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