Fear is a Tool

A couple of days ago I read an article in Poker Pro Magazine about fear. Not the kind of fear you might have when you are in danger but the kind that YOU can and must instill in other players. We have all been fearful of various things in our lives for sure. However, this is a different ball game playing No Limit poker. After reading the piece I took away a few things I believe are useful and easy concepts to understand.

You can instill fear into your opponent by making a big bet at the right time or putting your opponent in awkward positions. When you make these kinds of moves at the right times and force players out of their comfort zone either betting wise or style of play wise there is an immediate benefit to you. That benefit is that when people are not playing their typical style of poker, small ball vs big pot, they usually are not prepared to make and follow through with tough decisions when put in awkward situations. In other words they become fearful and you certainly can use that to your advantage both during the hand and for subsequent hands down the line.

You can also instill fear by being a chip mover. This applies more to tournament poker than cash games but let's not exclude cash games either. We all know that , "He who has chips has power!" in the game of poker. Well, if you do build a big chip stack you need to balance building that big stack along with maintaining your stack too. Some of us are better at it than others. Good players are able to instill fear into their opponents by playing a smart and aggressive style of play that minimizes risk but forces their opponents out of their comfort zone. Easier said than done but certainly a learn-able skill with a lot of practice and hard work.

The bottom line is that when your opponents fear you it gives you a hefty advantage over them and will prevent them from playing optimally. You can't ask for more than that.