When playing Holdem or Omaha Hi Low the player that is patient about the hands they play is way ahead of the game. In Holdem a high pair or Ace King is a powerful starting hand and could well take down the pot. By waiting to play this kind of hand, the poker player puts the odds in their favor and hopes that the hand holds up or is improved. In Omaha Hi Low, the best starting hand is Ace deuce, Ace, King with one of the cards other than the Ace matching the Ace suit. This hand gives the player a chance for high or low. Waiting patiently for this starting hand is what good players do for long periods in cash games. Of course you can get lucky with any starting hand, the odds favor the player that waits and plays these starting hands.

Folding hand after hand also sets up a great bluff as the other players will assume if you call that you have a good starting hand. In either case, the player that plays this way is hard to beat as they rarely get out of line with a marginal hand.

Conservative players will not get the action that action players get, but they will win more hands by playing conservatively. A raise by this type of player should be given credit for a good hand. They may be bluffing, but the call at this juncture is a risky call for most situations. the waiting game can get tedious for a poker player that craves action. This can be offset by playing suited connectors every now and then just to change the patient player image. Changing the style of play is the mark of a good player and will catch the other players off guard if the hand is a winner. Many big pots are won this way all of the time in poker games. High pairs or trips are not always the winner for any winning player that plays well.

Playing the other player is an art form that good poker players master early and use with calculated effectiveness in a cash game. Winning a big pot with three threes is a heart pounding event at any poker table. Not all hands are equal, but a winning hand can be a lowly pair of deuces in the correct situation. Play the player sometimes and see if your reads on them are valid. In the long run this is a profitable way to play poker.