Mixig Versus Balancing
There are two concepts in poker about which there are a lot of misconceptions, especially when applied to tournament play. The first is mixing up your play. The term is often spouted like some cliché with no real meaning. Do you know when it’s important to mix up your play and when it’s not? The second concept I want to talk about is balancing your playbook. They may sound like similar ideas, but they’re actually very different.
Let’s first talk about mixing up your play. I’m sure you’ve all read that you constantly need to do this; otherwise your opponents will figure out what you have. This is simply untrue. Don’t get me wrong, there are many times when it’s important to mix things up; but for the most part, it’s much more important to concentrate on what the best play is at a given moment, without worrying about whether or not your opponents will recognize the play from earlier.
If you’re playing cash games against a small pool of players with whom you will play hundreds of hours, then, of course, it is vitally important to mix up your game. However, for most poker players this is rarely the case. Personally, I’m a tournament player and I will rarely have played a significant number of hands with more than two players at any table. So, generally, most players have no idea how I play; and my guess is that that is also the case for most of you reading this, even if you’re a cash player. Particularly if you play low- to mid-stakes games online, the truth is that by the time your opponents even start to figure out how you play, you will already be done playing with them. Most online casinos and poker sites have pools of tens of thousands of players, most of whom play short, infrequent sessions.
The classic hand that people like to mix up is A-K, believing that if they always raise it and reraise it, people will know what they have. They justify a middle position limp with “I’m just mixing up my game.” This is a ploy that is both unnecessary and nonproductive when people are not familiar with your play. Save it for when you are heads up against the only guy at the table who “knows how you play”; that’s when mixing it up would be beneficial.
The second concept I want to talk about is balancing your playbook. The best way for me to explain what a balanced playbook entails is by using the lead-out as an example. Let’s say a player in middle position makes a standard raise, and you are the only caller from the big blind. The standard play on the flop is to check to the raiser, regardless of whether or not it hit you. However, you also have the option of leading out. I find that many weaker live players make the mistake of only leading out when they need information. This is easily exploitable since it is very unlikely they have a hand with which they are willing to play a huge pot in this situation.
In cash games, however, I find that good players will properly balance their playbook in this spot. They do this by leading out with strong draws, marginal one-pair hands, and even sets. There is no way to exploit this strategy. If you were the pre-flop raiser you could raise, but then your opponent would simply fold his marginal hands and raise both his draws and his sets, putting you to yet another tough decision. If you were just to call, then you would have to play a guessing game later in the hand, most likely on the turn.
Another part of balancing your playbook is not to give away information with your bet amounts. You don’t necessarily have to bet the same percentage of the pot every time, because you should be factoring stack sizes into the consideration. Let’s say you are playing a tournament and blinds are 500/1000 with a 100 ante. It folds to you in middle position. You have 15,000 chips and raise to 3,000. Only the big blind calls. He has you covered with around 20,000 chips.
There are now 7,500 chips in the pot. You have 12,000 chips left behind. Let’s say you were forced to bet the same amount every time you bet the flop (note that you are not forced to bet the flop). What would a good amount be? Most of you are probably used to betting around 75% of the pot, but this would generally be a terrible spot to bet that much. It would be slightly less than half your stack, meaning you are pretty much committing all of your chips. Instead, it would be better to bet a small amount, like 2,500 or 3,000. This will leave the big decision up to your opponent instead of to you. If you are doing this both when you hit the flop and when you miss, your opponent will be playing a guessing game. There is no way he can distinguish between when you have the nuts and when you have complete air. The key here is that you can put your opponent to a decision for all of his chips, without risking all of yours. You should always be looking for spots like that at the table.
I should also clarify that I am not advocating that betting a third of the pot should be a standard line. Particularly when stacks are deep, it is generally a bad line and often looks suspicious. However, with the exact stack size listed above, it just happens to be the perfect bet amount to put your opponent to a decision for all of his chips, while you don’t have to risk yours. You should be looking for those bets that you can make with weak hands as well as with strong hands to put your opponent to a tough decision. However, I should make it clear that I am not saying that your playbook should always be balanced. Here is what it comes down to: Are you one step ahead of your opponents? In other words, if you bet small, do you know whether your opponents will interpret that as strength or weakness? What about a big bet? Is it the opposite? If you can answer those questions accurately, then you have no reason to balance anything. Take advantage of how your opponent will respond. However, more often than not, you won’t be able to do this. When that is the case, you should avoid giving information away about your hand.
The key with these concepts is always to be conscious of the pros and cons of using them. Mixing up your play is a great way to confuse opponents who have a good feel for how you play, but the truth is that most of the people you will face will have no idea about your game. Balancing your play is similar. Are there situations where you play your strong hands one way and your weak hands another? That’s fine if your opponents aren’t smart enough to catch on; but if they are, then you better start balancing your playbook.
