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Changing gears is about changing your strategy based on the actions and observations you have previously made, but, believe it or not, any action can be viewed as changing gears. It’s not just becoming aggressive after being tight for a previous level or tightening up after multiple loose-aggressive moves. Changing gears is about the individual decisions that take place throughout every single hand as the action heads your way.
At the WSOP Academy, the discussion about changing gears is extensive. It begins with former FBI interrogation specialist Joe Navarro and his studies on the nonverbal signals that a player gives away. Navarro will teach you how to decipher these nonverbals and how you can use these clues to fi gure out your opponent. Navarro’s insight can clue you in on when a player is strong or weak, but that is only the beginning. After Navarro, the rest of the professional poker player instructors at the WSOP Academy analyze at length the requirements for a player to change gears at any point. We’ll mention betting patterns, sizes of bets, and everything you can pick up either online or live to fi gure out your opponent.
Recognizing the situation is the key to changing gears. The reason players change gears is because they expect a certain reaction from their opponents based upon their own action. There are a million reasons for why they have built up these expectations, but capitalizing on this is really the tricky, yet essential part. You become able to change gears based upon the table image that you have created as the expectations from your opponent change with every hand you play.
These days there are many players who are pretty talented. Amongst this group, there are many who are loose and very aggressive. With good decisions and great timing, you can take your chances by changing gears and take advantage pre-fl op.
For example, when you have one of these players at your table and he makes a pre-fl op raise, you need to sometimes make a reraise — especially if your stack size is such that it would be an all-in reraise. Based on your opponents’ playing style and history at the table, you know that they are raising light (meaning that you are putting them on a weaker range of hands). In addition to strong hands, their range includes many medium-strength hands such as A-J or A-10, as well as small suited connectors and any ace-rag suited, as they could fl op the stone-cold nuts. Keep in mind that they are looking to capitalize with just about any two cards at any time.
Because they are talented, once you shove in, they know better than to call since they know your range is very narrow (assuming you’ve been playing tight). Most of the time they know they’d be a 2:1 dog against your range of hands. If you catch a solid hand, or even just an average one, test out the all-in reraise against these types of players. You’ll take the play away from them and win a nice pot most of the time.
Changing gears is also as simple as not playing a hand against a certain opponent or playing one for just that reason. It not only consists of playing differently against a loose-aggressive opponent, but may also mean not making a continuation bet for the fi rst time in three fl ops after you’ve made a pre-fl op raise. Maybe you’ve had a good hand after the fl op each time, but you need to be paying attention to your own actions. Every time you make a continuation bet that goes uncalled, the next one becomes less effective since your opponents will think that you are bluffi ng each time. Remember, when you do not show your hand, other players will make assumptions about your holdings. That will affect your image, which in turn affects your necessity to change gears. Be aware of those who are paying attention to the action and those who will act like there isn’t a hand going on if they aren’t involved. If they aren’t paying attention, don’t expect your image to be taken into account whatsoever.
I was playing in a sit-n-go tournament while one of my friends watched me play. He was amazed by some of the plays I was making. I was changing gears after every hand and he was confused about why I would play in such a manner.
During the middle stages of the tournament, I raised with J-9 suited and everyone folded. The very next hand I had A-5 suited, raised again, and everyone folded. The next hand I had A-J and I threw it away. My friend was shocked and asked for an explanation. Surely I didn’t value A-J less than J-9! My explanation was simple. The fi rst time, the player in the big blind was tight and I knew I could take advantage. The same reasoning applied in the second hand. With the A-J, there was no reason in my mind to make that fi rst raise. After three raises in a row, someone will come over the top no matter what and try to take the pot away from me, because many of them are going to think I’m bluffi ng. This is changing gears. If I hadn’t raised the prior two hands, I would’ve most defi nitely raised with the A-J. You have to be ready to understand what your opponents are thinking and, in this case, they might think that three in a row is a little strange and that I had been taking advantage of my tight image, so now they are going to look me up.
Poker is always a game of reactions, even if you are the aggressor. If I’m aggressive, I expect a certain reaction from my opponents. If I’m making an aggressive play, I’m doing so as a reaction to what I expect my opponents to do when it is their turn to act. You don’t make it happen; your opponents let you make it happen. You play off their weaknesses, their perceptions and misperceptions. Changing gears is about capitalizing on the knowledge that both you and your opponents obtain throughout every hand in which you have competed. Making adjustments based on the reassessment of information will lead you to positive results and a stronger understanding of the essence and brilliance of the game.
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