time can lull them into making quicker choices themselves, which with a marginal hand is often a recipe for disaster. This is especially true for the instant bet, which many bad players often wrongly interpret as weakness, seeing it as some compulsive move, when it fact it is usually calculated.

The reverse can be useful when bluffing weak players. If you want them to think through the story you are telling carefully, it is important that in that specific hand they feel they have an non rushed atmosphere to ponder their options and make that big lay down. By slowing your own actions down you allow them to feel comfortable taking their time and thinking.

Always remember that adjusting the time you take over hands only works against weak players. Against strong players you should be looking to take roughly the same amount of time over each hand, as they will be able to pick up on these ranges in timing and use them against you. Against bad players you want to try and get quick, compulsive calls when you have big hands by acting fast, and pondering, deep thinking lay downs from your opponent when bluffing by acting slowly, and if pulled off well this can be one of the most satisfying plays in poker.

Related Entries

Thinking About The Long Term With Bad Players
Rope A Dope
Identifying Players And Adjusting Your Play
Some Basic Online Tells
Betfair Poker Blogs
Freeroll Poker Tournaments

Get 40% rakeback at Betfair Poker