A poker player must consider the level or stakes he is playing while developing an overall poker game strategy. In general, micro stakes players are not going to be good players. As the stakes go up, the game will become harder and harder to beat. Since the cards do not change, why do the games get harder?

Levels of Thinking

Generally, as the stakes raise, the levels of thinking a poker hand through increases. The level of thinking of an opponent will tell a player how he has to play. The rule is whatever Full Tilt Poker level the opponent thinks at, the player has to think one and only one level above him. Here are the levels of thinking

1) The player thinks about his hand – specifically how it matches the board.

2) The player is thinking about his opponents hand – specifically what the hand range is and how it matches the board.

3) The player is thinking about what his opponent thinks he has.

4) The player is thinking about what his opponent thinks he thinks he has.

Beyond level four, the thinking levels continue in a similar manner. The key, as mentioned before, is to figure out what level thinker the opponent is, and be exactly one level above him. At micro levels, anything between .01-.02 and $1-$2, the players typically think at level 1. That means that level 2 thinking should be enough to win. Basic ABC poker is the way to win here.

At mid stakes on FullTiltPoker.com, the opponents get better and so their level of thinking is going to be higher. At the mid stakes, between $2-$4 and $10-$20, the players are thinking at levels 3-4. That means you should be on level 4 or 5 to play at these stakes. At the nosebleed levels, everything above $10-$20, the players are thinking at levels that cannot be determined, since it could be as low as four or as high as, well, some insane number. Who even knows what level Phil Ivey thinks at, all we know is, it is high. This of course is a guideline, and each player has to evaluate his opponents first, and not just go by the buy in. Some players are play too high for their levels and some good players play lower than they could. Each opponent has to be evaluated, and be played against accordingly.

If a player can think one level above each of his opponents, he will take money from them with ease.