Friday, November 7, 2008

Multiple levels of thinking

Sandman's recent post reminded me about this Sklansky concept. Most are familiar with it but I see a lot of people fall down when it comes to 'thinking one level above your opponent'.

If you start doing this, microstakes really isn't half as bad as some make out.


http://www.thepokerbank.com/multiple-level-thinking.html

What Does Multiple Level Thinking Mean To You?

Now that you know about each of the levels and how complicated the thought processes can become, what exactly can you use this kind of information for? The main reason as to why it is important to know about the different levels of thought is so that you can save yourself from playing incorrectly against different types of players. There is no point playing at level 3 if your opponent is playing at level 0, because there is no need to consider what your opponent thinks you have if they don’t even have any idea about what they are holding themselves. You will just be ‘over thinking’ the situation and wasting you time and effort.

Therefore to beat each type of player, you should always stick to thinking at one level above your opponents only. If you find that a player is only concerned about what they are holding and playing at level 1, you will be able to beat them by thinking about what they might be holding and playing at level 2. Therefore you should be able to bluff them successfully whereas they will not as they are not giving any thought to the strength of your hand. There is no need to make extravagant plays against a low level thinker because they will have no idea about what is taking place, which will make it more likely that your ‘advanced’ play will backfire.

So for every opponent you play against, simply play at the level above him or her and you should be able to employ a successful winning poker playing style against them. The higher the level of thought you can use effectively the better, but also be prepared to adapt depending on the level of your opponents. This applies to all levels from 0 and above.

No comments:

 
Site Meter