Why does Scandinavia dominate cross country skiing in the Olympics? That's where the most skiers are. And that is why America has the best poker players – it has a large skill pool, honed by intense competition. Thanks to the poker boom, there are self-taught internet players in their twenties earning more than their parents.

This is exciting, but there is a down side. Each year, the number of superb players increases. As the total skill level keeps advancing, it will be harder and harder to win, especially at middle and upper levels, and especially in online limit hold'em. There are still plenty of new fish, but increasingly they are found only at shallower depths. The tendency is for unfit players to die out early, while the fittest rise to bigger stakes. As good players congregate at higher limits, it gets harder and harder for fish to survive there for any length of time. This is comparable to heavily hunted areas where none of the deer have spectacular antlers because they do not last long enough to grow 12 point racks. As the average life expectancy of incompetent bankrolls decreases, the mean skill level of survivors increases even more. And do not forget that a whole generation of excellent poker players are still in their twenties. Do not expect a die off anytime soon; this game will only get tougher.

If all the players are excellent, then everyone loses to the rake. Already there are games so competitive most nights that participants are really just trading back and forth the same diminishing pile of chips. If homo pokerus is going to thrive in an ever more difficult environment, he will have to adapt. Beating tables of tight aggressives like yourself is an entirely different skill set than maximizing expectation against inferiors. This article sketches some ways to continue making money, even as the game evolves to higher levels.

The single most important way of beating good players is maximum surprise. This does not mean the standard brand of surprise that is so useful against mediocre players. Good opponents will always guard against the aggressively played draw or the deceptive set that is pushed instead of slow-played. The only way to trick good players is with hands that are seemingly illogical. This requires giving up some EV by playing less likely hands, but if the game is too tight to beat the rake, there is no alternative.

This change requires embracing something that good players have long learned to revile: the idea that any two cards can win. The truth is, that in the right circumstances, any hand can win. The trick is to understand the circumstances. So what you want to do, is gradually build expertise playing different hands. Even beginners know how to play AA well. As you gain experience, you'll be able to play other hands as well. As you study, you want to gradually expand your repertoire of hands that you play well. After AA, the other big pairs, then smaller pairs and suited connectors. Then low unsuited connectors. Eventually, when you can play all the hands well, you'll be an expert.

The mother of all surprise hands is 72o. It is the one hand that everyone dismisses (save in the big blind), and therefore the only hand you can get more than one raise called with. Such garbage hands do have to be played carefully – in position, and with a ragged flop. But low cards are just as likely to pair the flop as high cards. This means that 72o should even be played for a raise against a single opponent (which is more and more common). If the flop misses the under-the-guns's AKo, 72o is just as potent whether it was played for one or three raises.

Playing hands that are beyond crap requires readily unloading them. If it is not a ragged flop, or if you do not flop two pair, you are immediately out of there. This style of play is high variance because you pay to see the flop so often, but then fold. But it is the only way to trap good players in a reraise war – the bread and butter situation that used to make you rich against bad players. You should strongly consider playing at Cryptologic online sites, which allow unlimited reraises one-on-one.

The concept of maximum surprise applies to good hands as well as junk. How many times have you flopped top pair in first position, then bet out like the books say, only to watch the whole field fold? Milking top pair works great on people that call, but tight aggressives like yourself will not. Against good players, you need to stop tipping your hand by betting out. Traditional wisdom says you must never allow a free card, and that is true against non-expert players. But guess what? If you have JJ against KQ, you are a favorite to win no matter what, whether you act first or last, and even if you let them draw. Checking is the only way to get more than one bet out of them. Allowing a free card does reduce EV against mediocre players, but against experts, this effect is canceled out by the surprise effect. You must rein in if over-cards fall, but on balance, that happens less often than you've been conditioned to think.

Playing in a mature poker population also requires some new ways to think about pot equity. All hands, even 72o, have some pot equity. That is, when a set of hands go up against each other over numerous trials, each will capture a certain percentage of the pot. Supposed garbage hand actually have more pot equity than commonly. Even lowly 72o, going up against pocket kings and aces, still wins 11-percent of the time. In a highly competitive environment, players can no longer afford to give up even scraps of equity. This means that you must not let people push you out of pots. If you fold 72o before it is drawing dead, then you've given up 11-percent of your expectation!

One of the biggest challenges presented by good opponents is that since they are both tight and aggressive, they often bluff. The traditional way to cope with this is with pot odds. If it is a worthwhile pot, you guard against the bluff with a call or reraise. But what if you face a player who has read this article, and knows that if he bluffs at small pots, everyone assumes he must have the goods because the pot is too small to risk a bluff on? I have developed a counter to this strategy, which is to start including another type of outs. Traditionally, outs are only cards – ones that will make your hand. But against aggressive bluffers, I have found it useful to include the likelihood of a bluff in the outs. So if observation of your opponent suggests he bluffs three out of six times, then add three outs to your inside draw, for a total of seven, which is worth a reraise.