Texas Hold Em Lesson - Get To Know Your Opponents Well - Entertainment - Gambling

In this Texas Hold Em Lesson we are going to learn all about how to get intimate with your opponents so you can make more money from them.

One of Texas Hold Ems most thrilling challenges is the art of seeing through your opponent, dismantling his tricks and tells and sniffing out his instincts.

Considered among the most deadly in this regard is Phil Helmuth, who in his book Play Poker Like the Pros proffers a memorable menagerie of creatures through which to understand opposition:

Texas Hold Em Lesson - Understand What Type Of Opponent You Have

The inoffensive Mouse is ultraconservative and tight, and thus when raising often close to unbeatable. However the Mouse almost never bluffs, meaning that he is, in effect, rather predictable.

The voracious Jackal is loose and aggressive, a bully without structure who plays a lot of hands - thus making him a dangerous buffoon. Like many bullies, the Jackal often loses face when stood up to: see through the bluster and call him firmly to catch the frequent bluff.

The determined but dull Elephant also plays a lot of hands, and indulges both curiosity and chance by calling almost everything until the river. Consequently, the Elephant often gets himself into hands without hope of winning, but since he prefers not to raise, he only leaks chips slowly. Never bluff the Elephant, he'll plod along to the end and all over your chips.

Texas Hold Em Lesson - More Types Of Opponents TO Learn About

The incisive Lion makes his money eating Elephants, Jackals and Mice. He will only play with good hands but will occasionally make a calculated downgrade to catch opponents off guard. Aggressive when on top of you, and cautious when behind, he bluffs for strategic gain and retains the respect of the table. Like you, the Lion is a fellow predator, with a repertoire of solid hunting styles.

Finally, the all-seeing Eagle is one of the Top 100 players on the planet. An unlikely opponent for obvious reasons, the Eagle is way beyond and above you, adapts to counter, and swoops in on your stack.

These metaphors can be a useful guide to survival - and good feeding - in the poker jungle. Instead of being painstaking analyzed, an opponent's characteristics can be summarized in a single word.

As Helmuth tells it, "Don't try to bluff the Elephant, call the Jackal down light, and don't get all-in against the Mouse without the stone cold nuts."

I hope this Texas Hold Em lesson has been helpful to train you in more ways to identify what type of opponents you up against so that you can obliterate them at the poker table.

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