By Eric Lynch
In all of my time playing poker, I’ve found that most successful players tend to fall into one of two categories. One category is the player who always attempts to be the table captain. This player attempts to constantly bend the will of everyone at the table to conform to his game or suffer the consequences. Typically, this player is aggressive and enjoys the fact that the other players at the table have to basically play their game with him. I realize that this sounds kind of negative, but it really isn’t. Some of the best players I know are table captains. They have a presence at the table that often commands respect and yields results.

There is also a second set of successful players, and this is more my camp. This set is not necessarily better or worse than the first set, just different stylistically. These players let the situation dictate their table persona rather than forcing the table to bend to their will. This style basically revolves around assessing the players at the table and then adapting your game to best suit the situation with which you are presented. For example, if you are at a table where everyone is superaggressive, you simply sit back and pick your spots to selectively play back at them, knowing that their overaggressiveness will eventually pay you off when they overplay a hand against you. Conversely, if the table is superpassive, you can put on your table captain hat and start raising a lot and running the table.

I mention these styles so that everyone knows where I’m coming from. Every player is different, and has a style that works for him. One of my biggest strengths is recognizing different table situations and…. read rest of article at Card Player Magazine

By Daniel Negreanu
If someone describes your playing style as weak, let’s just say you’re in lots of trouble. In fact, its the weak players that are the ones you should focus on when you are at the poker table. Rather than duke it out with the strong, fierce, aggressive players you’ll risk less, and win more in the long run against the weak, timid, passive players.

In order to pound on the weak players properly, the first thing you’ll need to do is identify them. There are generally a few clues that you can look for that while not always totally accurate, could be clues nonetheless:

1) How they dress. If someone dresses extremely conservatively they will generally play poker that way! If they dress loudly they’ll more than likely play more aggressive or flamboyantly.

2) How they talk. This is in line with the previous clue. If they are quiet or timid in the way they talk, chances are that’s how they’ll play poker.

Again, conversely, if you a dealing with an aggressive talker they are more than likely aggressive players.

3) Do they raise before the flop or just call? If they like to limp in on a regular basis, you might be dealing with a weak player.

4) Do they like to bet, or check and call? Aggressive players are bettors while weak players tend to check, or just call others bets.

So once you’ve identified the weak player, it’s time to strategize against them….   read rest of article at Poker Pages

By Michael Rome
Poker experts recommend playing in opposition to the table. If players are tight, be more aggressive; if they are aggressive, then tighten up. Although this is a simple and powerful technique, it can be difficult to put into practice. We have all seen the situation in which a whole table is quickly checking or folding. This cycle can last for numerous hands, and when it does, alarms should be going off in our heads. We ought to start playing aggressively — regardless of our hole cards. Instead, we are lulled into the group dynamic, as though in some form of poker trance. Later we think back and realize a bet would have taken down the pot. It is easy to underestimate the hypnotic sway of the status quo. As humans we are cultural lemmings who have a difficult time turning against the tide of the mob. Mark Twain observed that the price of independent thinking is loneliness. In poker, however, we are rewarded for opposing conformity (rewarded in chips, not popularity)….. read rest of article at Bluff Magazine

by Eric Lynch
A lot of you may not know the name and face that accompany this column. I’m better known in the online poker world as Rizen, online professional poker player. I’m a dedicated professional and student of the game. In May, I won the PokerStars $1 million-guaranteed tournament for more than $156,000. During the summer, I entered four events at the World Series of Poker and managed to cash twice for more than $600,000, including third place for almost $105,000 in pot-limit hold’em event No. 3 and 24th place for more than $497,000 in the main event. I also have written numerous columns for PocketFives.com and am a guest instructor at PokerXFactor.com. I really believe I’m just a regular guy with a passion for poker who has been able to parlay that into success at the tables by spending a lot of time analyzing and thinking about the game. When I write columns, make instructional videos, or teach students, my goal is always to get people to not only learn how to play various hands from various positions, but to truly learn how to think like a poker player. With that in mind, let’s talk poker.

One thing that we are taught over and over again, be it from books, coaches, videos, or forums, is to constantly be the aggressor. “Attack weakness,” we’re always told. Another common phrase is, “Make sure you win the pots nobody else wants.” One of the core problems with this is that aside from knowing that we need to…. read rest of article at Card Player Magazine

By Eric Lynch
Spotting and attacking various types of players to accumulate chips

In my inaugural column, I discussed how we can both spot and attack weakness in players at the table. Another situation that we often encounter is choosing how and when to attack various players by opening the pot. So, rather than attacking people who already have shown weakness in the pot, we have to choose what kind of players to target without seeing any action in front of us.

There are several methods we can use to do this, and I’m going to try to provide a few examples of each type.

One way to attack players is to figure out what kinds of players are weak post-flop and single out those players’ blinds for raises. That gives you the double advantage of taking control of the pot preflop and having the weak player play from out of position. If I find that some players are particularly weak post-flop, I’ll try to raise their blinds as often as possible in an unopened pot. I try not to be so overt with it that other solid players pick up on what I’m doing and reraise my raises, though. There is a bit of an art to recognizing how often you can get away with things before people start to pick up on what you’re doing, but with some practice, it becomes second nature.

Another good way to single players out for target practice is by…. read rest of article at Card Player Magazine