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Tournaments:
Poker Strategy - Tournaments
Overview
Tournament poker is one of the
world's hottest fads. While poker has been consistently
played for over 100 years, the tournament circuit
is still a relatively new thing. In 1972, the
grand prize at the World Series of Poker (a $10k
buy in) was only $80,000. In 2003, Chris Moneymaker
took home a cool $2.5 million. The reason for
this drastic increase in prize money is the number
of players that have entered tournaments. In 1972,
only 8 players entered the world series of poker,
while 839 entered in 2003.
I am not a fan of tournament
poker. Television has made tournament poker look
glamorous- a competition where skill prevails.
However, the truth of the matter is that luck
plays a much larger factor in tournaments than
ring games. Think about it this way: if you started
with $2000, what is the chance that you would
end up with $2 million dollars before the night
was over at a regular no-limit game? Zero. However,
to win a tournament where each player has 2k starting
chips and 1000 people enter, you would need to
win two million in chips to win the tournament.
Not an easy feat to do unless lady luck truly
smiled upon you that day!
In short, the reasons I prefer
to make money at ring games rather than tournaments
is:
- I can consistently win at
a ring game, whereas a tournament is feast or
famine.
- Luck plays a much smaller
role in having a winning session at a ring game
than at a tournament.
- It is much easier to tell
if you are a good ring game player than a good
tournament player. Since the best tournament
player can easily go ten sessions winning nothing,
it is very difficult to tell if you are 'doing
the right thing.'
Nevertheless, I play tournaments
because they are fun and because I hope to make
some money at them. Winning at tournaments still
requires sound poker strategy, but emphasizes
several factors more so than ring games:
- Your chips have a different
relative value. In a standard poker game, you
should view each dollar as having equal value.
This is not the case in a tournament. When you
start off with an initial thousand in chips,
which thousand are worth a lot more than the
next thousand you make. Since you cannot buy
back in, you always need to have chips in order
to survive. At the beginning of the tournament,
you should be more reticent to go all in because
even if you win you are not in much better of
a position. However, later in the tournament
you must gamble or else you risk just losing
by being blinded away.
- Domination plays a much bigger
factor. Later in the tournament, the blinds
will be so high that most players in contested
hands will be all-in preflop. Thus, you want
hands that dominate other hands. High pocket
pairs are good because they dominate lower pocket
pairs, and ace with a good kicker is a good
hand because it dominates many other hands.
Many players make the mistake of betting very
hard with a low pocket pair such as 55. In truth,
these low pockets are only good for stealing
blinds. If someone calls you, you are at best
a 50-50, while you are a 4.5:1 underdog if they
have a higher pocket pair.
Poker Strategy - Single-Table
NL Tournaments
This section is on how to win
the single table NL tournaments, which are very
popular at @HomeSportsbook. The buy ins range
from $5 to $100, so play whatever you can bank.
The goal is place 1st 20% of
the time and 2nd, or 3rd 40% of the time. This
yields a profit of about the entry buy-in over
the long run. So if you play a 10-dollar buy in,
you can expect to make $10 dollars every time
you play if you achieve the goal.
The way I'll write this strategy
guide is by the blind size. Note: The overall
strategy is to get ahead quick and stay ahead,
or to not die and then quickly come back later.
In other words, you'll become the boss of the
table throughout the game if you get good cards
and get lucky early, or you'll be hanging in there
until the late rounds when you make a big move.
Blinds
10-15, 10-20- regular games,
aim to trap a big hand if possible and double
up. Don't be afraid to call or go to the flop
with a marginal hand that has high-implied odds.
So, in an unraised pot, I'll go in with 78 suited,
b/c I know if I hit the hand well, I can get paid
off quite nicely.
15-30, 25-50- Tight aggressive
play when possible, aim to win a big pot but avoid
putting yourself all in or seriously depleting
your stack. In layman's terms, play only good
hands (the top tier) but don't be afraid to play
them strongly.
50-100, 100-200- You're in three
possible situations after the first 30 hands and
into these blinds.
- You're short stacked- can
only afford about 4 big blinds at the level,
and those big blinds are just going to get more
expensive. Go all in with A and a high card,
or any pair preflop (provided another person
hasn't bet for a lot already). You want enough
chips to survive and get into at least third
place.
- Large stacked; you won a
big hand in those first 30. Don't let people
double through though- try to continue to increase
slowly, avoid a big confrontation unless you
clearly have the best of it. Steal the blinds
a lot when you have a decent hand- just put
in the minimal raise. Your goal is to win, not
to place.
- Very short- like almost out.
You got to fight and fight quick. Take a couple
long shots, go all in with KQ if you have it,
etc. There's nothing worse than being blinded
to death. If you're big blind and can only afford
one to two more big blinds, go all in no matter
what (so if you paid the big blind of 50 and
have about 75 in reserve, go all in no matter
what).
Poker Strategy - Multi-Table
NL Tournaments
About No-Limit Tournaments
The popularity of No-Limit hold'em
tournaments is booming. Fueled by the WSOP (World
Series of Poker) and the World Poker Tour, many
people are intrigued by these competitions and
enter for a chance to win a 'big score.' In fact,
most No-Limit hold'em is played in tournament
form nowadays (which upsets someone like me whose
favorite poker game is a No-Limit hold'em ring
game).
While No-Limit hold'em ring
games offer the lowest variation for a consistent
winner (I probably win 80-90% of the times I enter
a No-Limit ring games), No-Limit hold'em tournaments
have crazy variance. This is because all the money
gets shoved in preflop on near coin flip odds
at the end of the tournament. For example, AK
versus a pocket pair is a very, very common battle
late in a No-Limit tournament.
I'm not saying you shouldn't
play No-Limit tournaments, but please don't think
that these tournaments are all skill and no luck.
The famous quote from Rounders, "The same
five guys make it to the final table every year
at the WSOP" is the opposite of the truth.
You MUST be lucky to win a No-Limit tournament
because you must win more than your fair share
of coin flip battles.
Strategy
That's enough preaching about
No-Limit tournaments. In terms of strategy, No-Limit
tournaments are very different from No-Limit ring
games. You simply can't bluff as much because
people's stacks tend to be smaller in relation
to the size of the pot. Also, since the amount
of chips you win from a bluff is worth less than
the amount you stand to lose, bluffing loses a
lot of 'value.'
Now, many of you may be confused.
Suppose you bluff 1000 chips at a 1000 pot and
figure you have a 50-60% chance of taking it down.
Many of you would think it's worth it to take
that risk. However, those 1000 chips you win are
worth less than those 1000 chips you stand to
lose. If you have a 2000 stack, getting knocked
down to 1000 has much more negative value than
the positive value of getting up to 3000. The
1000 chips do not represent money. The only monetary
value in the tournament is either losing all of
your chips or winning them all (and losing them
all is more important because you do get a prize
if you lose them all in the late stages of the
tournament). Losing those 1000 chips knocks you
half the way out, but winning those 1000 doesn't
do squat for winning.
This is not to imply that you
can simply fold your way into the money. The blinds
will eat you alive. You must win pots so you don't
get knocked out most of the time. Towards the
end of the tournament, you can think of winning
pots to win the whole tournament. However, most
of the time you must win pots simply so you don't
lose!
Thus, in the early stages of
the tournament, you should avoid gambling much.
Generally, the amount you win isn't worth the
gamble. If you can see the flop for cheap with
a suited connector or someone goes all in preflop
and you have AA, by all means go for it. However,
I wouldn't suggest bluffing all in as a wise move.
In the early stages, you want to win a huge pot
here and there because you hold the nuts. Target
a bad player and make him pay you off.
Towards the middle of the tournament,
you need to switch gears. Since the blinds get
bigger, stealing the blinds will help you stay
alive. Here, the 'gap' concept becomes more important.
It takes a much weaker hand than usual to raise
to steal the blind, but a stronger hand than usual
to call a raise. The middle rounds introduce the
'survival mode' concept.
Again, most of the time you
will be looking just to survive and increase your
stack bit by bit in the middle rounds. You want
to avoid confrontation without the nuts and just
take down some small pots without controversy.
However, if you are a large
chip stack (or even just a medium one), you may
want to take advantage of this survival mode.
Take control of the game by raising and frequently
putting other people at a decision for all of
their chips. After all, if they go all in, they're
risking it all but you aren't because you can
lose the pot and still keep on fighting. However,
don't do this too much. Steal some pots, but don't
be so obvious that people will call you all in
with top or even second pair. Also, don't do this
against very bad players. They will call everything.
Towards the end of the tournament
is when the coin flip decisions become very important.
Frequently, the blinds are so high it makes sense
for a player with a low or moderate stack to go
all in preflop. Generally, when you go all in
you want to have A (good kicker) or a pocket pair.
If you have A(good kicker) you are an advantage
to all non pocket pairs and may even have someone
dominated. If you have a pocket pair, you are
a small advantage against all non-pocket pairs
and at a huge advantage/disadvantage against other
pocket pairs (depending on their size).
Generally, if you have one of
these marginal hands, it's best to just shove
all of your chips in preflop. When you are a low
stack, you cannot afford to be blinded away anymore.
Once the flop comes, chances are it's not going
to be perfect. By shoving in all of your chips
preflop, you have the added chance of stealing
the blinds and can avoid being bluffed out.
Multi-table Limit Tournaments
I'm not a huge fan of multi-table
limit tournaments; I personally think there is
too much luck involved. To succeed at these tournaments
requires a slight change in strategy from your
usual limit game.
The most fundamental change
to your game play involves the 'gap' concept.
Mid-way and later through limit tournaments, you
must change your style of play from simply trying
to get the best of it (winning money in the long
run) to just winning pots. Instead of pot odds
being your guiding force, you just want to straight
up win the pots you play. Since the blinds are
so large, you do not want much competition, as
a simple blind steal will help your position tremendously.
You should begin playing hands
that will just likely win. Flush draws and straight
draws lose a tremendous amount in value and high
and mid pocket pair’s soar. AK and AQ also go
up in value because they have most other hands
dominated (e.g. AK versus A10 or AQ versus KQ).
Late in limit tournaments, you want to avoid heavy
conflicts with dominated hands (i.e. you don't
want to have AJ against his AK even though he
will pay off nicely if AJ is on board).
In order to conform to this
strategy, you must do two things. First, if the
mood is tight, you should be more willing to go
in on marginal hands just in order to steal the
blinds. Always, always raise preflop with these
hands. If you are two off the button with A9,
you should consider raising to steal the blinds.
However, the second change you should make is
to avoid conflict. If someone has already raised,
you certainly should chunk that A9 if you are
one off the button. The underlying concept here
again is dominating hands- you want your opponents
to fold because they are afraid they are dominated
and you want to fold if you may be dominated.
If you raise with A9, someone with A10 certainly
will consider folding because they are afraid
you have AJ,AQ, or AK and thus have them dominated.
Now, what if you are dealt a
premium hand like KK and someone has raised? There’s
no way you can chunk this hand preflop; what are
the chances he has AA? In this situation, you
should reraise to knock people out. Raising and
lots of reraising is the key; you want to send
the opposition the message that you are challenging
him for all of his chips if he plays against you
in this hand. When you are dealt a big gun like
KK, you want to make your stand.
Obviously throughout all of
this, you should take into consideration the strength
of your opponents. Good players understand the
'gap' concept and will fold if they have borderline
hands like A10. However, bad players will simply
call. Bad players play their hand; good players
play their hand relative to other people's hands.
If you see the flop with a bad player, he will
most likely fold if you bet and he has not hit
and will call you to the river if he has. A good
player knows that if he has A10 and there is an
ace on the flop, he may be finished because of
kicker. A bad player is just happy he has top
pair.
Money Management:
Poker Strategy - Moving Up/Down
Limits
Choosing which limit to play
is a critical element when playing poker. Generally,
you should choose which limit to play based on
your financial situation, your poker ability,
and your aversion to risk.
No matter how wealthy you are,
it is often best to start out at the lower limits
simply because the competition there is easier.
Few 'professionals' play at the $1-2 games, so
it is a relatively safe place to begin one's poker
career. Even if you are a billionaire, no one
will know it when you play on the Internet and
think any less of you for playing at a low limit.
When choosing a limit, the major
choices come when one decides to move up a limit
or down a limit. Generally, you should only move
up a limit if you think you are comfortable playing
at that limit for seven sessions or more. Do not
choose a limit so high that it makes you scared
to play. Playing scared is a guaranteed recipe
for losing. It is also not wise to 'go for it'
at a higher limit. If you are making a run for
it at a higher limit, you probably do not have
the bankroll to survive there for long. Even if
you win on two straight sessions, you will likely
bust out and have to move down if you are not
bankrolled enough at any given limit.
If you take a hit at a higher
limit, you should generally move down. However,
you shouldn't move down so far that you are totally
unmotivated to play. If you move up to $25-50
from $10-20, you shouldn't fall back to $1-2 once
you decide that $25-50 is too high. While people
tend to play too scared at a higher limit, they
also tend to play too loose at a lower limit.
Play a limit that motivates you to play, but also
at which that you are not scared to play.
Poker Strategy - Quitting for
the Day
Even if you are the best poker
player in the world, you will have some losing
days. Knowing when to just call it quits for the
session will do you a world of good for your bankroll.
If you play limit poker, it is wise to quit if
you have a swing of 40 big bets or more either
way. Forty big bets at limit is a lot (especially
longhand), so having swings more than this may
drive you insane. The only reason to break the
40-big-bet rule is if the game you are in is really
good.
Fundamentally though, you should
quit because you are tilting, you have played
a lot already and risk being tired, or you just
have other things to do.
Here are some signs that you
may be tilting:
- You always think your opponents
are bluffing
- You really want to break
even for the day
- You want to get back into
the action as soon as possible
Here are some signs that you
may have just played too much poker:
- You are falling asleep at
the table
- You have played more than
ten hours for the day (never play more than
ten hours at any one time. It is better to play
many short or medium sessions than a few long
ones).
- You find it harder to pay
attention to your opponent.
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