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The Art of winning

When does one win at poker? It does seem to be a very nice question to ask, but a very difficult one to crack. One way of explaining a win would be when you play a hand the way you would if you could see your opponent's cards. Conversely you would also gain if your opponent plays his cards differently from the way he would have played them if he could see your cards.

This simply means that if you are successful in inducing your opponents to play differently than they would if they could see your cards than most of the time you would end up winning. Bluffing and slow play are classic examples of this. Bluffing helps in masking your hand from that of the opponent and induces them to fold superior hands. However if a player observes that you never bluff then you have had it. They won't call their bets unless they have very good hands.

Slow playing is just the converse of bluffing where you bet low even if you have a great hand. However if your opponents observe that you never slow play then they will pounce on any sign of weakness.