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Poker Tournament Strategy - Deceiving Opponents

Poker tournaments are a fun and challenging way to test your poker talents. Success in a poker tournament, no matter if you normally play in Texas Holdem freerolls or big live events, requires a variety of elements, including luck, understanding and adapting to situations and the ability to tailor your play to your specific opposition. Being able to deceive your opponents is a key element in poker tournament strategy. You want your opponents to believe you have a strong hand when you are bluffing and you would like them to believe you are weak and call you when you have a monster. There are a number of ways you can deceive your opponents in a poker tournament.

Poker Deception 1: Advertising

Advertising is when you show opponents that you have played in a certain way in order to benefit when you make a different play later. For example, early in a Texas Holdem tournament, you raise to four times the big blind with 8 3 off suit. You bet again on the flop and take it down. If you then show the table your play, you will instantly get credit for being a loose aggressive player. You will often get paid off on your pre-flop raises when you have strong hands for many rounds afterward, getting paid off hugely for a relatively small investment even if your early bluff is called.

Poker Deception 2: Changing Gears

A poker tournament is a long haul and will require many different styles of play. Some players believe they should play super tight early since there is little to be won and much to be gained. Others think the early rounds are when it is time to be loose and play most Texas Holdem hands, since it’s relatively cheap to see flops and you can often steal pots from those super tight players. Later in the tournament, the tight players may loosen up and the loose ones may want to nurse the stacks they’ve built from their aggressive play early. Whatever your style, a well-timed gear shift can profitably deceive opponents. If you’ve been playing tight for a few hours and realize that everyone is folding whenever you raise, it’s time to start raising with marginal hands or when you miss the flop after a pre-flop raise to pick up extra pots. If players have seen you make crazy aggressive moves for awhile, tightening up can save your money so that you can really profit when you get a big hand which you can expect to get paid off.

Poker Deception 3: False Tells

The most obvious and well known tell is acting strong and aggressive when you are weak and trying to seem meek and scared when you have a hand. This type of behavior is unlikely to fool an experienced player. However, subtle intentional tells such as a hard swallow when you are strong and want to seem nervous, or a quick (albeit noticeable) glance at your opponent’s chip stack when you are bluffing and want to seem like you’re hoping to get those chips in the pot may well deceive an opponent who is looking for a sign of what to do.

Notes on Deceiving Opponents in Tournaments

The nature of a tournament is such that your opposition may be constantly changing. Players are eliminated, players are moved to other tables, tables are broken. All your advertising or image establishing may go to waste if you are facing an entirely new field. Therefore you should try to invest as little as possible in these plays and make sure they serve a purpose other than deception. This may give you the edge you need to cash in a tournament situation

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