Math Smath
Poker is based on numbers, but humans make the decisions. Humans, unlike numbers, are illogical and emotional. An expert player attempts to understand his opponent's mental state to use it against him.
Calculating odds information:
You can break down into general groups player's states: even, winning and losing -- up a chip or stack is still even. Then after that, you'll have general groupings of how people react to winning, losing and being even. Generally being even doesn't change anything so I won't even waste one precious word on it.
Some groupings that I can list in a minute are below, along with some thoughts I might have for brutalizing them:
Losing: Pessimistic World's Against Me Type
Typical player who tells you (even though you don't know them) all their bad beats and won't shut up about how unlucky they are compared to everyone else. I'll bet more light hands, push more against, and generally try to steal more, when given the opportunity (avoid doing this with another player in the pot).
Losing: Turns Into Loose Aggro
Steamer type that always is pissed off and slams their chips down, curses under their breath and berates the dealers. You can tell when they have had enough and are going to snap and start to aggro off some chips. I like this. I'm used to playing heads up, so I enjoy isolating them. I'll try to look for spots to get heads up with them, even with OK hands. I don't need a huge hand to play against them because I know I'll get full value if I hit and if I lay it down, it only encourages them. Likewise, if you beat them then with a marginal hand, it really gets them going. (Don't take that too far.)
Losing: "You'll never steal from me anymore"
This player just turns into a calling station where he/she has to see every hand that beats them. Obviously when you know someone will call, you should only bet hands that you think are the winners. But don't hold back. In these spots I still like to get full value for hands like middle or second pair with a decent kicker because I know they'll call with less than that.
Winning: I'm in the zone.
Some people will play better when they are up, so you'll want to play your A game against them. And if you aren't getting cards, just stay out of their way. Don't go against the grain.
Losing: Time To Play Better
Same as the winning one above...
Winning: "I'm lucky I can get away with anything."
This is kind of a mix between the loose aggressive player and the calling station. They're in a lot of pots, playing to far with hands, and as long as they have a mountain of chips in front of them, they'll continue making really low percentage plays. Against these guys I lower my starting hand value as well as my post flop standards because like the calling stations, you don't need a monster hand to win. And because of the implied odds you get from them (they pay off every hand), you can open up some.
Winning: "I'm winning for once, look at me."
This player will get up from the table to smoke or do God knows what every other hand, basking in the infrequent victory. My suggestion is to throw a bottle at them, run like hell, call me and let me so I can promptly reward for your efforts.
