The Poker Lab Rat

• Getting extra calls in poker

Your opponents have a calling reflex. That means they’re predisposed to call, rather than fold.  They came to the table hoping to play hands, hoping to call. Your job, when you hold a big hand, is to provide a reason.

Often they’ll call anything that moves. So if you want that call and see an opponent about to fold, do anything! Knock over your chips. Wiggle in your seat. Whatever gets their attention might make them suspicious. There’s nothing to lose, because you’re about to lose that call anyway. It won’t always work, but sometimes it will – and that’s free money.

• Don’t bluff after a frequent bluffer checks

When a player with a strong history of bluffing checks to you, the chances that he has a reasonable calling hand is statistically high. Conversely, players who usually check their weakest hands, rather than bluff, provide profitable opportunities for you to bluff. That’s because they often check weak hands – with the same prospect as yours – hands that may beat you half of the time in a showdown. So against those non-bluffers, you have something to gain by doing the bluffing yourself after they check: you secure the whole pot.

But, against a frequent bluffer, that opportunity isn’t usually available, and a s a consequence, bluffing is seldom the right move following their check.

Mike Caro – the mad genius of poker – endorses only one online poker site, that of friend, colleague and long-time pro, Doyle Brunson.  Doyles Room has recently transferred to the Microgaming Poker Network, and so now welcomes players from across Europe, Canada, the UK – and US residents from 39 States.

More poker tips from professional players.