Often times at a poker table you will happen to run into players who are afraid to lose. Instead of concentrating on winning and maximizing profits, their mindset will gravitate more towards avoiding losing. They will be playing much too cautiously, which has a tendency to keep them from making correct plays. This is playing scared. This is almost a guaranteed way of losing, as a common adage around online poker circles is that scared money never wins.
Part of the reason that some players fall into the bad habit of playing scared is because one wrong move at no-limit Texas Hold’em could cause you to lose every dollar or chip in front of you. Nobody wants to get knocked out of a tournament or go broke at a cash table. Unfortunately, playing scared is not the solution. It will cause players to make huge mistakes that end up losing more money over the long haul.
You have probably seen players playing scared if you have spent any time at all playing online poker real money, but let’s go over some of the tell-tale signs to look for. Firstly, players who play much too tight are often scared to select starting hands that are not the absolute best. We all know that proper starting hand selection is key to success at the poker table. However, when you spot an opponent who constantly mucks his hole cards unless they happen to look like this or this, it may be an indication that he is scared to get involved in hands in which he is not a huge favorite pre-flop.
Players fail to protect their hand
Another indicator of scared play poker is when players fail to protect their hand. This doesn’t necessarily mean players who give up their blind easily, although you should be stealing blinds from scared players because they will normally let you have their posted blinds unless their holding is of premium quality. Failing to protect a hand means that scared players won’t bet their good hands like top pair with a good kicker on the flop.
They tend to play passively for fear of losing and allow other players opportunity to catch draw and beat them. In a situation that calls for making a value bet to build the pot with the winning hand at that stage of the hand, a scared player will not bet or will offer a bet that is too small and affords other players the proper odds to continue.
Scared players are afraid to call bets – especially big ones. Along with passivity in proper sized bets acting first, they don’t want to risk money. It is versus a player who shows aggression and may have a good hand. Since their thinking is on not losing as opposed to winning. The first thought that comes to mind when another player bets is that their hand is beat. For this reason, it pays to be very aggressive against scared players even if you may be holding a weak hand.
Scared players are looking for reasons to fold instead of concentrating on ways to win. You will be more successful in long run playing aggressively versus scared money regardless of the hand you are holding. If you should run up against a call or raise from a player scared to lose, you can rest assured that he will undoubtedly have a good hand.
Bluffing normally not in game plan
Bluffing will normally not be in the game plan of a scared player. The fear of getting called and being exposed with an inferior hand will keep scared money from attempting such manoeuvres. Bluffing is an integral part of poker online.
However, the bluffing aspect of play poker online should not be overlooked and a scared player will tend to do just that. Players who don’t bluff or fail to do so enough become highly predictable and easy to read. Such is the case with a scared player. He tends to wait until his hand is a solid winner before risking throwing money into the pot. A player scared to lose won’t be bluffing and is highly susceptible to being bluffed out of many a pot. Remember this and make your bets accordingly.
It’s plain to see that the fear of being beaten causes scared players to play poorly. And they make mistakes that will cause them to lose over the test of time. There are any numbers of ways in which the passive play of players scared to lose can be taken advantage of. The main way is through aggressive play of your own that will force scared players to fold.
If they happen not to fold, then you can re-evaluate the situation that your hand may be beaten. A big part of online poker India is scaring or making players believe that you have a strong hand. Since players who play scared are the easiest to scare, their passivity should be exploited and capitalized on. Once you have identified a scared player at your table, do your best to continue scaring him out of pots. He may otherwise have won if not for being afraid to lose.
Happy playing!