Taking Advantage of Calling Stations in Poker
As you start to play online Poker, you will often come across the term calling stations, referring to those players who just love to call out. While they can be quite annoying, the fact is that by learning how to play them you will win a lot more money than competing against sharks.
Calling stations, as stated, are those individuals who call out not just on bets or calls but even raises and re raises. Comprised mostly of new players, they can be found both in online Poker and in land based card rooms. For these types the point is to always be part of the game, and they do this by calling.
These players do not realize that folding is actually a Poker strategy and that they can spend the time after folding studying the other players. Their lack of knowledge about the game is something that you can use.
When playing against calling stations, a Poker strategy that you should not use is bluffing. This is the number one mistake that players make. Their lack of skill does not make them easier to bluff; on the contrary their lack of it makes bluffing difficult, as they will only respond in one way: by calling.
The proper Poker strategy is to instead play your marginal hands and make a small bet a they will call out. As the flop gives you a stronger hand, keep playing this way until you get to commit and then raise.
When in a Poker tourney, you should instead wait for the premium hands, and when you do get them, make some bets and let him call it. The objective of your strategy is to get him to commit all his chips and with the big hand, you will be able to bust him out easily.
When playing Limit Holdem games, always keep an eye on the board. The calling station holding the weak hand might get lucky with the draw, so always make sure that you only bet a sizeable amount if the flop is uncoordinated. If there are potential straights or flushes, you should be more wary of making large bets that you want called out.
The number of calling stations in online Poker will only increase as the number of new players coming into Internet gambling grows and expands. For a player that is able to take advantage of their weaknesses, this will only mean more money to be won.
