Have no doubt about it. Texas Hold’em is a game that is here to stay. Just as people used to dream of making a career in high-tech industries or white-collar / management jobs not so long ago, now people dream of making it big as a full-time successful poker player. The game sweeps viewership ratings of most popular television channels. Anybody with a smattering of knowledge of the game, and a decent amount of dough in their wallet can walk in and signup for playing in tournaments which are telecast ‘live’, and hope for some action. It gives a thrill to have one’s name flashing and blinking on the TV screens across the nation, doesn’t it – especially if one is an underdog and climbing steadily up the winning ladder?

What does this mean to you, as a serious poker player? What it means is that the field is starkly divided into three levels: the bottom level comprises of the absolute raw, wet-behind-the-ears but dreams-in-the-eyes types; the middle level is filled up with people who have had their hits and near-misses and are slowly working their up to higher stakes; while the third level is studded with hardcore veterans who might have also had the fortune of winning a bracelet or two. Or eight or nine. Winning against each level requires different kinds of skills. (Which level are you at, btw?) When your name is called and you are ushered at a table, the first thing that you should do is to conduct a quick survey of your competition. Which level of skills are you going to play against? Whether it is fixed-limit, low-limit, pot-limit, or No-limit, you may find a motley crowd of all three types ganged up against you. Which makes it all the more interesting!

The first level of players is not very difficult to discern. For these wannabes, what is important is their own set of cards. They are busy in their own world. For them, you do not exist. It is also possible that they may have seen some professional play a certain style on television, and are focused on aping that style – you can perhaps even name the professional being imitated. Or, they are trying very, very hard to recall what their poker lessons taught them to do in the particular situation that they are facing – and the strain of recollection shows on their face. Beating this level and taking the money that they put in the pot requires a very straightforward style and approach.

First-time players are usually emotional about the hole cards they are dealt with. Unless they have trained themselves in emotion management. The feeling that a miracle turn or river card will win the pot for them is quite strong. Overvaluing any suited hole card pair is also a temptation that scores high in their worldview. For example, a J T immediately puts the stars in their eyes, and they look forward to a flush or straight flush at the flop … well, if not at the flop, the turn card is always there … well, if not the turn card, the river card can always be relied upon (their favorite daily astrology column had predicted a win, you see) … The fact that you might be holding A K doesn’t cross their already preoccupied gray cells.

Slowplaying always works in such cases. Lulling them into the mental framework of false security that they hold the best hands … eggs them on to raise and re-raise. However, that doesn’t mean that you can bluff your way to success! You never know what the hole cards they might be holding are like! Yes, I know it sounds like a catch-22, but you get the idea.

Psychological strategies when you are up against players of the starter level don’t work well … they are pretty useless. There is no deep thought going on in the minds of your opponents … so any fancy footwork from your side might actually trip you instead.

Move to the middle levels, and the mood changes. Here are people who have learnt their ropes after a lot of toil and sweat and blood and tears. Out of them, some of them are on the verge of getting kicked to the higher level – the world awaits their arrival, flashbulbs and garlands in hand. Others are on the verge of getting kicked out of the game altogether – it could be a bust-up bankroll, it could be general disillusionment with their luck not holding out, or perhaps their heart calls them elsewhere … You need to be a perfect psychic to judge who is in what state of mind. But the grim determination to win … to win with all their might comes across very forcefully. Expect a lot of surprises in your reading about how each game is going to swing. Every one of your plays is being analyzed threadbare in their fast-ticking mind – your calls, your checks, your raises, re-raises … your folds. Your personality and playing style is being carefully stereotyped and neatly filed in one of the dockets in their mind, to be used not only now, but at a later date, if you happen to play with them again in future. Just before calling, your left leg seemed to swing, and the upper lip seemed to twitch. Is this a one-off gesture, or does it indicate something vital going on in the mind? Is there a pattern here that can act as a tell sign later? Think, mind, think!

Welcome to the stratosphere of stars. People you normally gawk at on television screens. People who are mobbed by fans for autographs or sound-bytes on their latest move. People you unabashedly copy. These are the ones who have made it to riches and fame, not necessarily in that order. The fact that you are playing with such hardcore veterans sitting next to you could only mean that you have bought-in a seat in one of the tournaments, and on your way to the finals, have bumped into them. The first and foremost fortification that you need to do, pronto, is not to be awed by their presence. Don’t let your jaw drop too often! Don’t stare too much! Yes, they are your gods, I know. But, right now, they are fellow contestants who are after the money you have put in the pot! Behave as if they have been around you since childhood. Gee. Very gradually, after a few rounds of plays, your self-consciousness about celebrities will automatically go. Also remember, that some of them have put in more years of poker than your total age. But that doesn’t mean that they are unbeatable! There are quite of these legends who crash out in the very first round on the very first day of prestigious tournaments – against absolute raw, wet-behind-the-ears but dreams-in-the-eyes types …