When to change gears

When to change gears is when you feel you’ve picked up a good enough table image or reputation for being either tight or aggressive. If you were playing tight previously you can open your range of hands up more and start going after pots. The best strategy is playing tight then changing gears to pick up some pots, but, you can change gears also from playing aggressive to playing tighter. If you are toning down your game most players will see your reputation as being loose and aggressive, and no matter what they have or you have, they will perceive you as being on a move at the pot. If you wake up with aces, and are trying to play tighter, whether it is a poker bonus money bubble in a tournament or you are chip leader and want to protect the lead, you should get maximum value for them. If someone see’s you as being empty a lot of the time you can probably get two streets of value for aces against them, or anyone at the table. If you can move it all-in with AA or other big pairs that is what you want to happen regardless of the action before the flop or on the flop. Playing aggressively has its benefits when you do make hands because players will pay you off more times. If you get invested in a lot of pots your opponents will also get invested, and you can snag their stack.

Switching from a tight player to an aggressive player in a game you can make a big run taking down pots. If you start to pick up small pot after small pot they start to add up. You can look at what you have in front of you 20 hands after and it could be double what you had before without showing a single hand down. Winning hands without a showdown is what you want when changing gears to a more aggressive style. If you start to run the table over eventually someone will look you up, and that is where you slow back down to a tighter style again. When playing a tournament you have to go through progressions of changing gears. Early in the tournament you should be playing tighter then as stacks start to get bigger you can play more pots from the button and cutoff position. After that stage when the money gets closer depending on your stack you should try to run over your table, or sit and wait for other players to make mistakes. If other players are trying to run you over you should sit back and wait for a hand to trap them. Changing gears mainly depends on your table’s image of you, and the image you have on them. If you feel your table is playing too tight for the stage of a tournament you’re in, then you can try to win some small pots by taking down the blinds. If you feel that your table is playing wildly aggressive, then sit back and wait for one of the maniacs to trap and stack through.