Gear Changing

[Sark79]

I have had this explained to me by friends and from some people on blonde.

But I am still confused. I have read the sites and books also.

What does this mean and how do I learn it?

I try to do it as the book suggests, but I still have difficulty with it.

can anyone help?

ty

[TightEnd]

http://www.bsm.co.uk/

this should help

[Nem]

http://www.bsm.co.uk/

this should help

LMAO

[Sark79]

     

Ohhh funny guy, Tightend

 

[Mr F]

LMAO TIghty

[AndrewT]

Gear changing is simply adjusting your play to be the optimum for the prevailing game conditions. Sometimes it's best to be tight, other times loose - you have to know which is which .

As a simple example, assume an MTT where 91st-100th gets some money (say £100). 101st gets nothing. As the number of people left in the tournament approaches 100, people will tighten up as they wait for other people to bust out. Therefore you should be looser and raise more to grab the free chips on offer.

As soon as the 101st person goes, those players left know that it now makes no difference whether they finish 91st or 100th, as the prize money is the same. They therefore open up in order to try and get chips (to ensure they're not one of the shortstacks at 91st, when the next jump in prize money is), and will be more liberal in getting their chips in the middle. This is the time for you (if you are not in any immediate danger of being eliminated) to tighten up (change down gears) as your raises are far more likely to get called/re-raised.

More subtle factors may also mean a gear change is required (for example if a very tight player to your right gets knocked out and is replaced by a maniac, you will need to adjust your style of play).

[TightEnd]

sensible reply

I think gear changing is as much about the perception you create of yourself and your play and then having the flexibility to use that to gain chips..

ie you have been playing tight and you manage a couple of steals because of that image and then when they cotton on you shift back again. Or you have been giving action and then you slow down to trap with monsters...anything that keeps your opponents guessing

Of course gear changing also is an important skill around bubble points.

[AndrewT]

Think of my post as 'Gear Changing for Beginners' and Tighty's as the advanced course.

[Sark79]

Ok, ty tightend and Andrew.  I guess it is a skill that can be developed over time

[TightEnd]

I think you are right

We can all learn the odds and play the monsters but gear changing and people reading...the "feel" aspects of poker...come with time. experience and a bit of luck

[mex]

i find suit or nice shirt and trousers, then as more people get drunk you can sneak off and put jeans and t shirt on, if very very drunk even a nice dress,(as i once did in dublin)

[Sark79]

Good Joke ,mex 

Tightends joke is still top though. I actually looked on the site and thought " what the hell is this.....he must have got the wrong web address". Then it clicked and I thought to myself...ohhh so funny 

 Roll on the Blonde Comedy Awards 2006   
                                               

[madasahatstand]

http://www.bsm.co.uk/

this should help

[I, Zimbra]

Sark,

The classic gear change surely is the STT adjustment from full (9 or 10 handed) play, through shorthanded (3-6 handed) play, and then again to heads-up?

At a full table, if you play tight poker, and generate a tight table image, it allows you to take more blinds uncontested when players start to get knocked out (i.e. as the table gets more short-handed).

By the time a STT table gets short-handed, remember, not only will the blinds be higher, but they will be hitting you more often (fewer players, so fewer hands per orbit). You can lose a lot of chips in this stage of a STT if you continue to play the same "tight" strategy that worked well early on... you will lose the chips simply by being blinded away.

Consequently, you want to be grabbing as many uncontested blinds here as you can.

If you've been very tight in the early stages, people might give you some respect when you raise - the theory is, it should take them a while to cotton on to the fact that you're now raising more often (i.e. you're in a 'higher' gear)... and not necessarily with a premium hand, each time.

Of course, the better the players at the table, the more people will be doing this; so once again it comes down to "feel"; and adjusting your own strategy to fit the players you're trying to beat.

P.S. (I don't know how useful that is, now that you've moved back into limit HE ring games, but... there you go  )

[Sark79]

Thanks, I Zimbra.  I am sure that will come in handy. The more things I can learn about poker, the better