No limit Hold’em mind game, as the name says, is much of a psychological and bluffing game than any other poker game. But these tools should be used based on the kind of opponent with whom you are playing.
When you play in lower stake games like that of $100 or so, then you do not need any mind game in that but yes, if the stake is higher says more than $200 then you must have this mind technique with you. But the main thing which you should do before starting to play with these mind games is that you must categorize your opponents.
The first category of opponent is ‘fish’. These are categorized as those opponents who are just playing their own hands and not at all yours. If you have a bigger bet and they have a bad hand, they will just fold back. But on the other hand if they have top pair although you bet higher then they will call you until you do not have any scary thing for them like putting them all together. And they won’t even bluff much at you.
The second category of opponents are ‘Weak-tight’, who are like fish but will call lesser. The next category is that of ‘Sherriff’, which are also similar to fish but understand the game enough and they know where to bluff. ‘Tight aggressive’ is yet another category of opponents which are tactically sound players. Although their no-limit ability depends largely on how well they are able to read their opponents.
Next category of opponent is ‘Hyper Aggressive’, who likes to bet and rise. It is advised best to test them while raising them. You must play differently with these guys and do not ever let them know that you are rising. You can easily trap them with your strong hands. ‘Tilting Players’ are also a category of opponents who just tries to bet all other guys. And the best technique which you should adopt for them is let them do their kind of betting.
While playing the poker game with any kind of opponent you must also have something in your mind regarding the play. You must know where to bluff. They might keep on calling you on the flop so that you reveal your strength in return. So, you must be very specific in switching up where in the pot you might bluff. Secondly you must also not pre flop play to being a technically sound player. For deceptive purposes, you must raise sometimes.
You must always try to know how much bet is with your opponent and your bet must be based on how much your opponent have rather than how much you have in your hand. You must get lead of your opponent. You must bet small, and have your opponent raised and try to raise him again and again. If you are in a condition where you are in a full house then you must bet hard as you have the best chance of your opponent having smaller house.