There are times when you are going to get into a little bit of rivalry with a particular opponent.
It may be a friend you introduced to gaming or a professional battle with someone you have played a lot of poker with.
This type of history between two players is known as metagame, and it is effectively a war of the mind, where each person is trying to out-think the other; otherwise known as a levelling war.
If you do get into such a situation, it is always a great strategy to balance your range by playing your hand exactly as you would with your entire range in that particular spot.
This removes the ability for your opponent to second-guess what your action means.
Imagine you have c-bet on an ace high flop, and then doubled barrelled the flush draw onthe turn.
It is irrelevant if you make your hand or not on the river; you should be shoving all your range here (assuming you do have a pot-sized or less than pot-sized bet by this point).
Another example is being constantly three-bet by an opponent you believe is trying to out-level you; then, you should be shoving as a four-bet with all of your range.
When deciding to act in this manner, it is vitally important that you assess the situation correctly. Do not start balancing your ranges against a player who is not trying to play the levelling war, because you will just be making mistakes.
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