Sunday Best: Keep it Friendly

One of the best things you can do to help yourself win at a low-limit poker table is to keep the game as friendly as possible. As long as the atmosphere is fun and loose, the casual players who are there to have fun will keep gambling it up -- allowing you to rake in the chips they throw your way. Here are a few tips that will help you avoid losing this easy-going atmosphere:

• Don't berate players who make bad decisions! If an opponent plays badly, that's good for you, even if you might run into a few bad beats along the way. But if you get angry at someone at the table, it's likely to cause tension at the table, which might lead to the game tightening up.
• If a player makes a strategic comment that's clearly incorrect, let it go. If you try to correct them and they take it the wrong way, you might only inspire them to try harder against you; even with bad opponents, you don't want to give them a reason to concentrate on the game. Even if your opponent appreciates it, all you've done is make them a better player -- and put the rest of the table on notice that you know what you're talking about.
• Leave the sunglasses at home. Your low-limit opponents are not trying to read your soul, and those mirrored lenses are only going to make other players uncomfortable, which is likely to kill some of the action at the table.