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EXPERT VIEW - Playing Poker In A Different Country...And Struggling!
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18 January 2006
Hold`em should be the same wherever you go, right? If you win in Vegas, and you win online then you should still win when you go back to your home country (South Africa) and play a little poker, right? Wrong, I am discovering, and the reasons are pretty interesting.
The style of play in South Africa is very different to the USA, and I have found it very hard to adjust. South Africa in general has an extremely aggressive attitude towards most things. People here love to gamble, hate to back down, and many of the top players have money to burn (or at least that`s their attitude towards it). How does this translate into poker?
Well, for starters once they commit to a pot they aren`t going anywhere, and that commitment is usually made very early on. Pre-flop play is actually incredibly passive with big raises in no-limit games quite rare. The preferred game is pot limit anyway, which suits the aggressive desire to gamble to the maximum.
So, pre-flop you get a lot of limpers, and if you raise pre-flop many of them will come along for the ride. After the flop you have a chance to bluff especially if an A falls. The Ace is all-powerful in SA and will cause a few to scamper. Otherwise, however, they aren`t going anywhere. And if they`re on a draw they will stay to the end.
The way to win in these games is to have a big bankroll, play tight-aggressive, and try to deal with the fluctuations of playing against a table crammed with maniacs. I`m not saying poker in this country is weaker, but it is very different. And to be perfectly honest with my readers, as always, I am actually down for the month on my trip here. I`ve had a few bad beats put on me but the real reason is that after a few hours my own play changes and I look to mix it up with holdings I would usually be far more cautious playing...
When in Rome is very true at the poker table as well, and maintaining your own style is hard but crucial to do. If I can just listen to my own advice I`ll beat this game, but for now it has been tough.
Posted by: at 20:41
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