Having a couple of strong players to your left could be all it takes to turn what may have been an otherwise profitable game into one that is only break even. You see, there are different types of position in poker but the overwhelming number of amateur players who understand position only understand it by means of their position in a particular hand. Not many would be aware enough to get up and leave a game all because of who was sitting on their left.

This factor is not as important in a game like Limit Texas Hold’em but in No Limit then it can make the difference between winning and losing. When you know that a very good player will be entering the pot after you with the skill to play very well from the flop onwards then you will need to change your strategy somewhat because much of what I have been saying to you will be blunted because the good player will know what you are up to and will have position to do something about it.

This is another often overlooked aspect to being successful, switching sites. At the lower levels then this is not as important simply because of the sheer volume of players and the number of games on some sites. But despite the fact that the style of play that I teach is very deceptive, it still can be immensely counter productive to outstay your welcome at any one site. Players in the higher limits tend to stay around longer simply because they are better poker players on average and have more time in the game simply because they are not getting wiped out as fast.

Also in an era where many sites have note taking facilities and there is poker tracking software available like Poker Office then you need to be aware of many players taking this route. Despite the fact that I play in a very deceptive way, I am not naïve enough to think that my style of play cannot be worked out or a certain part of my game could not be figured out.

This is an area where I get totally paranoid because I once learnt this lesson to my cost early in my career when I was playing Limit Hold’em as my main revenue source. I started out like an house on fire and was earning in excess of $4000 a week for about six weeks and then the money started to dry up very slowly. I was still winning but after another six months I had only won another $6000 in all that time. At first I was putting it down to standard deviation but then I realised something critical, the players on the site were responding to me.

This meant that I had to do one of two things, either respond to that response which may or may not have worked or take the easier route and simply switch sites. I took the easier option and switched sites and within a very short period of time I was back winning what I had been before. Sometimes you can outstay your welcome on a certain site and things just get stale like food that is past its sell by date.

How long you stay on anyone site is a difficult question to answer simply because everyone is different and so are your opponents. I mean, the fact that I am now a better player and now playing No Limit Hold’em online and not Limit still does not deter me from switching periodically, once bitten twice shy. You cannot avoid making mistakes as you go through life but the trick is to learn from them and learn well and I have always learnt well from mine.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson