The Evolution of Poker

Came across this article today.... I think it is a solid analysis of how the game has changed and how players need to constantly "adapt" to be ahead of the curve. It also more eloquently summarizes my general opinion about the differences in live play vs. online play, suggesting that online players are not better or more sophisticated, but that the online strategies had more opportunity to evolve due to the very nature of playing over the Internet. Enjoy.

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The Evolution of Poker
By AJKHoosier1

It is common knowledge in the poker community that the game is rapidly becoming more and more difficult to beat. Information is becoming available to the entire community that never used to be, through websites, poker schools, forums, etc. The average player today is stronger than the average player yesterday, and will be weaker than the average player tomorrow. However, there is more to this evolution of poker than just the improvement of the players; the game is changing, and those players that are best able to recognize and adapt to these changes are those that will be most successful throughout their poker career.

There are many plays and concepts that as of recently were considered advanced that have now become standard. A good example of this would be the re-steal or “squeeze” play. A year ago, it was a lot safer to try and steal the blinds from late position. Nowadays, the average online player is far more aggressive than ever before. It has gotten to the point where one shouldn’t be raising weak hands from obvious steal spots – the button, cutoff, etc - if the stacks aren’t right, because the odds of getting re-raised are far too high. This is the current stage of evolution that online poker has reached.

Perhaps you’ve heard someone say “the re-steal is the new steal”. This is a perfect illustration of the evolution of poker, and the winning player must be able to adapt. If 3-betting has become a standard play in online poker, then the obvious adjustment would be to either open less, or 4-bet more. As the general community begins to catch onto this, the game will once again evolve. In a year, maybe you’ll hear someone say “the re-re-steal is the new re-steal!”

This is not to say that we should be expecting every hand to be 8-bet preflop in a couple years- the evolution of poker strategy moves in cycles.

Recently I was playing a tournament with a friend watching by my side trying to learn. There was a spot where I picked up KK preflop with 15 big blinds, and a well-known player opened in front of me. Instead of just going all-in, I re-raised to about 2/3 of my stack. What I told my friend was this:

A little while ago, it was standard to make this kind of re-raise because most people feel it looks stronger than just reshoving, meaning it was done mostly with weaker hands. Nowadays, most people recognize this, and consider that sort of re-raise to be weaker. So, I am making it with KK to convince him that I am trying to make my hand look stronger and induce him to play with me.

This is a great example of the “cycle” of poker strategy. Just by putting this concept in this article, I am helping to disseminate this concept throughout the entire community. Eventually, perhaps even soon, most people will agree that one should re-raise in this fashion with big hands because it “looks weaker.” This also means that further down the line, people will recognize this and that style of re-raise will be considered most likely a big hand, like it used to.

Confused? You probably should be, but this is just one example of many of the cyclical evolution of poker strategy.

In my opinion, the main difference between fields in live tournaments and online tournaments is the “stage of evolution” that poker has reached in each arena. The evolution of online poker happens more rapidly than that of live poker, because those that are playing online are also most likely to be visiting the myriad places online that expedite one’s improvement as a player. This is not to say that “online players are better than live players,” just that the skill sets and concepts that are important or widely accepted in each arena differ, sometimes drastically. With the popularity and size of major poker community forums, it is easy to see how information from expert players can trickle down through the ranks faster than ever before.

Since the weaker players are being scolded for their bad plays and instructed as to how to play the hand next time, often by the same people, the community “moves together” up the ranks of poker skill. Slowly but surely, people conform to the playing styles of the top players. In the ranks of strictly live poker players, information and poker conversation generally goes just from one person to another. I don’t need to explain how massive amounts of information spread online faster than in any other environment. With the influx of online players into these major live tournament venues, the evolution of live poker will probably be catching up very soon.

Instead of just adapting to “keep up” with this evolution, one must be adapting to stay ahead of it. Rather than conforming one’s play to the same style as everyone else, the most successful players will be changing in ways that will keep them ahead of the curve. Therefore, it is crucial to recognize these signs of evolution as soon as possible, so that plans to develop a counter-strategy can take place as soon as possible.

The old guard is fading and the game is changing – you can either be left in the dust, or you can adapt and thrive. Good luck!

Hey, that was from pocketfives.com I believe (at least that's where I read it). AJKHoosiers is a really impressive player, very impressive article as well.

Great post and article Chris. :)

Very interesting, and even funny, but such a true article.

I personally hate it. The fact of what the online game has evolved into. I've said it a ton of times already on here about how I get so frustrated marginally deep in online MTTs that everything is very steal/resteal based. When you get to a certain level of an online MTT, you can throw your post flop skills out the window.

It is just my OPINION, but I think all of this "evolution" is ruining the game. I'm all for aggressive play, but there is some real truth to the fact that the 4-bet preflop will be the new "steal". And really.....what good is the game if it is standard to pump the pot with huge stacks before we have really gathered much information and before you've seen 70% of the cards to make your hand? I understand that most hands wont see the river...but I think you get my point.

Being funny, but half truth, I've thought that it is easier to "steal" from UTG than it is from the button or the cutoff in online play...and it is true!

I guess the article is right.....I can do one of two things...either I can tighten up in late positions (which I think is crazy and defys all common sense) or I can start to guess (and that is all it would be) whether someone is truly restealing or they actually have a hand (which believe it or not actually happens from time to time!) And I personally am not much into guessing when it comes to poker.....so unfortunately, I have to choose to tighten up in later positions.....I suppose it will keep me out of shitstorms of getting played back at. That is unless I have the heart to pull that re-re-steal out of the bag....and I just can't justify it 99.9% of the time......

To the top for this excellent post...