Your Playing Style
If you are the kind of player who prefers to play tight and you pride yourself on making good laydowns, getting out of pots, and not getting squeezed in, then your betting strategy most of the time is to just call, keep the pot small early, and get out early in the hand without making crucial mistakes.
However, when you are playing in a game where a lot of the pots get raised early, many of your laydowns will be wrong.
Some of these laydowns not only will be costly, but also may turn you into a losing player.
If you are a player who usually knows where he stands, it doesn’t hurt to build the pots and lock your opponents into their hands.
This will allow you to punish them late in the hand in jammed pots by making them put in extra money when they have the worst of it.
Even though your edge will be smaller per unit bet, there will be more units bet.
If you are an aggressive poker player and have a good feel for the game, you can build the pots a lot sooner.
In addition, you will prefer to play in tight games, especially against opponents who are easy to maneuver.
If you tend to call too much, then you are better off building the pots early – or trying to induce them to be built early – so that on the later rounds, your mistakes won’t be as critical.
However. If you know you call too much, you should try to call less. Reining in your compulsion to call may be difficult, as not everyone has complete control over himself.
Only the very best do, and even they slip occasionally.
If you are a timid, passive player who want to play only the nuts, you probably should push your hands more than you normally do.
If you get lost in a hand, you should consider betting poker anyway, because you generally will be playing with a strong hand, and strong hands tend to do well.
If you are a weak player who plays too loose and calls too much, you shouldn’t be playing Omaha eight-or-better.
In fact, you should drop down to smaller stakes and contemplate playing seven card stud.
Although weak, loose players usually lose in both games, you will have a slightly better chance in stud.
Most players should find a game that is suited to their individual instincts and styles.
Very aggressive players are better off playing limit holdem or seven card stud, and less aggressive players are better off playing split-type games.
So you should try to recognize exactly what your style is and select a game tailored to that style.
Introduction / Automatic Play / High Versus Low in Three-Handed Pots / Loose Games / Multiway pot Versus Short-Handed Play / Scare Cards / Getting Counterfeited / Getting Quartered / Playing Against Steamers / Playing Against Tight, Solid Players / Your Playing Style / Fluctuations / Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better / Afterthought
