It’s important to have a competitive stack and be feared by the others as you’ll soon realize that the table is down to the final three people before you know it. In fact, six seater poker tables regularly lose a few players in the first few hands, so you need to be the one that picks up the pot. Play with pressure but don’t crack under pressure – if you realize that someone on the button is thinking the same, let them do so, and make sure you win the next few hands. There is no time to “get warmed up”, if you need to do that play on another table so you can start quickly and aggressively from the off.

Don’t forget to read your opponents and don’t concentrate on your own cards too much. With aggressive play, you need to be confident in making the cards work for you and put doubt in your opponents’ heads about their own cards. Once you have claimed a few pots, then you can switch to a head to head style of play, and don’t limp in on the short blinds.

Keys to Poker Tournament Success:

1.  Know the poker tournament’s structure – draft and study the poker tournament road map before starting your journey.

2.  Know how your opposition plays – get to know the “locals” on this journey

3.  Know when to push and when to fold – wisdom at the poker table – “timing” is everything.

4.  Courage to execute on your knowledge and wisdom – trust your instincts.

5.  Discipline to stay the course and adjust as necessary (stay off tilt) – remain focused.

Put it all together and demonstrate discipline

I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have found myself in a live poker tournament in the following situation:

I’ve registered for the poker tournament and studied the blind structure.  I get my seating assignment and walk over to my table.  To my pleasant surprise, I see some familiar faces, as I’ve played with several of these tournament players before.

I absolutely love my seating assignment!  I have tells on the guy to my right, as we’ve played together a dozen times.  He’s the player who will checks the flop to me when he misses, bet it when he hits.  He value bets the river when he thinks he has a great hand, and makes huge pushes on the river when he was drawing and missed.  I read him clear as day.  I own him – he knows it, I know it.

Not only is this guy sitting to my right, but I’m twice as excited as there’s an older guy sitting across the table from me.  I know the more I bet, the more likely he is to call.  He’s that guy who will make off the wall calls or plays and have some sort of off the wall explanation for everything, yet he’s the first to go on a tilting rant when someone plays a greasy hand against him or shows a bluff.

I look around the table and identify one or two tough players.    I decide I’m going to get paid by the old call station across from me and additionally I’m going to let the guy on my right bluff into me all day long.  Because I historically own these guys, my hope is that they stay around as long as possible in the tournament, as they have the ability to take chips from other people, and then they will pay me off.  So, my strategy in this poker tournament is to get involved with them, while avoiding getting too wrapped up with anyone else.  I also commit myself to avoiding the tough players at the table when I’m out of position and the timing is not right.

Remain focused – stick to the plan

I’ve got my tournament road map, I know the players involved.  I have a plan.  I intend to be fearless, calculating and relentless in my plan’s execution.  And then, “it” happens…  I lose focus.

I have all this going for me at the table, my plan’s going off without a hitch.  And then, for whatever reason, I decide to limp under the gun with 3-2 suited.  I’m pretty certain that the tough player is going to raise it up pre-flop, as he’s in late position.  I even think that to myself as I’m limping.  Sure enough, he puts in a raise.  My plan tells me to fold, however I find myself calling after the guy to my right calls from the big blind (he loves to play out of the blinds and the tough player knows it).

We’re three handed going into the flop, to which I hit bottom pair and have backdoor flush and straight possibilities.  My favorite river bluffer checks, which tells me based on his past play, he missed.  I decide to push a bet out there, as I’m wanting to steal the pot.  I bet 3/4 pot on the flop.  The tough player calls cleanly after giving my bet some thought.  The bluffer folds.  I’m now heads up with the guy I vowed to avoid without a substantial hand.

The turn gives me a gut shot straight draw, yet eliminates my backdoor flush possibility.  I convince myself of two things.  First, this guy was making a move.  He sees what I see (the bluffer loves to play out of the blinds) – so obviously he’s trying to isolate him.  Second, the tough player has a hand like A-K. A-Q, A-J.  It seems as if everyone wants to put someone on a hand like that when they’ve raised preflop from late position – weird…  So anyway, I’ve convinced myself this guy has shit.

I’ve also conveniently forgotten that I’m not supposed to play against this guy out of position.  I’ve increased the value of my gutshot, and feel like bottom pair is the stone cold nuts, for some strange reason.  I check.  The tough guy thinks for a bit, and he pushes out a pot sized turn bet.  I know this bet commits him to the pot.  I’m also aware that he knows it, and knows I know it.  In the back of my mind, I hear myself calling for a situational fold.  I can lay down here and be just fine.  I’m off the road map, lost in an off limits area.  Simply folding here is the right move – and I know it.

For some odd reason, I call with intentions of jamming it on the river no matter what.  The river is a blank and I shove, only to find out I was against pocket aces.  A short while later, I give the remaining tournament chips to the guy playing to my right when he bets the flop and I jam it all-in, even though my notes told me he only bets the flop when he hits – and I had nothing.

I got way off course there.  I didn’t follow my road map.  I didn’t exercise prudent judgement in my timing.  I failed to execute on my plans.  How can this be?  I made it a priority to map my tournament out, yet I decided to travel way off the course?  It all boils down to the fact that I had a lapse of discipline.

Nothing will derail your poker tournament faster than a lapse in discipline

When playing a poker tournament, you must remain disciplined.  Stay the course, make adjustments when necessary, however – stick to your plan.  Remaining focused and disciplined is something one must constantly work on.  If you’ve taken the time to map out your tournament, familiarize yourself with your opposition, and to draft a plan of action, you owe it to yourself – I owe it to myself to stick to the game plan!

~ imjusthere4thebeer writes articles discussing poker strategy, poker tournament strategy, and poker cash game strategy for the Online Poker Circuit.  He also contributes editorial commentary on the world of poker to the OPC via his Poker Pub blog, and discusses news from the poker world via the State of Poker News.

5 poker tourney nuggets of advice

1.  Knowledge of the poker tournament’s structure.

2.  Knowledge of each opposing player’s tendencies.

3.  Wisdom to identify the proper time and place to push or fold.

4.  Courage to execute on your knowledge and wisdom.

5.  Discipline to stay the course and adjust as necessary (stay off tilt).

Today, we shall discuss winning poker tournament key #1.

Knowledge of the poker tournament’s structure

.

Whether playing a home poker tournament, a back-room poker tournament, an online poker tourney, or playing live at a big casino’s poker tournament, you must become intimately familiar with your poker tournament’s structure.  The first question I ask the tournament director or host is a very general “what can you tell me about this tournament?”  It sounds like a very general question.  Rest assured, I am really asking several very specific questions.

I want to know from the tournament director how much the buy-in will cost (I also ask whether or not there is juice paid for entry to the tournament, as I want to know the total cost).  I also want to know if the poker tournament allows for rebuys or add-ons.  I want the tournament director to tell me how many chips we start with.

Get a copy of the tournament structure

Additionally, I ask for a copy of the blind structure.  The blind structure serves as my road map in the tournament, and allows me to plan my trip. I study the blind structure because I want to know what the blinds start out at, and how they progress.  I’m specifically looking to size up my starting chip stack, relative to the blinds.

This poker tournament information is important to me because as a poker tournament craftsman, I want to know where the poker tournament’s pressure points are, I want to know how fast or slow I have to play.  I also want to know where I can logically shift gears, as well as where other people are likely to shift gears.  The poker tournament’s blind structure gives me so much information, which is why I always ask the tourney host or tournament director for my own personal copy.

Finally, in knowing my poker tournament’s blind structure, considering we are playing poker tournaments to make money, it’s important to find out how the tournament is paid out, so be sure to ask for the payout structure as well.

imjusthere4thebeer

~ imjusthere4thebeer writes articles discussing poker strategy, poker tournament strategy, and cash game strategy for the Online Poker Circuit.  He also contributes editorial commentary on the world of poker to the OPC via his Poker Pub blog, and the State of Poker News.

Heads up…As the poker tournament progresses, we discussed yesterday that our play is adapting to the stage of the tournament. We’re contrarians by nature, so when everyone is typically tightening up around the bubble, we’re opening up our offense. Additionally, as the tables shorten, we’re becoming more willing to play more hands. We recognize that at shorter tables, more of our hands are playable and have more positive expected value characteristics than at full tables.

The one thing we MUST remember while we’re evolving throughout the tournament is to “keep your head up.” No, I don’t mean stare at your monitor mindlessly. I am referring to being observant to the changes in player behavior at the tables. Ever notice someone, specifically in a rebuy/addon tournament appear to be a total donk in round one and two of the blinds? You know exactly the person I speak of, I’m sure. The guy who seems to be limping with 2-3s (the “baby schroeck” – superdonk’s alter ego’s signature hand). In the event “that guy” is still around nearing the end of the first hour, objectively watch his play. Is he showing down hands such as the 2-3s still or has his play tightened up substantially? Some people like to donk it up in the opening minutes of a rebuy. Psychologically speaking, I have them labeled a donk for the duration, even if they show down only group I hands from then on out, when in reality he was perhaps looking to donk it up in hopes of making me label him accordingly, and thus getting action from me later when “the board obviously missed us all.”

Its imperative to know your opposition at all stages of the game. As another example, it would probably be helpful to know that as the tournament progresses and we get shorter handed and/or closer to the bubble, I tend to play more hands and push harder than I normally would. That is because, as I said, I’m opening up the offense, breaking out the “gadget” and “high impact plays” from my playbook in hopes of “picking apart” your conservative, soft “prevent defense.” If you knew I was planning to do this, you’d either come at me more aggressively, or you’d be more inclined to play me “man to man”… if not just get out of the way and let someone else battle it out with me. Yes, knowing this would be ever so helpful (just like my knowing you know is helpful as well – gotta love human chess now, don’t ya?). Seriously though, if everyone at the table was acutely aware that towards the end of a tournament, with blinds increasing and my M in the red, I’m pushing allin with anything of higher +EV than 10-8 offsuit, the profitability of that move decreases. Why is that? I have factored into my expected value equation that some of the times I will steal a pot uncontested with this move and other times I will be called by a better hand, only to outdraw (read: out-donk) them.

Bottom line, be aware of who’s game is evolving right along with yours. More often than not, you’ll find the guy you end up heads up with is still playing as if he is at a full table. He’ll be putting out his “standard raise” & not as willing to reraise you. He’ll fold to continuation bets, or when you jam it on the turn. Unlike you, his game is not evolving as the tournament progresses. He truly begins to believe that you’re getting monster hands and betting them… because that is what he would do. When he finally calls or reraises ya, he probably has you beat preflop. Think of what his hand range is when he finally gets around to growing a pair, and play accordingly on the flop, relative to that and how your hand fits the flop.

If in fact, you’re up against someone who has adjusted to the shorthanded and heads up play, then think of which hands he’d likely play the way he’s playing, observing him for predictable patterns, and adjust accordingly. Essentially this becomes the “I know what you’re doing, and I know you know that I know what you’re doing game.” Far more challenging than the static player, but a lot more fun. Bottom line, keep your heads up the whole way through and know your opposition.

Reminder, CheckRayz $100 freeroll tournament at the poker tables of Poker4ever. Password is available on the CheckRayz poker tournament schedule page. You must be logged in to retrieve the password for the free poker tournament. I will not be present for the tournament tonight, as our ever so “classy” soccer team has a game tonight. Have fun and see you at the heads up challenge!

Mike

Ok now that is out of the way, and taking into consideration I did not do a mailbag this week, in protest to the gambling legislation being pushed through our government, I bring you the ever so lengthy, lacking flow email response to CheckRayz MVP Bob (BC5457). As a side note, I am posting this today, because I feel it would be helpful to those compelled to play in the CheckRayz heads up poker tournament at Celeb Poker. Registration for the tournament opens tommorrow at 10pm.

Bob writes: Mike I need help in heads up play. I can hang around the final table, but heads up I need help. If you can give any advice or point me in the right direction I would be very thankful.

Thanks Bob

I respond (after taking a deep breath): Playing heads up is more of an “art form” and less of a science. I compare general poker play to telling a story or painting a picture. Heads up play, I look at more so as a puzzle. To piece together a puzzle of how successful heads up play can work, I’ll first talk about play at a full table, and then break down to a short-handed table, then finally to heads up play, as this is a natural progression. At a full (9-10 person table), the tight aggressive player (TAG), who respects “position” has the clear tactical advantage. The TAG player understands his starting hand selection, plays the hand hard, and often wins without showdown – usually, the earlier he acts the more of a monster he has. He of course, slightly relaxes his hand selection as he moves to later positions. He has a clear advantage at a full table simply because he is more selective in the hands he plays, and often when he shows down, he has the best hand at showdown, or clearly had the better hand preflop.

As the table shortens, the semi-loose aggressive player begins to take charge as the most profitable player at the table over time. He too throws chips with a vengeance and respects position. However, he recognizes that as the table shortens, there is less of a chance that people have a hand that is better than his preflop. He is willing to play hands normally suitable for middle position on full tables when first to act, and will often raise with two playable cards from the late positions. He recognizes that the blinds are coming around quicker, so he must see more flops and/or steal more often in order to maintain and grow his chip count. Quite often, you’ll see him raise his connectors, and limp with his monsters when he’s acting late. A successful semi-loose aggressive player completely understands how his hand best plays (heads up, or multi-way) and will often win pots that the flop totally missed him (and everyone else involved in the hand).

This type of player, the semi-loose aggressive types, stands the best chance of converting from short handed play to heads up play in a given tournament. Throughout the average tournament, he’s “tight enough” that he’s not in donk territory, but loose enough that he can relate to the mind of a donk, providing he survives the initial stage of a tournament. Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe the Tight Aggressive Approach is the best overall posture to maintain at the poker tables, but its exactly that… a base posture.

By nature, I am a tight aggressive player. As a tournament gets closer to the end stages, or the end game, I “evolve” into a semi-loose aggressive player. I relax my standards as we approach the bubble (in general, not taking into account chip count or “M calculation”). When we reach heads up play, its safe to assume I am as close to a donk as I can possibly be.

When playing heads up, the “smart” Loose aggressive playing style is best suited to be a successful heads up playa. Every hand you play is heads up here. So this begs a few questions. First, what hands are playable? And as a follow-up, how does one deal with the “problem” of holding a nice multi-way hand, but only having one opponent to play it against.

So, first thing’s first. Heads up, any two “playable” cards are in fact playable. I’ll typically play any hand without a two or three, but containing one high card (i.e. – A4offsuit and above, K-5off and above, Q7off and above, Jack-eight and up). Any two suited cards are playable as well (even the two three suited). Additionally, any pocket pair is playable.

Typically, I mix my play up, making it damn near impossible for a player to get a solid read on me. At the same time, I am trying my best to get a read on my opposition. I’m “keeping score” to understand what the minimal action I can throw to get him to fold is. Often, you’ll find that a combination of a preflop raise, followed by a continuation bet on the flop is sufficient to fold someone up, or a preflop raise, check on the flop, bet out on the turn (the old stop and go play) will entice a fold. I’m always making notes as to what will entice a fold, as well as to how the opponent is responding to my aggression or lack of it. I try to vary this though, so as to not become predictable myself.

Once again, not taking chip count into consideration, I mix up my plays preflop. If I have a playable hand, I’ll randomly limp, raise min., raise two, three, four, five times the blinds. I’ll randomly continue the bet on the flop, or reraise. I keep in mind that I am not only betting my hand, but also betting against his hand.

When in the big blind, I will often raise if he limps, to see how he responds. I’m testing him here as well, to see if he’ll limp/fold. If he does, then I know that I can more often than not push him off the pot with this move. Additionally, I am discouraging him from playing hands he’s not comfortable playing to a raise (limiting his hand range, making it an easier read for me). He’ll end up folding uncontested more often than not, if he feels I am going to raise it, which gives me more chips without a fight, and the insight that he’s only playing hands that have some quality to them. This tells me that when he does limp/call, I might have to improve on the flop to continue, and will definitely need to improve on the turn/river if he calls my continuation bet.

When I am playing out of the small blind, is he raising me? Will he fold to a raise? How small of a raise is likely to fold him up? All these things I am mentally noting. I enjoy having a feel for what the least common denominator is to get someone to fold up and go home. Keep in mind, my “random actions” are very deliberate in purpose — confusing the opposition, encouraging folding, and putting together a puzzle piece by piece, working different areas of the puzzle at once. I’ll work the top left portion of the puzzle for a little bit, then break off and string together a few pieces in the middle, or on the bottom, then move onto the next part where I see two-three pieces that can fit and help me to come closer to the conclusion – putting together the entire thing, making it into a full picture.

As for the next “problem” how does one play hands “correctly” heads up when they fair better multi-way? There’s no easy answer to this question. As a basic rule, you “could” put in a raise with the multi-way hands (7-6offsuit, for example). If called, this will give you better odds to draw. However, the problem becomes, you cannot always raise 7-6offsuit and never raise AA. This also makes you too predictable. I just come to understand what kind of hand I have, how it best plays, and then randomly decide what I am doing (random is the key word). I know that if holding seven six, and the flop misses me, I either have to steal the pot between now and showdown, or will have to improve to win at showdown (even if 2-3-3 hits the board and I’m confident it missed my opposition as well, I KNOW that if I showdown and the board misses us both to the river, I do not have the best hand with 7-6 off). So in this portion, knowing what kind of hand you have, and how it will hold up based on hitting the board, missing the board, or both you and the opponent hitting the board is of paramount importance. People are more likely to call a raise or raise themselves with ace seven, king seven than they are with queen or jack seven. This poses a potential problem if king-seven-two rainbowed hits the board, and less of a problem if jack seven two hits. The board with the king/ace is likely to have hit you both, maybe even giving him two pair. I typically grasp how my hand ranks based on what “story I have told” this hand and the few hands before… or more specifically, what parts of my puzzle have I been working on.

Finally, from a chip stack standpoint, I’m keeping score of the percentage of chips in my possession and also how much the blinds cut into him per hand. If I have the stack, and the blinds are costly (blinds 100-200, I have 3000 chips, he has 1000 chips), I’m typically raising to 1000 if I’m playing, espcially when I am in the big blind and he’s limped incorrectly. Doing this sends the clear message he has one hand to get it right. Besides, he’s probably allin on the flop anyways, so I might as well make him decide how strong his hand is now, as opposed to letting him make me decide on the flop. If I’m on the other end of the spectrum, and have 1000 chips, with blinds 100-200, I’m in allin or fold mode, being content with stealing, but accepting that I have great implied odds of him either folding or doubling me up.

In conclusion, I relax my hand standards, make my play appear totally random… keeping the pressure on, and all the while, I am putting together my puzzle. I hope this helps you out. I’m planning to blog on heads up on Tuesday on the Poker Pub, including a lot of the above, as well as Harrington’s take on heads up play. Let me know if you have any further questions, concerns or ideas… or if anything above needs further clarified, explained or expanded on. Thanks again for supporting the tour.

Talk to you soon,

Mike

The main factor to keep in mind, is that this particular match up pitted your hero versus arch-nemesis SuperDonk. Anything we do against one another usually ends up in both a battle of skill and a battle of ego.

When the heads up play began, I had about 80% of the chips in front of me. In the first game, the main event… I did not get the privilege of heads up play, as the second-third place finishers agreed to a split. That being said, I was slightly itching for some heads up action. I had pretty much handed SuperDonk a substantial amount of chips, bringing him back, uncontested to 45% of the chip count. I was both wanting to make it a game, and “tell a story” of sorts.

Heads up play, up to the 2-3 hand went pretty much like this. SuperDonk raises, Beer Guy folds. SuperDonk raises, Beer Guy folds… As I said, I was chipping him up and setting the context to “tell a story” in the process. My thoughts were that SD would quickly realize that raising preflop appeared profitable. Furthermore, based on my “story telling,” he’d believe that I’d raise only with a quality hand. This in turn suggested he should raise with any two cards, giving him a wide hand range and that my hand range that I was playing would be very narrow, or predictable. That clues him in to raise/fold preflop. Believing that I incorrectly had “standards” with respect to starting hands dictates that he fold if he’s on the more likely low range of starting hands if I reraise him, specifically reraising to allin.

That being said, in my mind… I’m chipping him up, which he is not aware of. I want to use this reraise move on a hand that I do not expect to win from. Ace-ten is positive EV heads up. I’m thinking why waste this move on a hand like ace ten… So, he raises preflop. I see the 2-3 and push allin, certain he will fold up shop. He makes the call with QJ offsuit, in his words “believing he had the better preflop hand.” If he in fact did believe this, he made a great read. Additionally, if he made any read at all, he’s further ahead than he was a few short months ago.

On a slightly related topic, he and I were discussing the infamous knockout of all things donk with my four five suited. The fact is, when I pushed allin, I could have told everyone that I had a straight, and was holding 4-5 of hearts. Not a soul at the table would have ever believed me. In fact, I probably could have shown everyone my cards, and they’d have all somehow believed it was one of those “elaborate jedi mind tricks” I was pulling… and I likely really had queens or something.

On a CheckRayz note, free poker tournament at Noble Poker tonight. $100 freeroll prize pool for the noble tournament. Additionally, $5+.50, $100 added poker tournament at Noble tomorrow. Don’t miss out on playing in the best and tightest private poker tour on the net.

When last we left off our villain had completed the blind, only to run into a Judith raise, which he donkily called. The pot contained 24,000 tourney chips (each person having 50% equity in the pot) and the flop came 7s Qh 3d, giving Judith top pair with a sweet kicker, but giving our villian middle pair with a poor kicker.

My flop analysis from the villian’s point of view:

While I cannot say for certain that this flop did or did not help her, I know it helped me. One small problem however, I was looking to flop a straight or a flush and I got a pair. One thing that is working in my favor is that the flop is the “cheap date” if I check, its only 6k of my stack if and when she bets out… and I do have middle pair (I’m beginning to forget that my hand was not a “winner” when it pairs). However, if I just check and call here, I’m not able to put her on a hand. She could have a pocket pair, of which I’m currently beating 4 of them (2′s, 4s, fives and sixes). If she has Ax, I’m beating all but two of them right now. I’m almost beginning to wish I would have reraised preflop or did something to help her further define her hand to me. I do, however, need to show strength right now. I’m going to bet out, to see if she raises me trying to get her to further define her hand. If she raises here and I call, I’m obligating myself to call the turn and the river though because barring an obvious card hitting the board the odds will be too good for me to not check-call to the river on this one. But I do have her covered and can always pull a surprise later if need be. So, I’ll bet 6k here.

The masses regarding villains situation:

7 of the ten (“ironically” the five who call and the two who cite the suited hand arguement) all bet here “because they have a pair.” The more aggressive answer, the one praying for a raise to reraise, would check and call here. The remaining two check and fold to a bet.

My take on Judith’s hand:

This is perfect, a flop lacking anything really connected. How do I get the most of his chips into the center, I wonder? I don’t see him calling with q-7, q-3, 7-3, or 4-5. I’m surely the best hand here. He’d have likely reraised with a pocket pair. I think this hand is a good slow play candidate for this flop. If he checks, I’ll check behind him. If he bets, I’ll just call. I want to continue to keep the odds low for him to not draw on me “correctly.”

The masses on Judith’s hand:

9 out of ten bet, because they have top pair. One player surveyed checks “because AQ always finds a way to lose.”

Real action: villian checks, judith bets (6k), villian calls cleanly.

Turn card: pot contains 36000 tournament chips. 10s hits the board.

my take on villain: OK, now I have third pair. Two cards are on the board that more than likely could have helped her. I’ve not shown strength so far, and its totally unlikely I have the best hand. She is capable of playing Q-10s, but likely has ace – something sizable. She “could” be holding one of my “favorite” hands (KJ), which this card would have helped her out. There’s a flush draw on the board and a straight draw, along with two big cards. If I bet and she reraises, I’m in for half my stack with one card to come. If I check and call, though not my style, I’m in for about half my stack come the river. I’m already too far into this hand and “should” fold. I do believe the only way to win right now is to bet my hand though. Do I want to bet this hand? Do I think she might fold to a bet? Meh, I don’t care… I’d rather save my chips for a better hand. I’d check/fold, even though the numbers suggest check/call, as there’s not enough hands I have beat at present.

Masses take on villain:

Five of ten bet “because they have a pair.” Two of the original seven, plus the original aggressor check/call. The remaining check/fold.

My take on Judith: Bet/reraise. Unless he’s slow playing a monster, I have him beat.

Others on Judith’s hand: 9 of ten bet. The remaining one person throws this hand away regardless of whether or not a bet is made by the small blind because “AQ always loses and I’d rather muck it right now than see the river card that will surely beat me.”

Actual play: villain checks, judith bets 12k, villain calls.

River: Pot contains 24k from preflop, 12k from the flop, 24k from the turn (5 BB or big bets). River card is 7d.

My take on Judith’s hand: Well, at least the good news is that the board didn’t flush. The bad news is that I don’t have him on a flush draw though. This is a horrible card for me. I was sure I had the best hand all the way through, but now I’m not so sure. Although, if he is going to make a steal attempt, it would probably be now. I’m not sure I want to fall for that though, so if he bets, I’ll just call. If he checks, I bet/call. Either way, I’ll still have enough tourney chips left to do something, but not nearly enough as if that damn card didn’t hit the board.

Masses on Judith: 9 of ten bet, “because they have top pair.” One of ten folds regardless of action, however he cites he checks this through or folds to a bet saying “I knew I should have thrown this away on the turn! Its unfair that I have to “play along” with this. I’m not even in the hand preflop! Damn you Mike, I can’t even get a hypothetical win out of you!”

My take on villian: great card! As long as she’s not holding ace seven or a set, I’m da man. Will she bet this though? I’m not chancing whether or not she’ll bet, as the correct move is for me to now bet out, hoping for a raise and then I will reraise. I need to run up my bar tab here.

Others on villain: 10 out of ten bet out here, because they have three cards the same.

Actual action: Villain bets, judith raises, villian reraises, as does judith… she ends up allin with the second best hand and loses to the villain. NH, gg.

Overall analysis: she lost the hand. She didn’t necessarily play it “incorrectly” in my opinion. Slow playing was not “incorrect” either. By playing it the way she did, she provided him “better” odds to draw (raise preflop put 4 big bets in the pot before the flop came). He was justified calling a 1/2 bet on the flop. Additionally, the math says he was justified calling the lone turn bet, if you didn’t factor in the implied river bet he’d also have to call. The river comes, he was correct in betting out. Judith, in my opinion, erred when she raises, as she could have continued, though somewhat crippled if she made a mere call. He called, saying at the very least he was on the board. With the board pairing, he “could” have improved.

On the other hand, if she disguised her hand preflop, by checking and then checked the flop, the pot is not big enough to justify his call on the turn. I think she wins this pot on the turn if it were smaller. There are many ways to assess this hand and its play. Obviously the masses (the whole ten people who are not statistically significant due to the very small sample size) see the board differently than perhaps you and I do, feel comfortable betting “because they have a pair.” It is apparent that “most people” don’t ponder what hands someone else might have. They were only “betting their hand” they weren’t respecting the board and demonstrated no clue that the opposition could beat them because “they had a pair” (great thing to remember when playing against “the masses”… they bet or call “because they have a pair… and will even call when they “seem” to be beat).

I’m sure this hand will be discussed in further detail at some other time… but as for now… onto the mailbag.

Mail time!

First email comes from everyone who accumulated 1000 rake points since March 1st at Poker4ever:

BeerGuy, what’s the password for tonight’s $500 freeroll at poker4ever?

The password is oneGrake . There needs to be 20 peeps who have accumulated 1000 rake points for this event to get underway, so take that for what its worth.

Next one comes from everyone who was eligible for the CheckRayz Rewards Tournament:

Have we rescheduled the rewards tourney yet?

Yep, this Thursday at River Belle. See your invitation for more details… I sent it yesterday.

Moving on…

If I followed the instructions, and could not register for the rewards tournament, when will I be able to register?

You’ll be able to register on Monday morning if you’re unable to register, providing you follow the instructions I provided.

Next email is regarding the recent buyin at kiwi:
why the hell didnt you just send the password out for the buy-in game?? I mean what the hell! I can understand a freeroll. Anyhow i missed joining by 1/2 a min.

It is my policy that rarely give out passwords via email… and by rarely I mean almost never… I don’t care if it is a freeroll or a buyin. I like the “semi-closed” community we have. If someone is going to choose to play with us, I want them to take the time to sign up and obtain the password on their own. I do not wish to make it easy for the people out there to “crash” our tournament without an invitation from me. That being said, I have no problem with people seeing our tournament last minute, registering on our site, joining the tournament and becoming a member of our community. Realistically, I know that passwords are sometimes “given out” by people to their friends without telling them they have to register. Ethically, this is “stealing” considering that all tournaments are listed as “private” and the terms are that one must be a member of checkrayz to participate. I don’t leave my door unlocked at home. If someone breaks in to steal from me, I make it hard, I lock the door. The same stands true with passwords. If I don’t issue them via email, and take measures to protect them, I’m not guaranteeing they won’t be stolen. I am, however, taking measures to protect them and making it a bit more difficult for them to “steal” from us. That being said, I’ll almost never give them out via email.

As for others, keep that in mind next time anyone considers handing out my passwords. I work hard to get money added to the tournaments we hold. I have two general rules, if you cannot play, don’t register or just unregister… Second, do not give out the password to your buds. If ever I catch anyone giving out passwords, I will do whatever I can to “sanction” these individuals. Nuff said.

Final email for the mailbag this week:

Beer, Did you REALLY give out $100 and pokertracker for that one tournament you held at River Belle?

Damn right I did! $100 transferred to the winner within 30 minutes of the tournament ending, and he received the pokertracker activation roughly 24 hours after the end of the tournament… all as advertised. Speaking of which, Norm, how’s it working for ya?

Situation:

$200 Freeroll at River Belle Poker. 12 people remain, top ten get paid (read: bubble). Tables are six seated at this point. Judith, our hero is fourth in chip count with a bit over 60K sitting in front of her. The villian (“boooooooo!”) has roughly 80K in chips and sits directly to her right. Blinds are 3000/6000. Judith’s actual M is 6, with her “effective M” (M adjusted for shorthanded tables – something I’ve not yet discussed in the endgame series) is under 4. Villains actual M is 8 and effective M of 5. Observe that both players are “short stacked” relative to the blinds. Both players actual M is in the “orange zone” and their effective M places them into the Red Zone.

Preflop Position and cards and play:

Villain sits in the small blind with 7c-5c. Judith sits in the big blind with Ad-Qs. Action folds to villain. Villain completes the blind, calling 3000. Judith raises, making it 12,000, villain completes.

Preflop analysis:

Me: (on villain) with an M of eight and effective M of five, especially being a limit tournament, this hand is not really “playable” from the orange zone. I’d be equally comfortable with a steal attempt here, being heads up, as I would be with folding this hand. However, I’m not wanting to commit my chips with this hand and would probably fold to any pressure. If my M was not so low, I’d be inclined to raise heads up and on a short table with this hand to “protect” the value of my raises with hands more monstrous in value.

Other players through conversation on villain’s hand: 5 people out of the ten surveyed said that seven five suited, heads up was “a good hand” and would call. Two people “surveyed” would have raised, “because the hand was suited.” One person would have called, praying for Judith to raise, and then reraised her. Surprisingly, two people would have folded this hand.

So preflop survey: 5 call, two raise, two folds, one call/raise/reraise. Mike would be almost equally likely to fold as he would to try to steal, and would be inclined to back off to any pressure under unfavorable circumstances (i.e. a reraise and/or unfavorable flop).

Me (on Judith – and not “knowing” what this guy has): Sitting in the big blind in a limit tournament with this hand, heads up and against the chip leader, I’m inclined to want to slow-play this hand. The hand is ideal to stand up unimproved if the board misses the both of us, it has top pair capability, and is capable of producing a straight (thus connectivity). I’d be inclined to want to naturally raise with this hand, as it is somewhat of a monster. But, I’d think that I could both disguise and extract more value from this hand by checking it through, given that I am heads up and have position relative to the small blind. Furthermore, by checking, I’m able to look at the flop and cut down his odds to draw on me, causing him to make a mistake by calling anything after the flop. A raise here would sweeten the pot, however, it would potentially give him the odds to call down and draw somewhat correctly. For these reasons, I check.

Others (on Judith’s hand and not knowing what the other guy has): Eight of ten surveyed raise preflop with this hand, because “its a strong hand.” One out of ten checks because “AK and AQ ALWAYS lose.” The remaining one likes the idea of slow-playing this hand, citing nothing about pot odds.

Actual Play: SB completes, Judith raises, SB calls…

Flop: 7s Qh 3d

…To be continued tomorrow, along with the mailbag.

Mike

Today we’ll dive into raising. We all know I am not a fan of “calling,” generally speaking. Anyone who’s been on the tables with me knows I am not a “cheap date.” In general, I endorse the “raise or fold” approach. That’s not to say that a raise is to always be put in, nor is it saying that we should blindly raise. Let’s take a moment for you, my cold medicine, and I to ponder why one raises and by how much, generally speaking.

Why Raise?

There are a few different reasons why one raises a pot. First of all, putting in a raise is the act of putting in a bet that is at least double the size of the big blind. A raise typically says “I have a good hand.” But should you raise just because you have a good hand? One would be inclined to say yes, however this is not the case.

We are dealt our hole cards, and we identify what kind of poker hand we have and then we take a look at what position we’re sitting in. I also recommend whether playing live or playing online you make yourself familiar with the chip stack size of everyone at the table prior to doing any of the above. I like to know how many chips everyone else has, as well as how many I have before making any decisions. Once we’ve checked the stack sizes, identified what hand we have and what position we’re in, we reflect on how this hand best plays.

Beer Guy, what do you mean by reflecting on how this hand best plays? Don’t all hands play best when you flop the nut? HaHa… no that’s not at all what I am talking about. What I mean is, are we holding a playable hand or not? If no, fold… If it is playable, does this hand play out better against more opponents or fewer opponents (recall the conversation regarding speculative hands, top pair hands, and powerhouse hands?) Speculative hands play better multi-way. These are hands such as 8-9s. They do not typically hold up when top pair flops. They do, however, pay dearly when 7-6-10 hits the board. Depending on my position the blind levels and my chip stack, I might be inclined to either raise, call or fold with this hand.

If I am sitting in the early position with 8-9s in the middle of the poker tournament with an average chip stack, I’m throwing this hand away. However, middle of the tournament, sitting on the button with 8-9s and 1 caller, I’d be equally as likely to call or raise preflop with this hand. Let’s suppose for argument’s sake I get 1 person to limp preflop from the middle position. He can be making this limp with pretty much anything, a small connector suited or not, ace small, deuces, etc from his middle position. After his limp, action folds to me. I have two choices, neither of which are “incorrect” but I like to mix play up.

I’m playing this hand, the question becomes, do I raise or do I call and what are the benefits of each? If I call, I most likely will get a completion from the SB and a check from the BB and will see the flop four handed. If I put in a standard raise (3-6 times blinds), I have a few different things going on. First, I am showing strength. Second, I might be able to steal the pot right there. Third, I may get a caller or two, which I have the benefit of acting last and have shown strength before the flop. A raise here would be put in for steal potential (preflop or on the flop), to coax more chips into the center which gives me and my hand better odds to draw after the flop providing two or three of them are calling, and protects the value of my raises down the road with monster hands.

I’m going to wrap this post up, as I need to go lay back down (cold medicine is kicking my ass). In closing the reasons I put a raise in:

1. To get more chips in the center of the table, sweetening the pot,
2. To attempt to steal when appropriate,
3. To isolate 1-2 callers with a strong hand that better holds up 1-2 handed,
4. (in the above situation with 8-9s, 1 caller mid position and I’m on the button), to protect the future value of my raises with premium hands.

I apologize that this post is not detailed further. Perhaps I will add to it later today. Otherwise, we’ll continue on this topic tomorrow.

Mike

Poker Strategy
Small Stakes Holdem

As usual, these posts are not meant to replace any book that we discuss, but instead its meant to supplement these books. I highly suggest running to the store or ordering online “Small Stakes Hold’em” by Ed Miller, et al. from twoplustwo publishing. Additionally, the posts are meant to be read in order, so I suggest first reading the post on basic poker hand groupings, and then on position.

The two biggest mistakes one makes before the flop is playing weak hands and calling raises with mediocre and potentially dominated hands. One needs to identify what kind of hand they hold when looking at your cards. Is it a hand that plays well with many opponents? Is it a hand that can stand on its own, and likes few opponents. Is the hand just straight up crap?

In the early positions, you should avoid playing hands that are not among the best hands out there. Specifically, this means avoid playing Ax (suited or not), kt, kj, q10, small pocket pairs, etc. Additionally, one should avoid “calling” with these hands. A raise typically says, “I have a strong hand.” Unless you’re in the big blind, you should be playing only hands that a normal skilled player would be comfortable reraising with. Hands such as kj, Ax are easily dominated and often make second best hands (especially when the raiser is holding AK, AJ, KK, JJ, etc. Don’t just think about what you’re holding next time you face a raise, think also about what your opposition is holding and how badly you could be dominated. You want to speculate (cheaply) with your speculative hands – which means throw them out to a raise and in the early positions. You’ll selectively play your “top pair” hands when facing a raise – varying with calls, and reraises. Same will stand true with the powerhouse hands, generally speaking.

Mailbag is tomorrow, as is the CheckRayz Leaderboard Challenge, where we’ll be giving away $100 and a free activated copy of pokertracker courtesy of the Beer Man, CheckRayz, and River Belle Poker. See you there!

Mike

Poker Strategy
Small Stakes Holdem