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The 3 General Aims of Poker Strategy

The common mistake of poker players who read up on strategy is that they take these things formulaically. For example, one would bluff under a certain circumstance prescribed by poker strategy guides. However, this is akin to playing without strategy at all, since by following strategy guides by the number, one is almost playing aimlessly.

The key to a good poker strategy and to a good game is to know why you are doing such and such things. Simply put, one must know one's aim in doing a particular thing. For poker strategies, there are three general aims: observe, deceive, and intimidate.

1. Observe

The strategy of opponent profiling and knowing the odds fall under this aim. Since you could not know what cards your opponents hold in hand, you need to intelligently guess. This is done through several measures. The easiest is through observing their physical and betting behavior.

Any change in behavior may be a sign of some significant change. For example, if an opponent is talkative, and all of a sudden becomes silent, then there should be something going on. Or if a player is playing passively, and suddenly shifts to an aggressive play, then there must be a mischievous reason behind that. Try to deduce whether your opponent is just leading you to think a certain way or if their behavior are really telling.

2. Deceive

Almost quite the opposite of the aim of observing, deception stems from the fact that your opponents do not know what cards you are holding. Thus, you could easily fool them into thinking that you have a strong card in hand when you actually have none, or that you have a meager hand when you actually have a superb one.

Bluffing and slow-playing fall under this aim.

3. Intimidate

The ultimate aim of each strategy is of course, to lead into actions such that you have a good standing on the table. Once you do, it is easier to control the tempo of the game just by doing simple actions like betting. Intimidation comes from the fact that poker is a game of power, and those that have the greater number of chips could easily control the flow of the game.

Remember, a good poker strategy is not one that follows a step-by-step formula. A great poker strategy is one that follows an aim. Just keep in mind that one's aim in poker should be to observe keenly, win by deceiving, and control the game through intimidating.

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