To adjust or not to adjust is the question?

First post here but not a newbie to gambling/playing poker. You hear about having to adjust at the table your playing at but what are you really doing? Being predictable IMO. To some degree you need a basic idea of the players but having to adjust usually means your way behind. For example; a team is down 0-2 in a best of 7 series, who do you think has to adjust? The team that is losing needs to adjust or they will continue to lose in most cases. If you adjust to the table 100% then you are playing like everyone else and what good is that? I think one should understand the flavor of the table but make everyone else adjust to you instead. What do you think?

My understanding of adjusting: changing something that's not working. If I'm winning, I'm going to be damned careful of changing/adjusting anything. "If it ain't broke..."

If I'm losing, I'm going to adjust/change what I've been doing. That sounds like oversimplification, I guess.

Adjusting, to me, can also mean doing something different, like how you play SB, BB, etc., because you notice the opponents have picked up on a pattern/habit of yours.

[RiverDood]

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If you adjust to the table 100% then you are playing like everyone else and what good is that?

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Actually, I'd argue that often your "adjustments" mean finding smart ways to VARY from everyone else's playing patterns. Three quick examples come to mind.

1. You're playing at a table where everyone slowplays monster hands. (It took me 1 1/2 sessions to realize this about a certain home game.) Once you know this, why slowplay your own monsters? Bet em out! People will figure that if you really had flopped a set, you'd check the flop. Your aggressive betting means you must be trying to steal the pot. So they'll call or reraise.

2. You're at a table with a maniac to your left. You pick up KK in almost any position. Ordinarily you might bet it hard. In this game, you limp. He'll do all the betting for you. Let him.

3. You sit down for a game of Omaha/8 at the Jell-O factory, where everyone plays loose passive. You pick up A28Jr in middle position. Ordinarily you limp, hoping for multiway action that will justify you playing for half the pot. But in this game, you raise, because you'll still get multiway action and have a bigger pot to gun for.

Failing to adjust is the biggest reason why "good" players end up losing money at "fishy" tables.

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If you adjust to the table 100% then you are playing like everyone else

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This is not true. What is true is that you need to adjust in such a way that you are taking advantage of the current conditions of the game.

You don't only adjust when you are losing and play the same when winning. In fact, adjusting has nothing to do with winning or losing at all. An important skill to utilize in your game is the ability to change gears according to the nature of the table. If your table is really tight, then you will be able to earn extra money by stealing more pots. If the table is really loose, you will paid bigger on your draws. Your game must be solid in its foundation, but you must also be able to vary your game plan slightly according to the weather.

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The team that is losing needs to adjust

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Furthermore, you shouldn't feel bad about having to adjust. It is necessary to stay ahead in an ever changing game.

You might also appreciate this quote: "...this isn't a gunfight; it isn't about pride or ego; it's only about money... that's it."

[WhiteWolf]

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...but having to adjust usually means your way behind.

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I have to say I disagree with this part of your post. You don't wait until you are losing to adjust: you adjust when you have enought info about your opponents to recognize a change in strategy would be more profitable than your current one.

To continue your sports analogy: Why do teams study game films of their upcoming opponents? So they can adjust their game plan, ahead of time, to take maximum advantage of their opponent's weakness and neutralize their opponent's strengths. Good competitors do not wait until they are losing to adjust to their opponents....

Excellent replies,

Thanks

[bernie]

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First post here but not a newbie to gambling/playing poker. You hear about having to adjust at the table your playing at but what are you really doing? Being predictable IMO. To some degree you need a basic idea of the players but having to adjust usually means your way behind. For example; a team is down 0-2 in a best of 7 series, who do you think has to adjust? The team that is losing needs to adjust or they will continue to lose in most cases. If you adjust to the table 100% then you are playing like everyone else and what good is that? I think one should understand the flavor of the table but make everyone else adjust to you instead. What do you think?

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I think you have no idea what you're talking about.

Comparing it to being down 0-2 in a best of 7 series is evidence that you're thinking is way off.

b

OK, well let me explain why I was thinking this way. Ready? If your game is solid and you already change gears where nobody ever has a clue when you have a hand or not, then why do you need to change anything? Isn't that the key to Poker? You mix it up and your opponents are constantly guessing if you have the nuts or nothing but they just don't know. I think in order to stay this way (therefore adjusting to the table) is what the other people were saying vs. the other opponents. To adjust and stay confusing so you can win. When your game is on then the other opponents (like the losing team) needs to adjust to you instead in order to play better. Maybe not the best analogy but all I could think of.

[bernie]

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OK, well let me explain why I was thinking this way. Ready? If your game is solid and you already change gears where nobody ever has a clue when you have a hand or not, then why do you need to change anything? Isn't that the key to Poker? You mix it up and your opponents are constantly guessing if you have the nuts or nothing but they just don't know. I think in order to stay this way (therefore adjusting to the table) is what the other people were saying vs. the other opponents. To adjust and stay confusing so you can win. When your game is on then the other opponents (like the losing team) needs to adjust to you instead in order to play better. Maybe not the best analogy but all I could think of.

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How about when a winning player adjusts so he can win even more than if he just played the same way? Why does it always have to be the loser who is adjusting?

You're giving your opponents way too much credit for being aware of how you play. Even more-so that they'd actually adjust to you and your play. They have no clue as to how to adjust other than to play more hands and chase their losses trying to get them back. I have idiots that know I'm a tight ass player and they still coldcall my raises with crap. It's great.

Why would you change gears when you are getting lots of action on your good hands? How would you do that and still win as much? Not bet or raise? Why would you try and confuse the fish who have a great taste for a steel hook in their mouth?

You do realize there is a big difference between a table full of TAGs, a loose passive, and a maniac table, right? You do understand that to maximize winning in these types of textures you have to adjust to the game. Sure you can play only premiums in all these games and win a little. Yay. There is a big difference in how you play these types of games. You also have to adjust when the game changes during a session. If the table goes from tough players to a bunch of calling stations, you're not going to keep your bluff frequency the same. Unless you really hate chips and want to minimize your profits. Some tables you never bluff all night. Other times spots open up all over to try and bluff.

Many times you can be losing for a session, but still not have to adjust at all. The rivers may just be going the other way. What are you going to do then? NOT charge them to make their hands? Charge them less? After all, you're losing, you have to do something, right? Wrong.

The main reasons to adjust are:

Table texture.

Not getting any action on your hands.

A level farther and you can adjust a bit for a single player involved with you in a hand depending on how good a thinker he is. But you're still going to play them str8 forward for the most part. You're not involved with that person every hand you're in.

b

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Why would you try and confuse the fish who have a great taste for a steel hook in their mouth?

b

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Now that is funny, but great response, very well said. Thanks for the clarification, it's posts like this in a calm debate that makes it all worth while.

[Lash]

I don’t think trying to adjust / adjusting means you’re playing predictable. Unless of course your opponents know your typical adjustments (A FRIEND for example).

good subject... but i think it's all semantics....

if you doing great and no one is catching on to your play, by all means keep doing it....

but so many other things to watch when maybe you aren't winning big $$$$ with all your good hands....

and i think the original poster had assumed that you are already mixing things up and watching position and # of players etc... and i think we'd assumed that this was changing gears... so as i said, semantics and i think everyone agrees.

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if you doing great and no one is catching on to your play, by all means keep doing it....

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The difference between good players and great players is that great players are aware that doing great is not the same as doing the best possible.

yeah, i agree... but trying to keep it simple.... yes, you can judge that you aren't taking as much as you can.