We are best successful in life and at poker when we have clear objectives – both short term (immediate) and long term. Our immediate goals at every decision point are important.

Recently, when I reread Mike Caro’s classic book, “Caro’s Basic Secret from WINNINGS” I was annoyed by “General Victory Advice” which describes “Best Chance Magic” Tips “on the best way to play your strongest hand. in the initial betting round: “If the raise looks natural, go up it. If the call looks natural, dial. Do what your opponent expects. “To be honest, I don’t know what” looks natural, “and can only guess what my opponents expect; so this is one suggestion from Caro that I don’t use.

Remember, I really appreciate Mike Caro (“Poker crazy genius”). I have read his books, and attended many of his poker seminars. Everything is very good. I usually heed his words of wisdom – his advice – but not this.

In fact, over the years I have developed my own “Magic Best-Profit Tip: Play your hand based on your immediate goal.

That’s my suggestion; and, it applies to all betting rounds.

Example

You’ve dealt pocket aces in low / medium limit hold’em games. If you don’t reveal your cards carelessly, your opponent won’t know the strength of your hand. (You can expect pocket Aces to be only one out of 221 hands handed out to you.)

In this case, my main objective is to play against two or three opponents, never more than four. The reason is clear and simple: If four or more opponents keep seeing the flop, according to basic poker math, your pocket aces – beautiful to look at – become the underdog. In this case, most of your AA time will be lost. So your immediate objective at that point is to reduce the size of the playing field, preferably down to two or three opponents.