Confusing Opponents: Shifting Gears at the Tables

When I was first started in playing, I went to a local bookstore to buy a strategy book. Admittedly, I was a little overwhelmed, so I went home and called my poker pro friend to see what book he’d recommend. Without hesitation, he told me to pick up Doyle Brunson’s Super System.

I bought it, read it and one thing in particular stood out in my mind; Brunson devotes a section to the concept of changing gears.

“Shifting gears is possibly the single biggest secret you should master if you want to play poker at the highest levels,” he said. “Shifting gears means playing super aggressively, then changing to a slower, more selective game, while your opponents continue to play according to the pace you’ve set. They’re not aware you’ve shifted. Only you know for sure.”

This is a powerful concept.

By changing gears from a passive to an ultra-aggressive style, you can effectively confuse the heck out of your opponents. This will force them into making mistakes against you.

Think about a football team that has been playing a straight up zone defense and then all of a sudden they start throwing out blitz package after blitz package. They take control of the game and can force the other team into turnovers and other mistakes. This effectively shifts the game into the aggressor’s favor who can now lay low that the opposing team has fear.

Armed with this information, I was ready to put it into practice. I was playing in a multi-table online tournament last week. For the first 45 minutes, I was a virtual nonfactor. Then all of a sudden I went all-in either pre-flop or after the flop for 8 straight hands.

What happened? Well, it became clear that my opponents became increasingly frustrated by my antics. I won the first three hands uncontested. Then, some began calling me with such bad hands as J-9, K-8 etc and I was able to take down some big pots.

I won all of those hands incredibly and at the end of the madness, I went from 1,200 chips to lead with more than 10,000. Then I went back to being virtually silent for another 30 minutes before another frantic few hands. Doing this enabled me to win this particular tournament.

Sure, this was a little extreme, but you should be asking yourself how often you should change gears and when you should change gears.

The answer to the first question is, not that often. You need to do it only a couple of times per session. What is more important is the timing of when you make your moves. When you think you’ve established that tight image, go ahead and open things up for a while. Don’t do it early in a session unless you’re playing with players who are familiar with you.

In my opinion, there are specific times when you should change gears in a tournament.  One obvious time is when there is an increase in the blinds and antes. If you’ve established yourself as being a tight player, go ahead and get aggressive and accumulate chips.

There are certain times that you should change gears in a tournament. One is when the blinds and antes have just gone up. If you’ve been playing tight, this is a great opportunity to get aggressive and pick up some pots. Most of you are aware that opponents will know that you’ve been tight and give you credit for being strong when perhaps you might not be.

Another golden opportunity is when the bubble time is approaching. At this time, players tend to tighten up out of fear of not making the money. Take advantage of this and get ultra aggressive. You want to use this time to accumulate as many chips as possible to give yourself the best chance of winning. This is part of the reason I feel I’ve come so long in my development as a poker player.

Until next time, may the chips fall your way.