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How Do Different Types Play Poker (Texas Hold em)

Spamtar

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I enjoy playing and even watching professionals play a little Texas Hold em poker (gambling card game). Although a lot of the game is mathematics, a fair amount of the game is psychology, perception and reading the other player's and hiding your own 'tells' (physical and tactical reaction to what cards you hold in your hand). For those familiar playing the game or watching it on TV (i.e.World Series of Poker (WSOP) )

What are your thoughts on the playing styles of different player MBTI types?
 

Spamtar

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I will start by using myself for example. INTP

When I play I tend to be quiet, reserved and polite.

(almost) Never show my cards if I don't have to and when I make an exception to this rule it is to get a specific reaction out of a player/the table.

I am pretty good at reading people when I am able to catch a good look at them but most of the time I don't. Instead I tend to categorize others with a system of how they play and save most of the reading for "heads up' (two players competing for the win) scenarios.

Mostly use Ne although stay in a mathematical frame work.

Like to play hot/cold (but force myself to fight urges by playing conservatively)

A sucker for taking risks for straights and flushes.

In general don't quit soon enough but tend to do better than most

I think I play pretty close to my INTP type except that I don't use as much complicated math and instead use basic mathematical/odds principles with an emphasis on intuition and fluctuating back and forth with aggressive and conservative play. (intentional variation of basic style)
 

LEGERdeMAIN

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I played for quite awhile before taking an extended break although I've found a few local games that I want to start playing at. There's a national poker league I played in for about 4 years, then kinda got tired of it(I can only take so much).

I was unemployed when i started and, because of the large number of cash games in the area and my success at online play, I thought it'd be a good idea to test the poker-for-sustenance waters. I was initially unsuccessful because I had primarily played online, the tactics you can use online involving persuasion, sleight of hand and tells are extremely different than real life play. Luckily, after realizing that most of these people spent a great deal of time watching poker on tv (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz), I started watching it myself (zzzzzzzzzzzzzz .....not quite as bad as hearing people talk about tv poker, but still boring). After picking up on what everyone considered to be obvious tells for big hands, little hands, no hands, etc, I started using that info to manipulate players into thinking I had certain hands, like for example:

board is J-K-9 and I have K-9, 8 comes out and I bet like crazy and people(as long as they aren't straight themselves) because they thought I was new to poker, would think I had a j-7 straight. New players tend to bet what they have, rather than what they want people to think they have so i played up my "newness" as long as I could.

Yeah, so anyway, played way too tight/conservative at first because I wasn't aware of how real-life play differed from online play and wanted to feel out the competition, didn't bet preflop enough, etc but as I got used to it I was able to loosen up and manipulate players emotions and use their playing style against them. At poker, my name tends to be "fucking asshole" or "goddamn prick", apparently. I was able to live off(enough for rent, food, gas) of poker for about 9 months until I could find a normal job. I don't have a "natural playing style" but I am all player types throughout a game, from Fish/Calling Station or Maniac at the beginning to Rock/Bomb, depending on the flow and type of game.

Edit: I'm ISTPish
 

gromit

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I played poker one time with some friends and did pretty well which surprised me! But I don't remember the rules and I don't really plan to play in the future... don't love strategy games that much.
 

Spamtar

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I remember the first time I played in a casino. A lot of the players were total dicks to me apparently because I was a bit slow or because some of the bets I made. After playing a while (and ignoring them mixed with talking some shit back to them) I didn't get this as much but I strongly suspect that this is a response not from simply annoyance but as a tactic used mostly by those who I suspect were ENTJs, ESTJs, xSTPs and ENFJs to get an emotional reaction from me (which it felt they sensed would be a weak point in me) to throw me off my game.
 

LEGERdeMAIN

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I remember the first time I played in a casino. A lot of the players were total dicks to me because I was a bit slow or because some of the bets I made. After playing a while I didn't get this as much but I strongly suspect that this is a response not from simply annoyance but as a tactic used mostly by those who I suspect were ENTJs, xSTPs and ENFJs.

Oh yeah, I loved playing in a casino. I was technically a tourist too, but a lot of these people come in and make it really obvious that they've never played so they're automatically targeted. My favorite memory from playing at a cash table was when this late 20s, early 30s guy was calling this one old lady names at the table until she got all red in the face and started crying after losing about $300 to the same guy. The dealer actually had to step in and made the guy leave the table for a few hands, hah...both hilarious and horribly cruel...
 

Spamtar

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Oh yeah, I loved playing in a casino. I was technically a tourist too, but a lot of these people come in and make it really obvious that they've never played so they're automatically targeted. My favorite memory from playing at a cash table was when this late 20s, early 30s guy was calling this one old lady names at the table until she got all red in the face and started crying after losing about $300 to the same guy. The dealer actually had to step in and made the guy leave the table for a few hands, hah...both hilarious and horribly cruel...

LOL. Its kinda funny/sad awkward when someone starts crying at the table.

Even recently there was an EnTJ regular who acted like a real jerk and pissed people off as if he intentionally wanted people to target him.

I was winning one time and he was on my ass dogging me despite my wins/luck. I targeted him and started losing money. Finally I cooled down and noticed a lot of the criticism was good advice but just demonstrated in a mean manner. He was a good player so I stopped targeting him and instead made lemons out of lemonade and targeted his other targets (let him be the asshole/scapegoat/monkey's paw) and listened to what he said but ignored the offensive tone.
 

Spamtar

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The conversation is usually kinda dull at the table for and that reason alone I like to choose a table with an ESTP.

ESTP because they are good at the particular conversation and small talk that is suitable for the table (i.e. heavy discussions on philosophy or even deeper political science are generally inappropriate in these situations). I don't however engage (although I do encourage it with a laugh or quip) the ESTP in conversation but follow it and especially the response of others to the ESTPs conversation. I suspect the ESTP is "reading" the persons who he is in active conversation with (thus I attempt to follow [or leach] off the ESTPs psychological game.

If no apparent ESTP then I will often look for a table with an ESFP if nothing else for the entertainment purpose. ESFPs are second although they are of less of a secondary help except when they annoy other players. If the ESFP begins to anoy me then I will put on my headphones from my Ipod.

ENFPs tend to be pretty entertaining but I try not to pay as close attention (even to the point of shuting them out to a degree) to them simply because they tend to be the best at reading me and my "tells".
 

Sanctus Iacobus

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for example:

board is J-K-9 and I have K-9, 8 comes out and I bet like crazy and people(as long as they aren't straight themselves) because they thought I was new to poker, would think I had a j-7 straight. New players tend to bet what they have, rather than what they want people to think they have so i played up my "newness" as long as I could.

Just curious, how did this hand work out? I would think that playing your actual hand like your projected hand would chase away a lot of profitable opponents while upping the ante against losing ones.



The way I play is a game-theory reversal of the nature of poker. Instead of pretending I know enough information to approach the game mathematically, I let my emotions reflect the nature of the game and stay totally, 100% disciplined... in other words, no emotions.

As far as a strategy, again I don't bank nearly so much on reading players' tells or hiding my own, instead I stay focused on the poker mind of each player and manipulate the situation gracefully to my profit. This is a lot more profitable because it is a game-theory reversal of the fact that other players are trying to profit.

So I rarely, rarely try to control the situation on the table. Instead, I let it flow at full speed in favor of the other players, then stick my foot out and let their own strategy, ego, emotions, and pot-commitment trip them up and rake in the pot myself.

Simply put, you go with the flow of the game and play passively, then depending on the strength of your hand and the strategy ego of your opponent(s), you vary the length of rope to let out... enough for that player to hang themselves, not enough for them to suspect being trapped.

The best thing about this strategy is that it can dominate a table for hours. Eventually other players learn that I am tricking them and they alter their strategy, but this happens so far after I've been doing it (even as little as 1-3 wins) that I already have a trap set for their altered strategy, etc. and so on. I'm always several meta-thoughts ahead of the table's poker mind and nobody realizes that from the time I sit down to the time I get up, that I'm leading the table down my path set with traps. The best strategy against this I've seen is for people to leave, and this happens sometimes. Thankfully for the subtle nature of the game, new players sit down and nobody brings them up to speed. If players recognize what I'm doing to a new player because I did it to them, that too goes into the meta-thought and I set a different trap considering their altered perception.

Then, there is, for each player, a breaking point. This is when they can no longer handle being taken advantage of. This is the #1 thing I keep a pulse of, because as soon as they tip, I flip the entire game on it's head and play straight-up hand strength. So this guy gets fed up and decides to "get me back"... well I'm way ahead of him, and I tighten waaay up, proportionally to his incoming aggression. So he's waiting for a rank 3 or better hand, and then he's going to "get me"... I'm waiting for 2 or better, or probably 1, and then because he has "got me this time" so bad, he dumps in chips that make it worth waiting for my rank 2 or 1. After this they usually get depressed or leave, neither of which I've found to be profitable.


As far as other "tactics" (if you could call it that) like chatting with players for information, I do that but only because it distracts them. I don't actually get any information. Sometimes I'll make it seem that way so that other players "get" something but they are deceiving themselves because the information is being sold to them. At worst, it's information that they use to alter their decision that isn't an accurate representation of anything, so it dilutes their overall average towards the negative side.
 

LEGERdeMAIN

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Yah, it's unlikely that I would hit another K or 9 to make a boat and it's possible that someone who's calling bets with that kind of board is drawing for a flush or a straight or even hanging in with K-J. If you have one or two players who are only one card away from a straight, they might stay in, even if they think I have a made hand, but if they do stay in I'd want them to pay a high price to see that last card.

I wouldn't play like this every time, only if people have bought into my "new player" act and only for a limited time.
 

funkadelik

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I relate a lot to how [MENTION=13295]Sanctus Iacobus[/MENTION] says he plays. In fact, I don't think I have much to add on to that.

I'm not much for being aggressive in Texas Hold-em. I find my best strategy is playing it cool and with the flow of the game. You kind of chat up the other characters to distract them and watch their gameplay to judge things like ego and skill and play accordingly. I've got some rules when it comes to which cards I should play or not and when I should cut my losses. I find my biggest asset is not letting my ego get in the way. One of the biggest fallacies that can really get you in poker is thinking "aw hell, I've already put so much money into this hand, I might as well see it through to the end." It's funny how easy it is to want to follow through with something you've started, but you just gotta squash that feeling. I also hardly ever show my cards.

Yeah and that thing about no emotions: pretty invaluable. You don't let them see you sweat by forbidding yourself get in that mindset. No sweating allowed.

But yeah, I don't make huge profits this way, but I always have a good time and I hardly ever lose money and sometimes I can really get under the skin of the other people at the table (by basically playing off their weaknesses instead of my strengths to win). That in itself is pretty pleasing. :D But maybe one day I'll step up my game and go for big money. Maybe. I don't have a huge drive to.
 

You

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I just got into poker - eeeh - 10 or so seconds ago - I'll tell you when I lose. It might take a while.
 
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