So how do you combat these individuals who are plentiful in large-field tournaments? Do you decrease your starting-hand requirements and play like them?
Do you get frustrated and lose your emotional stability when you lose to them? Or do you recognize the situation at hand, stick to your game play and continue to show extreme patience and discipline, especially early in the event when so many calling stations are active?
It’s your responsibility to quickly identify those who have skills and those who are lacking experience and expertise by observing betting patterns, the number of pots entered, whether they care about position and of course, the non-quality starting cards displayed at showdown.
Knowing how opponent disregard the fundamentals of playing winning poker still doesn’t entitle you to win against them. They’ll still play for pots they shouldn’t and they will get lucky.
Again, it’s your responsibility to isolate the weak players and get a matchup with them when you’re clearly the heavy favorite. You must understand that you’ll rarely be 100 percent favored to win, so expect an occasional suckout that may wound your stack size or, in some cases, eliminate you from an event.
Having said that, you want to be in position to gather an incredible amount of chips from weaker players, so embrace the challenge and be vigilant in your attempt to trap and eliminate them.
Because we have so much interest in poker and participation, all with the dream to be a bracelet-winner and world champion, poker has emerged into such a popular sport in recent years.
How tough would the tables be if everyone were as good as or better than you? We need the influx of new players, some initially lacking the skills to do extensive damage, but nonetheless often can be an obstacle that good players must encounter with strategy and plan to defeat.
— Al Spath live broadcasts on TwitchTV: (PositivePokerInsiders), and streams from JaoPoker.com (signup using referral code: ppiposse). Contact Al directly at alspath@alspath.com with questions and coaching inquires.
