Tips from the pros - Poker Professional Kenna 'Cowboy' James

ESTABLISH A SOLID IMAGE & GOOD REPUTATION

The game of poker has taken a dramatic turn over the past couple of years. Everyone has learned an aggressive game style and if you want to keep up you are going to have to learn how to play against the super aggressive style. I believe you need to now, more then ever, establish a solid and conservative image so that when you make a move at a pot you either have the hand or will win it uncontested.

It used to be that players would fold out of fear of going broke but I don't find that to be true anymore. You used to be able to get someone off a hand because players thought they were a much bigger underdog then they actually were and would fold perhaps top pair and you could win many pots uncontested. Today, many players stay with bottom pair or any type of draw just looking to take the pot away from you.

Winning pots uncontested is a key element in a winning strategy. To illustrate the point: If you are a 3-1 favorite (which is significant in poker) in a hand, and your opponent is all-in that is usually a good thing, UNLESS, it happens too many times. You will lose one out of four and the time you are covered will be the time when you are sent to the rail bemoaning your fate. Therefore you must take advantage of winning pots without a showdown and to do that nowadays you can't just go in expecting to bully people off a hand. Rather you must EARN the respect and COMMAND the table by simply playing fewer hands, playing them well, and then showing them the NUTS!

By Kenna James