Mixing versus Balancing

In poker there are two concepts on which several preconceived ideas are planned, mainly when they are tried to be applied in tournaments. The first refers on the mixing of the game style. The notion is considered a cliché without any significant value. Do you have any idea when is it important to change the style of the game?

The second concept is the balance of the individual game style. It may seem that the two concepts are similar, but in reality are different.

Let’s start with the mixing of the style. You most probably have red before that it must be constantly done; otherwise you’ll be easily read by your opponents. It is totally not true. Sometimes mixing is necessary and in most of the cases it is important to focus on a strategy most indicated at the time being, without worrying that your opponent will “read” you. If you play cash with a small number of players for hundreds of hours, it is naturally indicated to diversify your game. When you play online with small or medium stakes until your opponents figure out your gaming style, the party will be long over. Most of the online casinos sites and online poker rooms have thousands of players who play in small, sporadic sessions.

The second concept is the balance of the individual gaming styles. The best way to understand its importance is to use the lead-out as an example. Let’s say that a player in a middle position makes a standard raise and you are the only caller from big blind. The move standard on flop is to give check to the raise, regardless if the flop was favorable or not. And yet you have the option to make a lead-out. Note the fact that more live players make the mistake of only call a lead-out when they need information. It is extremely easy to exploit as it is improbable that they have a hand willing to play with a high stake in this situation. However, in cash games, note that great players will balance the game in such situations. They do this by using lead-out with strong hands, marginal pairs or even sets. There’s no way to exploit this strategy. If you are a player who calls raise preflop, you may give a raise, but then you opponents will throw its marginal hands or sets, putting you in a tough situation. If you make only call, then you might have to guess his position later, most probably on turn.

Another part of balancing the play book is to avoid giving out information trough bet values. It is not necessary to bet the same percent from the pot each time as you might consider the stack occasionally. Let’s say you play on a tournament and the blinds are 500/1000 with 100 ante. All throw in and you are in a middle position. You have 15000 chips and rise at 3000. Just the big blind gives a call. It covers you with approximately 20000 chips.

The key of these concepts is to be alert all the time with their pros and cons. Mixing is an efficient method in order to create confusion among the opponents, but the truth is that the majority won’t have any idea of your game. The same is with balancing. There are situations when you play out differently the strong and weak hands? It is ok, as long as your opponents are not smart enough to catch you, but if they are, it is time to start balancing the game style.