The Ultimate Guide To Poker - 2009 UK.pdf

Y PIOK ER ANT MEEWA ASTH TW D E Y A L P E B O T Welcome to the n

ext d imension...

rich 3D graphics. Immerse yourself in ts with revolutionary emote e out opponen Read bluffs and fak at lets you control your body language. l technology th with contro Be yourself or anyoner you wan t to be n. stomisatio infinite characte cu

e e a t P K R . co m Play i t t oday f or f r

.

www.pkr.com Please gamble responsibly. For more information and advice visit 18+ www.gambleaware.co.uk.

The Ultimate Gu ide to Poke r

CONTENTS

86 GETTING STARTED

008 History of hold’em

030 Online poker Therealstoryof therise ofonlinepoker – andsome commonmythsdebun ked

How poker moved from simplesrcin s to become a multi-million-dollar phenomenon SIT&GOs

014 How to play no-limit hold’em Masterthe game thewholeworld ’s playing: no-limit Texas hold’em

022 Poker’s big winners Introducingthe seven poker players whohavewon more than$10 million fromlive tournament poker

024 Table manners

Mastering thesit&g o format canhelp you turna tidy profit – and it’seasi er than you think

044 Sit&go strategy 15 steps to take you from sit&go beginner to single-table titan

048 Leader of the stack

Thefive mostcommonbreaches

Takecontrol ofthe game once it reaches the heads-up stagecourtesy

ofetiquette in thegame

of an unexploitable strategy

028 Poker terminology Talk thetal k with a guideto common poker jargon

4

036 How to beat sit&gos

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO POKER

052 Sit&go tools A round-up of the bestsoftware to helpyou master the single-table online tournament

054 Sit&go quiz Test yourknowledge of sit&go strategy with thistrick y quiz

TOURNAMENTS

058 How to beat tournaments Tips andstrat egyon how to take downmulti-tabletournaments

064 JC Tran Thetourn ament legendon howto develop a consistent tournament game

066 Julian Thew TheBritis h pro on what it takes to excel in livetournament poker

068 Size is everything How to play short,mediumand bigstack s all the way tothe finaltabl e

072 Your move Creative movesto addto your multi-table tournament arsenal

120 58

36 126

106 074 Chris Moorman TheonlineMTT master’s top10 tips fortournamentsuccess

076 Ruling rebuys The strategy behindmastering rebuytournaments

080 Beating satellites How totak e yourshotat thebig timevia online satellites

CASH GAMES

086 How to beat cash games A crash coursein beating low-stakes cash games

094 Pre-flop dangers Thestart ing hands that canget you into hotwaterin no-limit cash games

098 Post-flop decisions A look at some post-flopcash-g ame dilemmas and winningstrategies

14 102 How to get paid in full Extracting maximum valuein no-limit hold’emcash games

106 Doyle Brunson Texas Dolly on howhe foughthis way tothe top ofthe poker tree

108 Moving on up A guide to movingup through thelimitsin cashgames

110 Phil Galfond Oneof thebest online cash players in thegame reveals hissecret s

112 Cash games quiz Test yourcash game prowess with this challengingquiz

120 How to spot tells Being ableto pickup on your opponents’ body language cangive you a huge edge at thepokertable

126 How to deal like a pro A lookat how toshuf fleup and dealin style,as shown bya professionaldealer

130 Poker hand nicknames Know your BigSlick from your Pocket Rockets

116

LIVE POKER

116 House rules! Howto hostthe ultimatepokerhome game, from cards to chips to rules

5


H T I W T GE

PKR

PKR is more than just a poker room we’re a 3 million strong poker community where players just like you are the star of the show. Play for glory on PKR TV Read Stacked, poker’s hottest magazine Have your say in the Forum Plus a whole lot more… See you there.

gamble responsibly. For more information and advice visit 18+ Please www.gambleaware.co.uk.

M E ’ D L O H

f o y r o t s i h e h T

HOLD’EM

F O Y R O T S I

Find out how poker developed from its simple srcins to a multi-million dollar phenomenon, and why the game of no-limit Texas hold’em has become the world’s most popular card game

H

The legendary match came to a close when Dandolos uttered the immortal line: ‘Mr Moss, I have to let you go’

T

HE ONLY THING EVERYONE CAN agree upon in the history of poker is nobody knows where the game started. Some point to the French game of poque, some say the Persian game of As Nas, but wherever it began there is one place that made poker its spiritual home – the USA. During the American Civil War in the 1850s the gameof poker as we know it began to take shape as the game of five-card stud sprung up. The game played with one card dealt face down and the remaining four cards dealt face-up. It led to much more betting action than other forms of poker so quickly caught on as the game of choice. It may seem unthinkable nowadays, but perhaps the most famous battle in the game’s history was played out in a time before no-limit hold’em had really caught on. Two of poker’s all-time greats clashed in a five-month headsup battle that took in a variety of variants, concentrating initially on five-card stud. Legend has it that Nick ‘The Greek’ Dandolos hit Las Vegas with a desire to play some highstakes poker. Benny Binion agreed to provide the action for Dandolos in his Horseshoe casino – and promptly contacted Johnny Moss, who was embroiled in a three-day-long cash game in Texas. Nevertheless, swayed by the promise of an epic high-stakes encounter, Moss booked himself a flight to Vegas. It proved to be a good decision.

From January to May in 1951, the pair locked horns every single day, breaking only briefly for the trifling matter of a few hours’ sleep. Reports of the exact amount of money that changed hands differ, but it’s thought that by the end of the confrontation Moss was anywhere from $2m to $4m up– a large amount of money by today’s standards, but an absolutely astronomical amount back in the 1950s. The legendary match came to a close when Dandolos – 15 years Moss’s senior and physically drained from the months of intense play – uttered the immortal line: ‘Mr Moss, I have to let you go.’ The contest between Moss and Dandolos raised the profile of poker hugely with Binion savvy enough to move the game from the depths of the casino to front and centre where it attracted huge crowds desperate to live the life of a high-roller vicariously, if only for an hour or two. And as poker became more popular, a new variant of the game was starting to come to the fore… AN EPIC BATTLE Texas hold’em originated in the Lone Star State and grew in popularity during the 50s and 60s thanks to its complex nature. A group of local poker pros, known as road gamblers, including such legends as Amarillo Slim and Doyle Brunson took the game to their hearts. Their life was hugely different to the poker pros of the modern

HOLD’EM HISTORY The timeline of hold’em

The story of how hold’em went from the streets of Texas to being the most popular card game in the world. We look at the players and events that changed the face of poker and turnedit into a global business worth millions of dollars…

8


Hold’emgrows in popularity

1950s in itshome state of Texas

1967

Agroupof Texas-based gamblers take no-limit hold’em to LasVeg as

H

I S T O R

age, travelling from town to town, finding games populated by men with guns who weren’t afraid to use them. It was a high-risk, high-action lifestyle and only the most cunning and careful of road gamblers survived to tell the tale. THE BIRTH OF THE WSOP As Las Vegas started to become a popular tourist destination these road gamblers recognised a potentially safer and easier life and travelled west to introduce the game to Sin City. For a number of years the only casino in town to spread hold’em was the Golden Nugget, but the game caught on and by the late 1960s more prominently-placed establishments were spreading the game too. The attraction of hold’em for the local sharks was twofold. First, the fact that this was a new game meant that if they could master it quickly, they’d have a major edge on uneducated tourists. Second, the very nature of the game suited students of the game – with four rounds of betting as opposed to the two employed in draw games, hold’em allowed for more strategic play. Benny Binion was also at the forefront of another defining moment in poker’s history when, along with his son Jack, he acquired the rights to a fledgling gambling convention in 1970. The event provided games of all kinds – and while poker didn’t feature at the outset, by the time the Binions bought the rights, poker tournaments, including hold’em, had been introduced. Following the acquisition, the annual convention was moved to the Horseshoe and the focus shifted entirely to poker, prompting a name change: the World Series of Poker was born. The first WSOP was an invitational affair, with Benny Binion convincing a handful of Mwell-respected players – Johnny Moss, Doyle O .C Brunson, Amarillo Slim, Puggy Pearson, N UCrandell Addington, Sailor Roberts and Carl S S Cannon – to sit around a table and do battle A G E over a series of cash games. At the end of the V S allotted time, the players voted to decide who A L would be crowned the inaugural world , Mchampion. They all voted for themselves so a O .C second ballot was taken and this time Johnny S E Moss was crowned champion. G

Y

O F H

O L D ’ E M

Stu‘The Kid’Ungarceleb rates hisfirstof threeWorldSerie s of Pokermain eventwins

BennyBinion kick-startedthe World Series,holdingthefirst oneat hisHorses hoecasino

A IM RTHE KID RI SES E KMoss also emerged victorious the following year O P when the WSOP main event moved to the now

1970

The first WorldSeriesof Poker takes place withJohnn y Moss thewinner

1971

No-limit hold’em is introducedto the WSOP with thefirst maineven t

1978

Seminal poker guideSuper/System is first published


9

M E ’ D L O H F O Y R O T S I H

Doyle Brunsonwasa road gamblerwho hitVegasin searchof action in the1960s

1980

10

StuUngarbecome s theyoung est ever maineven t champ


1981

Ungar winsthe main eventfor the secondconsecutive year

traditional no-limit hold’em freezeout format. Although it quickly established itself as the premier poker tournament, with a buy-in aimed squarely at attracting true high-rollers, the main event was slow to take off in terms of numbers. Moss’s victory in 1971 saw him pitted against just five other players – and by the time he won it again in 1974 he overcame a field of just 16. It wasn’t until 1982 that the main event drew more than 100 participants, partly prompted by the introduction of the satellite tournaments that are now commonplace, which allowed players with more limited bankrolls to have a shot at the big time. Numbers were also buoyed by the publication of Doyle Brunson’s seminal poker strategy book, Super/System. The strategy book was selfpublished and cost $100, but it was a huge success as it offered readers an insight into the kind of strategic thinking employed by world champions across a number of poker disciplines, including hold’em. Such information had previously been unavailable to the general public, but now it was out there more and more players fancied their chances of taking on the big boys. As well as increased fields, the 1980s brought a whole new generation of poker superstars. The most notable of these was Stu ‘The Kid’ Ungar who burst onto the scene in 1980, becoming the youngest ever main event champion (since superseded by Phil Hellmuth and Peter Eastgate) after a heads-up tussle with past master Doyle Brunson for the first prize of $365,000. Ungar, a noted gin rummy player, would later claim that the 1980 WSOP was the first time he had ever played no-limit hold’em. He proved his win was no fluke, though, when he repeated his main event success the following year. Ungar’s personal life, however, also grabbed the headlines for entirely different reasons. He was a drug and alcohol abuser for many years and everyone thought his poker career was over. However, 16 years after his 1981 victory and following a long battle with drug addiction, the previously down-and-out Ungar became known as ‘The Comeback Kid’. Af ter scraping enough money together to enter the 1997 main event at the last minute, against all the odds Ungar went on to take it down, becoming only the

1982

WSOPmain eventbreak s the 100-entrant barrier

H

I S T O R

DOYLE BRUNSON The godfather of poker

Y

Doyle Brunson is a true poker legend. With back-to-back WSOP main event wins and 10 bracelets he is one of the best players ever. An integral part of poker for over 50 years, ‘Texas Dolly’ is still a force to be reckoned with Oneof thegreate st players ever to grace the game, ‘Texas Dolly’ is thevery definition of a living legend.Born in August 1933, Brunsonhas won10 World Series of Poker bracelets to date (just onebehindcurrentrecor d-holderPhil Hellmuth along with JohnnyChan) andis reportedto be thefirst playerto have earned $1min poker tournamentprize money. Asone ofa groupof Texasgamb lers to introduce no-limithold’e m to LasVeg as, Brunsonpavedthe way forthe poker boomthat followed andhas stayed thepace ever since.His back-to-back victories at the1976 and1977 WSOPmain eventsputs himin an exclusive club of just three,with StuUngar andJohnnyChan theonl y othersto havewonthe maineve ntin consecutive years. He’s also oneof only two players to have wonWSOP bracelets forfour consecutive years – theother being BillBoyd. A buddingathlet e in hisyouth , Brunson’s Brunsonwroteprobabl y thebest poker bookever– Super/System dreamsof becominga professionalbasketball player were dashed when he brokehis leg badly in a work-related accident. Followingthe however – thestory goes that he wasinvit ed to incident, he focused on hiseducati on andwound a seven-cardstudgameon hisfirs t day and took upland inga jobas a salesman.It wasn’tto be, hisopponen ts to thecleane rs,prompti ng himto

second person besides Johnny Moss to win the WSOP main event three times. Y A W AEUROPE TAKES NOTICE R AAnother player to make his mark during the 80s H was Johnny Chan, who achieved the remarkable N A Yfeat of winning back-to-back main events - and R Bwas only denied an unprecedented three-in-a-row , M by the emergence of one Phil Hellmuth. Chan O .Cnavigated a 152-strong field in 1987 to take the S Etitle after defeating Frank Henderson heads-up. G AThe following year he and Erik Seidel were the IM Rfinal two of 167 entrants, but Chan emerged E Kvictorious. In 1989, the 24-year-old Hellmuth O Pdashed Chan’s dreams of an unlikely ‘threepeat’,

1987

JohnnyChan begins hisremark able run of Main Eventfinal tables

O F

giveup hisjobshor tly afterto chancehisarm as a poker professional. He hooked up with the likes of Amarillo Slimand Sailor Robertsand played theTexas circuitwith great success. Brunsonand hisgro upof peersbeg anto take regulartrips to LasVega s andhe eventually decided the action was toogoo d toturndown , making thedecisio n to move there permanently. The rest, as they say, is history. As well as hissuccessat thetables , Brunson’s notablefor hishugelyinflue ntial poker strategy book,Super/System . Originallypublish ed in 1978, thebook also includedcontri butionsby a host of other topprofes sionals, including David Sklansky, Bobby Baldwinand Chip Reese. An updatedversio n,Super/System2, cameout in 2004feat uring contentfrom thelikesof Daniel Negreanu andJohnnyChan. And asif that’snot enoughto confirmhis legendary status, Brunsonhas therare honour of havinga starting hand named after him. While 10-2mightnot seem like thegreate st of holepairin gs,they’ ve been lucky forTexas Dolly; his1976 and1977 main eventvictori es were bothclinch ed with that hand.

beating his opponent heads-up to earn the first of his record-breaking 11 bracelets – all of which have been won in hold’em events. The 80s also saw the game of no-limit hold’em take off in Europe. Irish bookmakers Terry Rogers and Liam Flood are widely credited with introducing the game to European shores following regular trips to Vegas and the WSOP. Rogers also had an uncanny knack for picking out poker players for the future. He’s thought to have been the only bookmaker to have a strong hunch that Stu Ungar would take down the 1980 main event; the Irishman laid just 20-1 and placed money on Ungar to win with other bookmakers, who were typically offering 100-1.

1988

Chantakesdown hissecondmain event ina row

Chanto become 1989 PhilHellmuthdenies theyoung estmain eventwinner


11

H

O L D ’ E M

M E ’ D L O

PhilHellmu thstill holds the recordfor mostamou ntof WSOP bracelet wins– 11

H F O Y R O T S I H

For the first time viewers at home could see how the pros played and it sparked a surge of interest in the game

The popularity of no-limit hold’em grew as TV coverage of the WSOP was introduced in the 80s and 90s. But the game would probably have remained a minority interest if it weren’t for the introduction of hole-card cameras in a British TV show called Late Night Pokerin the late 90s. For the first time viewers at home could see how the pros played and it sparked a surge of interest in the game. While TV viewers had previously had to guess at whether a particular player had the nuts or was pulling an audacious bluff, they now had the information right in front of them. It allowed those watching to learn from professionals, giving them an opportunity to work out players’ thought processes when making certain situationdependant moves. MONEYMAKER EFFECT The show was broadcast in the US on PBS and the concept was taken on board by the producers of the World Poker Tour TV show, which became a huge TV hit in the US. The WPT began in 2002, with its first season offering a $25,000 buy-in

1997

12

Ungar becomes ‘TheComeb ackKid’ bywinnin g a third main event


1999

Late Night Poker introduces the revolutionaryhole-card cams

world championship finale and ten lead-up events with buy-ins ranging from $500 (with rebuys) to $10,000. A roaring success, the WPT is now in its eighth season, playing host to 15 side events as well as the established $25,000 WPT Championship event. Alongside all this was the rise of online poker, which began in 1999 to little general interest. By 2001, though, it was a booming business with thousands of players taking to the game of no-limit hold’em and tournaments in particular. And the internet sites were quick to capitalise on the success of the WPT in the US, advertising on the show and seeing players flock online as a result. The game everyone wanted to play was the adrenaline fuelled no-limit hold’em game. The true turning point for the game came in 2003, when the aptly named Chris Moneymaker, a previously unknown player, won a $39 satellite qualifier for a $10,000 seat at the WSOP main event. He promptly went on to shock everyone by winning the big one for a $2.5m payday. The widely-televised story of an everyday guy turning the kind of cash most people carry around in their wallet, into millions of dollars, through a simple game of cards captured the imagination of millions of players. Online poker sites exploded with sign-ups, as the ‘Moneymaker effect’ kicked in. STRENGTH TO STRENGTH Lightning struck twice in 2004 when another internet qualifier, Greg Raymer, defeated David Williams to take down the main event for $5m. Raymer had also qualified online, having won his seat in a $160 satellite. Following this an unprecedented number of new players signed up online and tried their hand at not only making a little money as a hobby, but also chasing the dream realised by the likes of Moneymaker and Raymer. WSOP field sizes – both for the main event and side events – ballooned further, with the peak being reached in 2006, when a staggering 8,773 entrants took part in the main event, contributing to a record-breaking $82.5m prize pool. Jamie Gold took down the biggest tournament in World Series history for an eye-watering $12m. Numbers actually fell in 2007, but the drop-off has largely been attributed to law changes in the

2002

TheWorld Poker Tour begins itsfirst season

H

I S T O R Y

O F H

O L D ’ E M

US that prevented large amounts of players from gambling online. As a result, the number of internet qualifiers for WSOP events dropped off dramatically, having a knock-on effect on the overall field sizes. Nevertheless, online poker remains robust, with hundreds of thousands playing every day. The online game has served as a great learning tool for those first taking up the game. With the option to take part in ‘play money’ games, new players can learn the rules of the game before risking any of their own money. PWhen they do feel confident enough to gamble O Swith their cash, there are games across all levels W to suit everyone’s needs. Micro-stakes cash E H Tgames and tournaments are freely available Rand for the dedicated player, online poker has O F Ipresented the opportunity to get on a par with Destablished pros, in terms of hands played, in a P IM fraction of the time.

2003

Chris Moneymaker winsthe main eventand theonlin e boom begins

No-limit hold’em has taken the global poker community by storm. Wherever you go in the world you can find a game of poker being played

The2009 Main Event final tablistsposefor themoneyshot

A GLOBAL PHENOMENON But poker’s success is not just confined to the online game, with live poker also in rude health. Around the world there are major poker tournaments taking place every week from South East Asia to Latin America. And pub poker leagues and home games continue to spring up to keep the game alive for the smaller stakes players. Wherever you go in the world now you can find a game of poker being played. No-limit hold’em has taken the global poker community by storm – long may it continue.

2004

Greg Raymer became thesecond online qualifier to winthe WSOP

2006

Jamie Gold scoops$12m as he wins thelarge st prize in WSOP history


13

M E ’ D L O H S A X E T T I M I -L O N Y A L P O T W O H

How t o pl a y n o-l i m i t TEXAS

HOLD’EM

From the $10,000 World Championship to crazy $5 games in the pub, no-limit Texas hold’em is the game the whole world is playing. If you’re new to the game it’s time to saddle up and join the action…

P O S W R O TheWSOP mainevent is poker’s F I ultimate championship,awarding D a $9.1mfirstpriz e in2008.The P game?No-limi t hold’em,naturally IM

14


H O W T O P L A Y N O L I M

O-LIMIT TEXAS HOLD’EM IS FAR AND away the most popular form of poker played today, and with very good reason. It’s an exciting, fast-paced and finely balanced game, with a perfect blend of simple game mechanics and highly nuanced strategies. It sucks in new players with its fast gameplay and monster bluffs and keeps the veterans hooked with its endlessly shifting dynamics. As the most popular form of poker, nolimit hold’em (often abbreviated to NLH) also has the biggest prizes and tournaments, with millions of dollars to be won if you’re good – or lucky – enough to beat the field. The action comes in every possible shape and size, from beginners’ freerolls to the $10,000 main event of the World Series of Poker. And because there are thousands san s o of players duking it out online 24/7, you’ll never struggle to find a game. ame. If you’re new to hold’em the good news is that it’s a doddle to to Do t h is pick up. Wherever you are and whatever stakes you’re playing the e Once you format is always the same. You’re dealt two hole cards that only ’ve b a s i cs, the mastered the you are allowed to see, which you combine with five community a play-m next step is to cards, which everyone can use, to make up a hand of five cards. t Load up oney game onlin ry th e. The person who can make the strongest hand – or make attache e software in th dC e everyone else fold – wins all the money in the pot. Sounds poker on D and play 3D PKR for f simple? It is. It’s making sure that you’re the one left raking the ree chips in where things get interesting.

I T T E X A S H O L D ’ E M

GETTING STARTED Okay, before we get to the nitty gritty of how the game works, there are a few technica l terms to get acquainted with. Don’t worry – it will all be second nature soon enough.

The action comes in every possible shape and size, from beginners’ freerolls to the $10,000 main event of the World Series of Poker

THE BUTTON The button is a small disc or marker that indicates who is the ‘dealer’ in the current hand. It often has ‘dealer’ or ‘D’ written on it and is necessary for two reasons. Firstly, because in poker the deal changes hands after every pot (we’ll see why in a moment). And secondly, because the person who is the nominal ‘dealer’ in a hand may not actually be the one handling the cards, either because you are playing in a casino with a professional dealer, or you’re playing online where the dealing is automatic. Either way, you need some sort of marker to show who the effective dealer is in each hand. So why does the button keep moving round the table? Well, in poker the dealing of the cards and the order of action always runs clockwise from the dealer position. Because of the nature of poker betting, where everyone takes it in turn to act, being the dealer (and hence the last to act) confers a huge advantage. So to counter this the deal moves one seat to the left with every hand. In hold’em, being the dealer is called being ‘on the button’. THE BLINDS Blinds are, simply speaking, forced bets that have to be paid at the beginning of every hand. In hold’em there are two

15



blinds: the small blind and the big blind. The small blind is located directly to the left of the dealer button and the big blind is to the left of the small blind. The big blind is usually twice the amount of the small blind. The blinds move round with the button, meaning that in one orbit of the table everyone has to pay both a small blind and big blind. Think of them like a table tax, and just like tax, you’ll often hear people moaning about them. But the fact is that without the blinds the game would never get off the ground. Without something to fight over right from the start, everyone could simply wait for good cards while the game meandered on inexorably. In a hold’em tournament, where there has to be an eventual winner, the blinds rise at steady intervals to force the game towards a conclusion.

HOLE CARDS

Playing the board Inhold’e ’ m you canuseone, both or neither ofyourhole cards tomakeyour best hand. Inthe lattercase , when the cards on the board represent yourbest possible five-card hand,you aresaid to be ‘playingthe board’. In theexample shown,your best hand istwo pair withan Acekicker, meaning neither ofyourhole cards comeinto play.

The hole cards are the two cards that everyone gets dealt face down at the start of a hand. No one gets to see your hole cards apart from you – unless the hand goes to a showdown. The best starting hole card combination is two Aces of any suit (‘pocket Aces’), whereas the worst is 7-2 unsuited.

COMMUNITY CARDS Hold’em is what’s known as a ‘community card’ game, which means that as well your two hole cards there are cards dealt face up in the middle of the table that everyone gets to use to make their best five-card hand. In a complete hand of hold’em there are five community cards on the table, but we’ll find out more about this below. Right, now we are ready to play some poker. .

PLAYING THE GAME

Don’t do this

Don’t ac Let’s look at how a hand of hold’em unfolds, hold’em t out of turn! In the a from the moment the dealer picks up the lockwise arocutnd iontp roceeds cards right through to the final showdown. can he

THE OPENING DEAL At the beginning of each hand, every player (from two players in a heads-up game up to ten n in a full-handed game) is dealt two hole cards clockwise from the dealer. As mentioned above, e, the first player to the left of the dealer is required red to pay the ‘small blind’, let’s say $1, and the next player to the left has to pay the ‘big blind’ which is twice as much, in this case $2. The level of the blinds depends on what game you decide to play. Remember, the nominated dealer moves one seat to the left after every hand, so you only get stung by the big blind once each round.

FOLD, CALL OR RAIS E After the blinds have been paid and you’ve received your hole cards the first round of betting takes place. The player to the left of the big blind has three options: fold, call or raise. L Folding costs nothing so if you don’t like the L A F cards you’ve got you can ditch (or ‘muck’) them L E and wait for the next deal. If you want to stay in R the hand you have to match the big blind, which H T in our example is $2, or if you’re feeling confident H G you can raise. Raising is a sign of strength that U says, ‘my hole cards are strong and I’m going to H

16


table d it’s ver y fold or be bad form to tb ‘action’ g efore the ets to yo u

H O W T O P L A Y N O L I M I T T E X A S H O L D ’ E M

HOLD’EM ESSENTIALS How a hand unfolds The mechanics of a hand of hold’em are simple – two hole cards apiece and five community cards, punctuated by four rounds of betting…

Once theblindshavebeen posted the

Assuming more than one playerdecide s

1 dealbegins . Eachplay er gets twocards 2 tocarryon in the hand,thefirstthre e face down, followed bya round of betting.

Afteranotherbettin g round,a fourth

3 community card– the‘tu rn’– isdeal t. Onceagain,thereis a round of betting.

community cards aredealt:the ‘flop’.

Afifthand finalcardis thendeal t:the

4 ‘river’.There ’s more betting,and, if more than one playerstay s involved,a showdown.


17


take the pot right now unless anyone’s brave enough to call me.’ If you raised to $5 then anyone else wanting to play their hand would have to match your $5 bet. If no one calls, you take whatever’s in the pot and the hand is over.

FLOP, TURN, RIVER When all the active players have bet the same amount, the first round of betting is over. Three cards are then dealt face up in the centre (collectively referred to as the ‘flop’). The first active player to the left of the dealer then starts the next round of betting which proceeds in the same way as the last. When that’s complete, assuming more than one player has decided to continue in the hand, a further community card (the ‘turn’, aka ‘fourth street’) is dealt. There’s more betting on the turn card and then, once again assuming the hand has not been won yet, there’s one last chance to get your chips in after the fifth and final card (the ‘river’, aka ‘fifth street’) is turned over.

SHOWDOWN

o this Don’t d

After the river is dealt and all betting is nent’s done and dusted it’s time for the moment l an oppo Don’t cal river just out o f e of truth, the showdown, where the best bet on th o u may be d ying !Y hand wins the pot. Refer to the boxout curio sity f they’re bluffing on page 21 if you’re not sure about poker to know i but tha t’s no t, o n r o hand rankings. Just remember that in r ma king excuse fo call any given hand there are always two ways a bad to win. Firstly, you can have the best hand at showdown. Secondly, however, you can make ake everyone else fold by betting them off the pot. If If you bet big and no one is brave enough to call – on any of the four betting rounds – you’ll walk away with the pot and don’t even have to show your cards! In fact, this is how most hands in hold’em are won, which is why they say ‘play the man, not the cards’.

BASIC STRATEGY Now that you know how the action works, let’s look at some simple strategy concepts to help you start winning.

HAND SELECTION While it’s important to remember that any two cards can win, when you first start playing hold’em your hole cards are vitally important, because they’re the only thing separating you from the rest of the table. If you look down and see a pair of Aces or Kings staring back at you then you’re in good shape. On the other hand, you shouldn’t be very happy to see the likes of 7;-2: or J :-3Ú sadly gazing your way. Choosing which hole cards to play is central to your hold’em success and setting some startinghand requirements is a good way to kick off your career. Former world champ Phil Hellmuth often quotes his ten starting hands as being pairs of Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, tens, nines, eights and sevens, as well as A-K and A-Q. As a novice, you may want to play an even narrower selection than this, as pairs like sevens and eights can be tricky to play. As your experience increases, your range of playable hands can similarly expand.

18


Aces, appropriately known as bullets or pocket rockets, are the best hole cards you can have as they are the favourite to win against any other two cards in the deck. Once the flop is dealt, those Aces may no longer be favourite, but in the majority of cases you’ll still be ahead.

BETTING TIPS So how much should you bet when you get strong hands? In no-limit hold’em, as the name suggests, there is no upper limit on the amount you can bet. On any of the four betting rounds (usually referred to as ‘streets’), you can bet up to and including all your available chips. Betting all your chips is known going ‘all-in’ or simply ‘shoving’. However, this is the ultimate power move and should be reserved for very specific occasions. In most circumstances your bet sizes should be tailored to the size of the pot.

Choosing which hole cards to play is central to your hold’em success. Setting some hand requirements is a good way to kick off your career

H O W

EXTREME BASICS #2

Split pot Som ometi etim me es,two s,two or more pla la yers ers willhave exactly thesame hand atshow down,andthe potwillbe divided equallybetween them. In thisexam ple,the playerwith A-Qwaswinn ing onthe turn witha Broadway (Ace-high) straight, butthe AÚ onthe river means theplayerwith Q-Qalso makes Broadway. Assuch , it’sa splitpot.

T O

How does betting work?

P L A Y

If you’ve never played a wagering game before the process might be unfamiliar to you. It’s a goodide a to watch a game to get the hang of it beforeyou divein –

N O L I M

check out some TV or a website like poker PKR.tvon and all will soon become clear. In the meantime, here’s a quick guide to poker betting…

I T T E X A S

Everyonein a game of poker hasa certa innumb er of chips to makebetswith . Ina cash game these representactual money, while in a tournamentthe y aresim ply a wayof keepingscore(the playerwho accumulatesall thechips winsthe tournament).In eachhand, bets are placed in a central poolrefer redto asthe‘po t’. Ifyouwina ha ndyou win whatever’sin thepot.

1

H O L D ’ E M

Betting takes place in rounds. 2 When a bethas been made,each player must in turneithermatchthat bet(call),increas e thebet (raise)or resign fromthe hand(fold).A raise must usuallybe atleas t asmuchas thepre viousbet or raise, soif the currentbet is $20the minimumraise wouldbe to$40.A bettingroun d endswhen all players have either calledthelastbet or folded. Ifallbutoneplay er foldson anygivenbettin g round, the remaining player collectsthe pot without having toshowhishand.If morethan oneplayerremain s in the handafter thefinal bettinground, there is a ‘showdown’ in which hands are exposed and thewinninghand takes thepot.

3

EXTREME BASICS #1 What is poker? A stupid question? Maybe, but the answer is not as simple as you might think… Pokeris notstr ictlyspea king a ‘ga me’ inthe same sense as blackjack or bridge.Rathe r,it’s a whole familyof games, withscore s of variations and mutations playedin homegamesand private clubs around theworld.So whatare thefeatur es that definea game asbein g ‘poker’?Let ’stakea look… Poker is based around bettingor wagering. Everyone holds cards witha certain value, andplay ersmaybet onthe strengthof theirhand relative to their opponents’.

1

gs generally follow thesame 2 Handrankin pattern,whichyoucan findon page 21. Some games reverse theorder so thatthe ‘worst’hand wins, butalmosteverypoker gameretain s this same basic hierarchy. You usefive cards to make your hand. You might 3 havemor e thanfive tochoos e from– inhold’ em, for instance, youhave seven cards to choose from– butin all butthe most eccentric poker variants you’ll only usefive cards to make your best possiblehand.

Before a handstarts , there’s usuallysome sortof forced bet to get the actiongoi ng. Inothe r words,som e or allof the playershav e to placea bet at the beginning of the first bettingroun d tocrea tea potto playfor.In hold’emthe twoplaye rs to the left of the dea ler mustplace these bets, called theblinds . The action then proceeds to theleft.

4


19


Out-kicked! So etimes hold’emcan be a very cruel game. In this Som hand, Player1 hasbeen dealt a pairof sixes while Player 2 has a raggedy9-3offs uit. Thepairis winningallthe way untiltheriv er, whena second pair comeson the boar o d, which reads A-7-2-A-7. As such, both players havetwopair– Acesand sevens– and the winner is determinedby thekicke r, or highestside card. In this d case, Player2 winswitha 9 kicker,bea ting the 6 kicker of Player1, whois said to be ‘out-kicked’.

Don’t feel you have to throw your weight around by pushing loads of chips into the middle. There’s no need to risk more than is necessary 20


On the first (pre-flop) betting round, a good rule of thumb is to raise to three times the big blind if no one else has entered the pot. If the big blind is $2, a standard raise would see you putting $6 into the pot. And betting is what it’s all about because in poker aggression pays: you not only win the pots where you have a better hand but also the ones where other players are too scared to call you. Just don’t feel you have to throw your weight around by pushing loads of chips into the middle. There’s no need to risk more than necessary if a smaller bet will do the job. On later streets, a pot-sized bet – an amount equal to what has already been bet in total – sends out a message of strength and will force your opponent to think hard about whether they should continue or fold their hand. However, always think carefully about what you want a bet to achieve. Do you want your opponent to fold, call or even go all-in? Ask yourself questions like: ‘How much will this

opponent be willing to call here with a worse hand?’ (if you’re confident you’re ahead); and ‘Can I make this player fold a better hand?’ (if you’re confident you’re behind). FOLDING This is something you should do a lot of in no-limit hold’em – especially when you are still learning. If you peek at your cards only to see rags – weak cards that are low, unsuited and have little possibility of improving – you are usually best off tossing them away. Folding bad cards will bring profit by saving you from dribbling your chips away, leaving you with a bigger stack with which to attack other players when you getdealt a monster hand. BLUFFING Let’s not forget one of the best and most enjoyable arts of poker – bluffing. There is a big place in poker for bluffing, in no-limit hold’em particularly, but try to pull a fast one on the

wrong person at the wrong time and you’re going to get burnt. Stone-cold bluffs – when you have a bad hand with little chance of improving – should be used only when you are confident you won’t get called. Semi-bluffs – where you have a ‘drawing’ hand that is probably behind right now but could potentially be a winner if the right card comes – are better, but still to be used with caution. In fact, you’re best to eschew bluffing altogether until you’ve got some experience under your belt. To start with, stick to betting strong hands such as the highest pair and two pair until you’ve studied how your opponents play. Take it slowly, get your basic ABC play sorted, and then you can think about being a bit more creative.

H O W

HOLD’EM ESSENTIALS Hand rankings

T O

Before you start playing you have to know what hand beats what! Below is the complete poker hand hierarchy, starting with the highest…

P L A Y

ROYAL FLUSH Thebes t hand ofall:a straight flushfromtenthro ugh Ace. Thesuit doesn’tmatter , butyour oddsof getting one arein hold’emare a whopping30,939 -to-1.

N O L I M

STRAIGHT FLUSH

MOVING FORWARD Here are some ideas to think about once you’ve got the basic rules in place. GAME OF PEOP LE NO T CARDS We’d all love to get Aces and Kings every hand but probability is a tough mistress and she’d rather deal you trash most of the time. There are going to be times when you go completely card-dead. Losing players curl up and die in this situation, refusing to play a hand until their luck turns around. Winning players realise that hands are won long before cards even get seen and try to make the most of every opportunity. POWER OF POSIT ION As you gain more experience, you’ll realise that playing from late position or on the button makes the game so much easier. That’s not to say that you should raise like a madman when you’re on the button, but if three players have limped to you and you have a reasonable hand, just raise a decent amount and see what happens. Chances are you’ll probably take it down there and then, but even if you get called, you have the benefit of seeing what your opponent does first on the flop. POT ODDS No one is saying you need to be a maths genius to play poker, but the bottom line is that if you make the mathematically correct play every hand, you will be a winning player. Making such plays each and every time is beyond the realm of most mortals, but all you need to do is get a grounding in the basics. If you can understand and apply the concepts of ‘outs’ and ‘pot odds’, you’re well on your way. See our cash game section for more details UNDER PRESSURE Checking and calling certainly have their place in poker, but to be a winning player you’re going to have to take the fight to the other players. Think about how you feel when a player bets and raises you constantly. It’s uncomfortable and you want to avoid them, right? Make sure you’re the one other players stay away from and if they tangle with you, ensure they’re not in for an easy ride. Learn to observe your opponents’ tendencies and try to exploit them, and you’ll be well on your way to being a winning player. Good luck!

A straight but withall the cardsof the samesuit . Onceagain , thesuit doesn’tmatter(thereis no suit hierarchy in hold’em).

I T T E X A S

FOUR OF A KIND Also known as ‘quads’, this is four cards of thesame rank. If thequadsare dealt on theboard , thehighe st kicker determinesthe winner.

H O L D ’ E M

FULL HOUSE A combinationof a pair and three ofa kind.Whe n comparing full houses it’sthe three of a kind that counts first, so 3-3-3-2-2beats 2-2-2-A-A.

FLUSH Anyfive non-sequentialcards of thesame suit. Whencompar ingtwo competing flushes, it’sthe highestcard that counts.

STRAIGHT Five sequentialcard s notall in thesame suit. A Queenhighstrai ghtbeats a Jack-high straight,and so on.Ace canbe used either highor lowwhenmakin g a straight.

THREE OF A KIND Alsocall ed ‘trip s’or a ‘set’, thisis whenyouhav e three cards of equal rank.

TWO PAIR Two pairs of cards of equal rank, forexample,two Jacks andtwo Nines, as shown here.

PAIR Any two cards ofthe samerank , inthiscasetwoAce s. If two players holdthe same pair, thehighestkicke r is usedto determine thewinner .

HIGH CARD If no onehas anyof thecombina tions above,the winner comes down to thehighes t single card, from Acedown to two. In this example,you have Jack-high.


21

S R E N N I W G I B S ’ R E K O P

POKER’S $10 MILLION The seven players in poker history who have won more than $10 million from tournaments (and that’s not counting their cash game millions!)

CLUB

1

PHIL IVEY

With multiple WPT titles, WSOPbracele ts and millions of dollars of cash game winnings to hisname , Phil Iveyis arguably thegrea test poker player in thewor ld.Ther e isn’t a form of poker Iveyhasn’ t mastered and dominated, and he invokes fear and respect throughout the poker world. Ivey is a masterof adapting to any situationand hasthe unc anny abilit y to getinsi de hisoppo nent’shead andfigur e outa way to beat him. Hisnatu ral home is at the high-stakes cash game tableseithe r in hishomein Las Vegas oronlin e. Buthe’s won more in tournamentsthanany oneelse aliveand with 2009’samaz ingWSOP success the reare few worlds left for himto conquer.A true poker legend.

22


2

DANIEL NEGREANU

Poker’smostlikea bleand friendly characteris also one of itsmost prolific tournament winners, witha huge numberof WPT andWSOPtitlesto hisname. Negreanu began playingcash games in hishome of Toronto, butmove d to Las Vegas andfoundthe tournament circuitwher e he made his name withvicto ries in theearlydaysof theWorl d PokerTour. He hasplay ed in thebigges t high-stakes cash games for many years, butnow focuses more on thelive tournamentcircu it where hecont inuesto takeon and beatthe best inthe world.

5

3

PHIL HELLMUTH, JR

TheAustra lianpro burst onto thescene whenhe won the 2005WSOP maineven t, scooping $7.5 millionfor histroubl es.Since then hehas provedhe was no one-hit wonder with a victory in theWPT North American Poker Classic adding a further $2.2millio n to hisbank balance. He hasbeen much quieterof late, failingto add another WSOP bracelet to hismai n event win and only managing an eleventh place finish in theEurope an Poker Tour events he plays regularly. Hehas becomeoneof the mosticonicplay ers in poker, however,and is a household name in hisnativ e Australia.

Probably the greatest no-limithold’em tournament player alive, PhilHell muthis the holderof a record 11WSOP bracelets andover $10millionin tournamentwinnin gs.He was theyoung estever winner of theWSOP maineven t back in 1989 agedjust24. Sincethe n hehas become renownedas muchfor his attitude at thetable as hispoker . Hellmuth is famed forrantin g and berating opponents when he loses a bigpot, famouslytellingone guyhe ‘couldn’t even spell p-o-k-e-r.’ Hellmuth dividesopinionamong poker fans,with many doubting histalent s extendbeyon d beating badplay ers,and hisstyle is determinedly passive. Buthis record has few equalsand onhis day heis a fabulous reader ofplay ers, capableof amazingcallsand laydowns.

T R A D D O T S L I E N , S E IL M M O T ,P O S W R O F I D P IM ,I N IA D E I ThePrin ceof Poker isone ofthe mostenig matic playersin N A thegame, with a listof accomplishments equal to anyone. H P EHe is also responsiblefor thelegend aryline ‘You calland it’sall over T S , baby’,whic h hefam ouslysaidon the finalhandof his199 8 WSOP T ITmain eventwin. Thefast- talkingman from Vietnamhas a past

4

SCOTTY NGUYEN

W Elittered with gambling addiction andalcoho l-fuelled lows, buthe’s Dnowa reformed familyman andstill a ferocioustourna ment talent. IE DHis bigsuc cesses continueto beat theWSO P where hewonthe O Lprestigious$50,00 0 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. eventin 2008. He’salso the E winner ofa WPT titlewithvict oryin the World Poker Open in2006 . M

P O K E R ’ S

JOE HACHEM

B I G W I N N E R S

6

JAMIE GOLD

Thewinnerof thesingle biggestprize in poker historyis a TVprodu cer from CalifornianamedJamie Gold. The talkativeand slightly irritating Gold dominated the2006 WSOPmain event, still therichesttourna ment inhist ory, totakedow n the $12 million firstprize . Since thenhe’s notrea lly done a great dealin the world of poker apart from playinga few televisedcash games andsome charityevent s. He was a hugely controversial world champion, as many viewedhim as a poorplaye r whogot lucky.But hisperfor mance inthe 2006 WSOP remains one of themost impressivein history.

ALLEN

7 CUNNINGHAM AllenCunningha m could be theposte r boy for ‘getting it qui etly’.He’s oneof themost unassuming menin poker, butyou just can’t stop himwinni ng.He’swon five WSOP bracel etsin hiscare er al ong wi tha ho stof ot her titles. He’s also achieved the inc red ibl e feat of winning a WSOP bracel et three yearsin a row (2005,2006,2007) . Cunningham is oneof themost thoughtful poker pros around and his pe ers ratehimas one of thegrea test talent s in the game. He shuns thelimel ight, however, preferringto let his poker do thetalk ing .


23

E T T E U Q I T E R E K

TABLE MANNERS

O P

Poker is a strange world filled with its own quirky rules, regulations and codes of conduct every player should adhere to. Here we reveal five of poker’s most common breaches of etiquette

1 SLOW-ROLLING

WHAT IS IT?Nothinggets poker playersmore vexed thana slow-roll. Itis without doubtone of the mostirrit ating things inthe game.But wha t exactlyis a slow-roll? It’sthe action of deliberately taking a longtime to show thewinning hand, usuallywhile pretending youare beaten.In theright contexttheycan be very funny,such as announcing twopair with fourof a kind ina home game with mates. But,in the wrongcont ext,the y canleadto a punchin the mouth. Thereis something about a slow-roll thatmakesa poker player’s blood boil. It’sthe equivalentof playgroundbully ing,rubbin g your opponent’s nose in their defeat.Youjust beatthem in a hand andtookthe ir chips– do you really needto makea songand danceaboutit?Justsho w yourcard s andactlikea man. IN ACTIONAt the2005

WSOPmain event,femal e poker pro Jennifer Harman wasthe victim of a classicslow-r oll when Corey Zeidmanmade a straight flush to beather fullhouse. Whenshe putshim all-inhe pretendsto weighup the decision andsay s hecan dosomesigh tseeingif helose s before showingthe unbeatable handand asking forapplause . Harman should have clapped himround thehead. WATCH IThttp://tinyurl.com/dnenxs

2 OVER-CELEBRATING

WHAT IS IT?Inpoke r thereis a lotof luckinv olved.Eve n with a hand like pocket Acesyou are stillgoi ngto lose one time outof five topock ettwos when you areall- inpre- flop. Weallknowthis , butit doesn’tmakeit any less cruelwhenthatmira cle two arriveson the flop.Or itdoes n’tmea n wedon’ t wantto smash the tableup when thatguy hits two perfectcard s tooutd raw ourfullhous e.It’slik e fatedeci dedit hatedus. Youfeellik e the worldis aga instyou.Lik e nothing canev er gsrch t.And sothe last thingyouneed issomegoonwho played badlyand got luckyjump ingup anddow n and whoopinglike a brain-damaged monkey. If it’syou thatsuck ed outthen sit down, don’tsay a wordand quietlystac k yourchips . IN ACTIONMike Matusowgetscaug htout

when heflopstop pair aga inst an unlikely two pair of his opponentat the200 9 WSOPmaineve nt. Theybothget itall- in onthe turnand Mike hits a lucky river totakethepot.He thenjump s up fromhis seatand starts celebratingwhile hisopponen t sitsstone y-faced knowinghe’soutof the tournament.Tobe fair toMikeit’snotthe worst bad beatin the worldand hedoessay sorryafte rwards,butit’sstil l outof order. WATCH IThttp://tinyurl.com/m6yxxq

24


3 TALKING MID-HAND

P

4 HIT AND RUN

WHAT IS IT?Okay, let’s clarifythat

a bit.We don’t meanyoucan’ t talkabou t the weather or something that happened earlier, butif you’renot involved in thecurrenthand youshouldkeepquiet about thingsgoing on init untilit’sfini shed.If you say whatyouhad, you’re givinginformation that could sway someone’s decision. Andif youmentio n something like, ‘Oh he looks weak there, he didn’t like that Ace,’ youare massivelyout of line. Poker is a game of limitedinform ation, soeve n ifyouthin k you havesomeyoushou ld keep yourego in checkandwai t untiltheend ofthe hand.Nobo dycare s whatyouthin k if you’renot involved in thehand, andyou are likelyto severely annoy thepeoplestill playingif youchimein withunwa nted comments. In short, be discreet.

WHAT IS IT?This

is something that only hap pens in cash games – in particular onl ine– andis oneof the moresubtle breaches of poker etique tte. To ‘hi t andrun’ is to win allof an oppo nent’smone y andthen immedi atelyleav e. You seethis a lot more when playing onlinethan in live games where it’s notas easy to slide awayfromthe table without causing a row.Some players see nothing wrongwith this tactic , and feel they haveno duty to allowthe other player theopport unity to ‘win his money back’. However, mostin thepoke r world view players that don’t want to continue to play on after winning a bigpot as badwinne rs andbad for thegame.

IN ACTIONOnceagainit’s

Mike Matusow involved, butthis timehe’s theinjure d party.At the2005 WSOP maineven t Shawn Sheikhan slams hisfist againstthe table after theflop hasbeen dealt,clearl y indicating he hada hand that would have flopped well. In other words makingit less likelyMikeMatuso w did.Matus ow understandablyexplodes and the two players getinto a huge row.

OURTIP Ifyo u wi n a bi g po t ina

live cashgame thendon’t immed iately leaveor make moves to leave.Sta y and pl aya few mo reorbi tsof the bli nds. You don’t haveto play many hands,but givethe ill usi on you are still active in thegame.And,who knows,if you tig hten up your starti ng hand selectionand only play if you hi t a big hand , itcoul d evenend up with you fini shing even more up.

WATCH ITwww.tinyurl.com/mymzsz

5 TRASH-TALKING

WHAT IS IT?If you bea t a player then cel ebrating is onething , butrubbi ng hisnose in it is another.Nobodylike s to see a so relos er, but a sorewin ne r is even worse. Many players havemade a careerout of actingup at thetable s and giving players rubdowns when they win, none more so than Tony G. The loudmo uthAuss ie hascros sedso far over theline in poker tournaments he can’t even seeit any more. He gets away with it because there is no penalty in poker for bei ng a jerk. Butyou should n’t learn from TonyG about howto conduct yourselfat thepoke r table.Sure , it’s sometimesfunn y to watch, buttry it at thelocalcasin o andyou may find your laughter qui ckly stops when the wholetable turnsagainst you.

Many players have made a career out of acting up at the tables and giving players rubdowns… none more so than Tony G

IN ACTIONTheclass ic Tony G rubdown

came against RalphPerryin a televise d tournament. The two have someprevious history so when Tony G kno cks himout he launches into a tiradetelli ng Perry hiscare er is finished andtelli ng himto get out. Perrysits,dumbf oundedfor a while, before eventually getting up to leavewith Tony G still hol leringabuse at himas he exitsstag e left.

KEY POINT When you are notinv olved ina hand you shouldkeepquie t until thehand is over. Don’ttalkaboutwhatcard s you folded or your opinion of your opponents’ play.It isbad formand likely to annoy your opponents.

WATCH ITwww.tinyurl.com/3vkaop


25

O

K E

R

E

T

I Q

U

E T T

E

All images taken from actual in-game screenshots.

Club PKR - The most rewarding club in poker Club PKR is a different kind of loyalty programme. For starters our ‘always up, never down’ policy means you never lose points or VIP status just because you want to take a break. Once you reach a level it’s yours - for life.

Our levels are also easier to achieve, meaning you’ll find yourself in Silver, Gold and even Platinum status far sooner than you would in other poker rooms. And that’s great news because there is a world of fantastic rewards just waiting for you as you move up the loyalty ladder including free PKR merchandise, big money freerolls every month, VIP access to PKR events and a whole lot more.

Please gamble responsibly. For more information and advice visit www.gambleaware.co.uk Licensed by the UK Gambling Commission

Y G O L O N I M R E T R E K O

POKER TERMINOLOGY Poker has a rich and constantly growing language. Here are some of the most common terms you will need to know when learning the game

P

hand, and is often said to be the strongest position because the dealer is the last person to act and therefore has most information.

for example AÚ-JÚ-8Ú-4Ú-2Ú. If they are all connected you can make a very rare – and incredibly strong – straight flush.

BUY-INThe cost of the game that you want

FOLD The action of throwing away your

cards and taking no further part in the hand, forfeiting any claim to win the pot.

lose to an opponent who is statistically an underdog when the money goes in.

to enter. It varies from micro stakes to high stakes. In a tournament it will be a flat fee that everyone pays and which goes towards the total prize pool, while in a cash game it depends on the table stakes. If the game is $1/$2 no-limit hold’em the typical buy-in would be a maximum of $200.

BANKROLLThe

CALL The action a

ALL-IN The name given to betting all your chips on any given hand in no-limit hold’em. ANTE An additional forced bet which comes into play later in a tournament. It must be paid by every player every hand and it is usually between one-sixth to one-quarter of the small blind. BAD BEAT To be a favourite in a hand but

total amount of ‘poker money’ you have available to you at any one time. Online this would be all the money in your poker account, and should be kept separate from your ‘real’ money. BLINDSCompulsory

bets that ensure there are some chips to win every hand. In tournaments they force the action as they rise progressively, and in cash games they promote action. The player to the immediate left of the dealer posts the ‘small blind’, and the player to their left posts the ‘big blind’ (usually double the small blind). The blinds also move around the table clockwise on each new hand so that every player takes their turn to pay them. The size of the blinds are dictated by the table stakes or the stage of a tournament.

player makes when they match a bet from another player.

fourth community card in hold’em, often known as the ‘turn’. FULL HOUSEA five-card hand in which

you have a combination of three of a kind and another pair, for example, K-K-K-J-J. HEADS-UPWhen only two players are in

CHECKThe option to ‘check’ arises if you do

not want to bet and there is no bet to match. However, if someone has bet you cannot check – you have to fold, call or raise.

If one or morepot’ players goes all-in, a ‘side is created for other players in the hand who are still betting COMMUNITY CARDSThe face-up cards in

contention for the pot, they’re said to be ‘heads-up’. It’s also used as a term for a form of poker where two players play a one-on-one match either as a tournament or cash game. HOLE CARDSThe two face-down cards each

player is dealt at the start of every hand. KICKERThe term for the card used to break

ties between similar hands. So if a hand goes to showdown and two players have the same pair, the player with the bigger ‘kicker’ or side card wins the hand.

the middle of the table shared by all players. LAG Abbreviation for a loose-aggressive CONTINUATION BETA bet made af ter

player, who bets with a wide range of hands.

when you are likely to have the worst hand in a bid to get an opponent to fold.

the flop by the player who took the lead in betting before the flop. The term is often known as a c-bet.

MAIN POTThe principal pot of chips that

BOARDThe community cards in hold’em are

DRAWING DEADIf there are cards to come

collectively known as the ‘board’.

but your hand cannot improve on that of your opponent(s) you are ‘drawing dead’.

BLUFFTo bet and raise

BUBBLEIn a tournament this is the last

person to be knocked out before the money positions. This person is often called the ‘bubble boy’ or is said to have ‘bubbled’. BUTTONThis is the

physical marker on the table that indicates which player is the designated dealer and therefore which two players (the two to the left) are in the blinds. The button moves one seat to the left each

28

FOURTH STREETThe


all players are trying to win. If one or more players go all-in, a ‘side pot’ is created for other players in the hand who are not all-in and are still betting. MUCK As a noun, this refers to the

FIFTH STREETThe fifth

community card in hold’em, often called the ‘river’.

pile of folded and discarded cards. As a verb, it means the act of folding.

FLOP This is the set of three face-up

MULTI-TABLE TOURNAMENT A type of

community cards that are dealt after the first round of betting.

tournament where the field size dictates that more than one table is needed. As the tournament progresses players get knocked out and the tables reduce, until eventually there is just the final table.

FLUSHA strong hand at showdown

consisting of five cards of the same suit,

P O K

If the community cards create a lot of potential for straights and flushes the board is said to have a ‘wet’ texture

E

R T E

R

M I N O L O G Y

SHOWDOWNThis

takes place after the final bet where all players show their hands or muck, and the best hand takes the pot. SIDE POTThe

pot created when a player goes all-in and there are other players in the hand who still have chips and are betting to create a separate side pot only they can win. This SINGLE-TABLE TOURNAMENT

term describes a tournament where only one table is used, with typically six or ten players competing. Often referred to as a sit&go. STRAIGHTA fairly

strong five-card hand in rank order where suit doesn’t matter – for example, 8;-9:-10…-JÚ-Q…. SUIT There

are four ‘suits’ in a 52-card deck – hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades. They are used to make flushes, and in hold’em no suit has a bigger strength than another. TAG Abbreviation for a

tight-aggressive player – one who plays a small range of premium hands strongly. TEXTUREA term

NO-LIMITA betting

structure in which each bet is only limited by the number of chips a player has in their stack.

POT-LIMITA betting

format where each player may bet up to the current amount of chips in the pot after the cost of calling.

for the make-up of the board. If the community cards create a lot of potential for straights and flushes the board is said to have a ‘wet’ texture. If it is generally unsuited and has few connecting cards it is said to have a ‘dry’ texture.

OUTS These

RAISE The

act of betting more than that which was wagered by a prior bettor. It has to be at least double that of the initial bet.

THREE-BETAnother term

RE-RAISEThe

TILTWhen

are cards that can come to potentially give someone a winning hand. For example, nine cards or ‘outs’ when a player flops four cards to a flush. PLAYING THE BOARDWhen

a player uses all the community cards in hold’em as their best hand. ‘in the hole’ (dealt as hole cards), such as 2-2 or A-A.

name given to a third bet when there has been a bet and a raise.

for a re-raise. Pre-flop the big blind is the first bet, a raise the second bet and re-raise a three-bet. a player gets frustrated and angry because of something that happens at the poker table, and starts playing badly.

RIVERThe

fifth and final community card in hold’em. Also known as ‘fifth street’.

TRIPS Another name

ROYAL FLUSHThis

TURN A common

SET Three

VALUE BETA bet made when you think you have the best hand and are trying to extract more chips or money from your opponent.

for three of a kind.

POCKET PAIRA pair

POT The

total chips that are available to win in any given hand created by players betting and calling, and any blinds and antes in play.

is the best straight flush, for example 10;-J;-Q;-K;-A;. It is the strongest possible hand ranking. of a kind using two hole cards and one of the community cards.

name given to the fourth community card in hold’em.

29


R E K O P E N I L N O

ONLINE POKER…

F O Y R

game, w a bout the online p loded… u need to kno rnet poker ex te Everything yo n i t u bo a hs t y m he t f and some o

O T

T h e r e a l s t or y Y

S I H

In 2002 the World Poker Tour made its TV debut, creating huge interest in tournament poker

OU PROBABLY HAVE trainers that are older than the online poker industry. It took its first tentative steps in January 1998, when Planet Poker became the first real-money online poker room. The idea was to try to replicate the land-based casino experience online – and to be honest, nobody really cared that much. The only game available was $3/$6 limit, and just a handful of players could be found sitting in at any one time. It wasn’t until late 1999 when the first real giant of the online poker world was born. Over in Costa Rica, a group of Canadian college friends, who to this day remain nameless, started up Paradise Poker. The site offered Omaha and seven-card stud as well as Texas hold’em. The graphics were slick and ran a lot faster than the sluggish Planet Poker, and the site quickly proved a hit. At the end of 2000 the next of the big names made its debut. UltimateBet was set up jointly by software firm ieLogic (founded by tech geeks Greg Pierson and Jon

Karl) and some secretive highstakes poker players (believed to include a former WSOP main event winner). UB started to gain some ground, but the market was still dominated by Paradise. By the end of 2000 it had introduced no-limit hold’em cash games and the online poker world as we know it started to be defined. But developments in the real world were about to turn everything upside down...

THE GOLD RUSH Prior to 2001, tournament poker just wasn’t all that interesting to your average online punter. Paradise Poker’s 50,000 players were mostly grinding it out at the limit hold’em tables, and while a few other sites were running sit&gos and occasional freezeout tournaments, online poker was a cash game world. But some newcomers on the scene had other ideas. PartyPoker in particular saw the marketing value of online tournaments. What better way to launch yourself onto the scene than by running a huge series of tournaments culminating in a

$1m main event on a cruise ship? Sound familiar? It sure as hell wasn’t back in 2001 when PartyPoker came up with the PartyPoker.com Million. Just a few months later another poker site made its presence known. PokerStars.com launched in October 2001 with the intention of becoming the home of online tournament play. Its first big promotion was a $50,000 guaranteed tournament with a $215 buy-in. However, there was a third component that took online poker to a new level. THE BI G BANG In 2002 the World Poker Tour made its TV debut on the Travel Channel in the US. It not only created huge interest in tournament poker, but also gave poker sites a platform on which to advertise. As a result, those sites offering big-money tournaments started to see a huge uplift in player numbers, which is when the poker boom really started. There was one clear winner in the early skirmishes. PartyPoker went from nowhere to become the largest online poker room in just two years. Paradise Poker meanwhile, which

ONLINE POKER TIMELINE The rise and rise of the online game

30

PlanetPokerbecomes the 1998 firstproper online poker site andsigns upa few earlyfans


ParadisePokerbecomes 2001 thefirstonlinesuccess attractingthousandsofnewplayers

TheWorld Poker Tour 2002 launches, changingpoker history forgood

By 2009 poker had become a truly global game played by hundreds of thousands of players across the world

still wasn’t offering multi-table tournaments, saw its market position drop like a stone. In stark contrast, PokerStars was growing fast, thanks to a business model based heavily on tournaments. It was at this point, with the ‘American’ sites showing incredible growth, that Europe sat up and took notice. Ladbrokes launched its online poker site in 2002. It didn’t accept US players, and concentrated on growing the business in the UK and Scandinavian markets. Over in the US though, where more than 80% of the online poker market was, PartyPoker was comprehensively winning the war. And when amateur player Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP main event there was a huge rush to sign up to play online in the US. By 2004 PartyPoker was making over $1m profit a day. A DAY! This wasn’t lost on the rest of the online gaming world. Suddenly every man and his dog was launching a poker room. By the end of 2004, the online poker world as we know it had taken shape. The tournament sites and the cash game sites had stolen the best bits from each other

P artyPoker becomesthe 2004 worl d’slarges t poker site and offers $1mguarant eedtourne y

and there was a real sense of uniformity in the poker world. From here on the poker industry boomed, spreading out from the USA to Europe and beyond. Major tournaments in Europe helped grow the scene, fuelled as they were by online satellites. And while growth in America stagnated, the European poker sector continues to grow at a huge rate today. By 2009 poker had become a truly global game played by hundreds of thousands of players across the world every day. STATE OF THE ART And the software didn’t stand still either. Almost every game you can imagine is now available around the clock, with slick and easy-to-use interfaces. Poker sites such as PKR have even embraced cutting edge graphics technology, taking poker to a whole new level with stunning 3D visuals. The quality of the online poker experience now is truly spectacular, in many ways equalling the casino experience envisaged in the early days. And we’ve only been going for a decade. Here’s to the next ten years of online poker!

s onlinepoke r to 2007 PKRtake a wholenew level with the launchof graphicallyrich 3Dpoker

H I S

ONLINE POKER FAQ

T O

Key info for newcomers HOW DOI GET MONEY ON AND OFF A POKER SITE? It’s surprisingly easy.Your bestbetisto use a debit card suchas Maestroor Visa debit, asyou cansim ply put in your detailsand deposit and withdraw onto thesame card.Yo u canalsousea credit card,thou ghthisis not as convenient as youare usually notabl e towithd raw tothe same card. You can alsouse online e-wallets suchas PayPal to depositand withdraw on many sites.

HOW SAFE IS MY MONEY? Ifyou stickto themaj or sites suchas PKRyou r money is very safeas itis keptin ‘ring-fenced’ accounts,which thesites themselves do not haveacce ssto. If indoub t ask the sitevia emailif theyuse ring-fenced accounts.

R Y

RNGto assign numbersto each ‘card’ and thenusingeither thehighes t or lowestnumber asthe first card andso on. The RNGsuse incredibly sophisticated technology to ensure they can’t be ‘cracked’ and areregular ly auditedby external testingagencies.

O

F O

N L

I N E P

WHAT STAKES ARE THERE ONLINE?

O

K

You can playfor freein freeroll tournaments or play-money games, or play very lowstakes $1 tournamentsor $0.01/$0.02 cash games. You canpla y ashighas $1,000 tournaments or $500/$1,000 cash gamesif you havethe bankroll. Anygame youwant youcan findonline.

E

R

WHO AM I PLAYING AGAINST?

Other people like yourself from around theworld.The USA, UK, Franceand Germanyprovid e a large numberof playersbut you canfindplay ersfro m all HOW ARE THE CARDS DEALT? over theworld taking part. Online sites userandom The sites simplytake a small number generators (RNGs) to percentageof each potas a simulate theshuffleof the commission or rake in the cards. Thisis done byusin g the same way asa livecasi no.

ONLINE POKER MYTHS Don’t believe the hype ‘EVERYONE IS COLLUDING AGAINST ME’

theresult s areauditedfor fairness by outsidetestin g agencies. Themyth comes fromthe factso many hands WRONG Collusion (where two or moreplay ersteamup to are dealtonli neso you see a gainadvant age), is not only month’sworthof bad beats rare,but thesit esspen d a and amazing hands every day. greatdealof time andmone y looking forit. They have ‘THE SITES LET YOU sophisticated softwarethat WIN AT FIRST BUT detectscollusi on and they THEN MAKE YOU LOSE’ investigate any complaints WRONG The sites don’t make or reportsfrom players. more money whenyou lose, theysimp lytakea ‘rake’ ora percentageof thepot whoever ‘THE SOFTWARE wins or loses. It’snot inthei r IS RIGGED!’ interestsfor anyone player to WRONGPoker software uses random number generators and win more thananothe r.


31

L A I R O T R E V D A

POKO EF RA CG O MES E The next chapter in online poker’s evolution is the development of fast, realistic and compelling 3D poker. Step forward PKR.com…

W

HEN POKER FIRST MADE the leap from casino to computer screen, it’s fair to say something was lost in translation. For all its convenience, the online game couldn’t match the excitement, drama and atmosphere of the live game. But PKR.com is the next stage in online poker’s evolution, and the closest you can get to the real world on the internet. Conceived and created by some of the leading lights in the videogames industry, PKR is the slickest and most graphically impressive poker site ever seen, with rich 3D environments and a clever game system that mimics the interactive qualities of live

32


poker. As you can see from the in-game screenshots, it looks absolutely stunning, and utterly different from any online poker site you’ve ever seen. B E WHO YO U WANT T O B E When you first log in, you’re able to design and create a virtual character or ‘avatar’ to represent you at the poker table. There’s a huge range of options to play with, ensuring that every character in the game is unique. PKR can even render an in-game image that looks exactly like you by mapping your face onto an avatar. You can also express yourself at the table by activating a variety of ‘emotes’ – animations that act out your feelings and

expressions, whether it’s to say ‘nice hand’ or shake your head in disgust. But don’t be confused into thinking this comes at the expense of the gameplay. At PKR you still get a fast, slick game, multi-table options and a huge range of tournaments and cash games. It’s a site for seriously good poker, just with a lot more fun. The graphical wonders also add a new element to the game including the art of picking up tells and faking out opponents. You can use body language, attitude and even the clothes on your back to control the action and win pots! Find out how to bring a whole new dimension to your game on PKR...

A

WATCH THE ACTION

TOP TIPS

A fresh look at online poker

Create a character that’sas uniqueas you are. Start by selectinga gender, skin tone andbody shape,thengetto work creatingyour perfect poker personality. You caneven choosefroma massivecatalogue of clothing itemsto create your look.

With PKR you can choose from a variety of different views to watch the action. And with 10 lush environments to play in PKR is poker like you’ve never seen it before...

Seethe action fromyour DYNAMICBethe star of yourown poker TV FIRSTPERSON show witha ‘director’automatically deliveringcharacter’spointof view. Lookaroundand allthebestangle s andfol lowingall theacti on even make eye contact withyouropponents!

At PKR you still get a slick game, multitable options and a huge range of tournaments and cash games

ORBITTake in theactionfrom almostany angle youchoose . Useyour mouse to swivel andzoom forthe perfectview

OVERVIEWGet ontop ofthe gamewith a bird’s eye viewtha t takes inall the action andeveryplay er at thetable

D V

E

R

T O

R

I A L

There are10 lush environmentsto play in,rangin g from your typicalhome game to Monte Carlo, Las Vegas andeven an Egyptian casino. Immerse yourself in PKR’s poker world. The cameracan be trickyto get togrips with, especiallyif you haven’t playeda lotof 3D games before,so spenda bit oftime tryingit outunt ilyou find a view that suits you. If you’rehavin g troublegetting the right angle,the ‘orbit’camerais the most versatile, allowing panning, tiltingand zooming.

Quickly get POINTS OF THECOMPASS thevie w you need bychoo sing oneof four fixed camerasthat cover thetable

Overview mode MULTI-TABLE allowsyouto play upto fourgame s at onceand increase your profits!

If anyplayer is getting on yournerveswith constantchicken noises and taunts (PKRcallsit ‘emote spamming’),there’s anoptio n toblock emotes altogether.

PLAY YOUR GAME AT PKR Find the game that’s right for you… PKR offers tournaments, ring games, sit&gos and much more… MULTI-TABLE TOURNAMENTSPKR’s

MTTs rule! Go intothe lobby andyou’ll find bigguaran teed prize pools to play for everyday,satell itequalifie rs foronlineand land-basedevent s, a huge range of innovative tournamenttypes,and your chance to be broadcast allover Europe andthe UK on PKR.TV.

CASHGAMESPKR’stechnologyis perfect

SIT&GOSPerfect theart of thesit&go forring gameswheregettingto know your atPKR wheretwo,six and10-seaters opponentsis critical. There area huge rangefor fillup quicklyand offer huge variety.Playwitha youto choosefrom atlimitsto suit everybankroll. standard clock or goturbo forevenmoreaction. Thelimitsstart from very small stakes. Players And with innovative DoubleThru’s,Winner-Takescanplaycashgameswith stakesas lowas All, Phaseand Terminator tourneys,there’salways $0.01/$0.02 andup to$25/$50 no-limit. a new way to sharpenyourgame.


33

D I A P T GE O PL AY T Claim up to $250 free!

Play PKR for real money and we’ll match your first deposit dollar for dollar with one of the most generous bonuses in poker. Grab 100% on deposits starting at just $10 - all the way up to $250! Just use bonus code PKRBONUS when you deposit.

Please gamble responsibly. For more information and advice visit www.gambleaware.co.uk.

The ultimate guide to SIT&GOs


35

Y G E T A R T S O G & T I S

t a e b o t w o H SIT&GOs Sit&gos are a great format in which to build your skills and confidence, and yield a the verygames handsome profit. Here we look atcan howalso to master by moving through the gears and how to swiftly move up the levels

T

HE MOST POPULAR NEW FORMAT to emerge from internet poker is the sit&go, or single-table tournament. Games typically run with ten players, with first place taking 50% of the prizepool, second place 30% and third place 20%. These are the most common games you will find in home games, pubs and online. In short, sit&gos are a game everyone should be able to play and beat. They are the easiest form of poker to master and probably the most profitable way to make money in poker for the average punter – they run constantly and can be played to a formula as many as 12tab les at a time. The best sit&go players at any given level can expect to average a 20% return on investment – so for every $10 game they would make$12 , for a profit of $2. If you start off playing $5gam es, then good players should average around $1 per game. You can then move up a level providing you haveat least 20tim es the buy-in. So when you get to $200 you can try the $10 games. Remember that the goal is topla y at the level that is most profitable toyou at any given time, so if you step upand do well stick withit, and if you takea beating then drop down and recover. If all goes to plan and you consistently acclimatise to and dominate each new level there is no reason why you shouldn’t move up a level every 100 games or so, meaning that from the $5 to $100 level could be done in less that 500 games. Of course, in reality, the path is likely to be more circuitous and contain a few pitfalls and dead ends along the way, but the more you learn and apply yourself the quicker you will progress. Beyond this level there is still plenty of distance to cover, with buy-ins from $200 up to $2,000 currently available. Remember though that if you get this far you will start to encounter many excellent and sophisticated opponents, so beware! Should you be able to outsmart them you will certainly find a pot of gold yours for the taking – playing just at the $200 level with four games on one high-resolution screen a

36


HOW TO WIN SIT&GOs Become a sit&go master by learning how to effectively move through the gears Theearly pha se dict atesa tigh t hand

1 selectio n and favours good post-fl op players. Your goal is to gainsome chip s when you ge t a goodhand . The middle phase dictates a transition 2 from post-flopplay to a pre-floppush/f old strategy. Mostplayer s are unaware that this app roach is correc t and willallowyou to coll ect theblin ds . Your goal is toput yourse lf in a positi on towin thesit&g o. Inthelatephaseof play,bothpre- flop and 3 post-flopplay can dominate, dependingon theblind s andthe sizes of thethre e remaining stacks. Go for thewin,and don’t be cautious.

good player can rake in around $200-$300 an hour. Happy days! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First we need to learn to beat the low-stakes games, which are full of bad players not playing correct strategy. Unlike most forms of poker, sit&gos are almost a solved game and you need to stick to a fixed game plan to do well. The key to winning is using a formula based on dividing the game into three stages – early, middle and late. It helps to view these three elements as traffic lights – red, amber and green. In the red stage you should play with extreme caution as you are in the danger zone. With amber you should start to move slowly through the gears and play a bit more freely and at green you should put your foot down and hit top gear. Confused? You won’t be.

Playing at the $200 level with four games on one high-resolution screen, a good player can make $200-$300 an hour. Happy days!

S I T

& G O

S

T

R

A T

E G Y

TYPES OF SIT&GO The sit&go format has taken the online world by storm in recent years. This strategy guide focuses on nine and ten-handed games, but there are many other game types out there, including these classic options…

1

TURBOS

These arefast- paced games withthe blinds rising much quickerthan a standard game. Theseare the best games ifyouwantto restrict your game to a push/fold strategy as there is notmuch middle-game play.

2

SIX-HANDED

In these ‘si x-max’gamesonlythe top two placesare paid. They areusua llymuch more aggressivegameswher e you haveto play more hands to survive, andas such they are better suited to the more experience d player.

3

HEADS-UP

These areone-on -onegameswhereyou reallyneed to be an experiencedplay er to do well. You play everyhand andthe skills involved arequite different. Stay awayfrom these if youare a beginner.


37


1 EARLY GAME PLAY

In the red-light stage of a sit&go your first, crucial, task is to play safely and conservatively to avoid getting knocked out early. No all-in calls with pocket Jacks here. The key to successful sit&go play is pacing yourself – start slowly and steadily and go through the gears. The other advantage to this style is that it presents a table image of a tight player, so that when you do start playing with more aggression your opponents are unlikely to call you with anything but a monster hand. The opening levels of a sit&go are often where the games are won or lost. The key is to not waste valuable chips chasing draws. The early phase of a sit&go exists in every structure, no matter if it’s played live or online, and is defined by how many chips you have in relation to the blinds. It ends when the blinds are worth around 1/15th of your starting stack. Generally speaking, super-tight hand selection is the best strategy at the beginning of the early phase. If you squander your chips in the early phase on speculative hands – like when chasing

38


STARTING HAND GUIDE EARLY STAGES PLAY

2-2 toJ-J,A-Kand A-Q RE-RAISE

Q-Q,K-K, A-A FOLD

draws – you will often put yourself at a significant disadvantage. The blinds continually increase, which means the middle phase of play could arrive quicker for you.

KEY POINT Inthe early phase ofa sit&goa tightstra tegyis best, as conservingyourchipsfor thelater stages is paramount.Limityourhand selection to big pairs,A-K andA-Q, andabov e all,playposit ion

Allotherhands While the middle phase still allows for skilled play, there is more opportunity to use this to your advantage in the early phase. In a cash game you can simply reload if things go poorly, but in a sit&go you must conserve your chips and thereby conserve your equity. Most players do not understand this, and the early phase is dominated by poor play – particularly of the calling station, draw-chasing variety. Obviously, if you have a good hand, you can exploit this by value-betting.

WALKTHROUGH

S I T

Playing the early levels

G

& O

The early stages of a sit&go are all about survival. You don’t need to take big risks when there are still ten players left

S

T

R

A T

E G Y

Y ouget dealt A…-10… onthebutton atthe 10/20 level.Whilethishandis marginal in early position, in lateposition youshould raise andc-bet most flops, as you willlikely have thebest hand.

1

The best strategy at this stage is to limit your hand selection to either monsters or hands that can flop easily-played monsters, which is why your ha nd ra nge should be restricted to pocket pairs, A-Q and A-K. Big pairs, such as Q-Q and above ought to be played aggressively. Lower pairs and the big Aces should be played more cautiously. Ideally, you should only play your lesser hands in late position, though limping or calling a moderate raise in middle position is okay. As the blinds rise and you move towards the middle stage of the sit&go you should continue to play a tight strategy, just a little less tight than the initial super-tight strategy.

TERMINOLOGY EQUITYYourequityis your expected

You getdealtQ :-J; onthe button atthe 2 25/50 blind level andtherehas been a mid-positionraiseto 100. While thishandlooks pretty it is only going to getyou intotrou ble post-flopso you shouldwaitfor a betterspot.

valuefrom a pot or tournament.Say you havea 40%cha nceto win a pot worth $100, your equityis $40(0.4 times 100). Theterm is somewhat perfunctoryas youwill usuallywin $100or $0but itgiv esyou anideaof how much you can ‘expect ’ towin. SHORT STACKA playerwith less

than tenbig blinds

KEY POINT You canraisewith smallerpairslike5-5 when in position but don’t playa big pot withthissor t of hand unless you flopa monster.Also,contin uation bets donotneedto bepot- sized.At thisstag e in thegame it’sall about limiting your risk

You pickup A;-J; in mid-position at the 3 10/20 level.Ther e’sa raiseto 80 anda call before it reaches you. You shouldfold , as unlessyouhit a flush or your Jack you won’t know whereyou are in thehand .


39


2 THE MIDDLE GAME

Unsurprisingly, the tactic of only playing big hands can’t be used throughout. By the time you get to the middle phase of a sit&go, you are going to have to get more imaginative. The middle phase ends when the bubble bursts and only three players remain. Those three players will each then be guaranteed a portion of the prizepool, and play shifts to the late phase. The best middle phase strategy should gradually transition into more aggressive play. Conventional tournament wisdom states that you should play in two stages. First survive to the payout, then play for first. There is no money for fourth place, hence finishing out of the money represents a waste of your time. Even if you crawl into third place, you make something, and something is better than nothing. As you approach the bubble of a sit&go, you may be tempted to creep into the money and take what you can, but it may be more profitable to go for broke. You may be partial to conventional wisdom, but the aggressive path is more profitable.

KEY POINT Themiddlephaseof a sit&go beginswhen the blindsare wortharou nd 1/15th or more of your chipstack andends when thebubbleburst s. During thisperio d, you shouldbe changing gears if the blindstotal 10%of your stack.So if theblindsare 50/100 and you havea 1,500stac k,it’stimeto start widening your range of starting hands

The middle game is where the real poker starts being played. This is when a few players have been knocked out and the blinds have risen to the point where the average stack is around ten big blinds. At this stage you will typically see the short-stacks moving all-in with any hand they deem playable – which is the best tactic if you are down to 10 big blinds or less – while normal-sized raises from larger stacks will often be met by an all-in from someone else. KNOW YOUR PLACE The key to this stage is understanding your overall position in the game and where you stand in relation to the other players. Going out in a marginal situation unnecessarily is a disaster, especially if you are one of the big stacks and there are several small stacks. Likewise, if the game is four-handed with equal stacks and two players end up all-in on a coinflip then in effect they are just giving money to the other players who gain simply by watching from the sidelines. What this means in practical terms is that you should play according to your relative stack size. You should attack the smaller stacks, as they are playing for survival. Use frequent raises, re-raises and all-ins as they will need a very big hand to call you. When you are a short-stack, however, you should look to do whatever is necessary to make the money,

40


TERMINOLOGY

THE BUBBLEThepoin t

ina tournamentor sit&go where the next person out will notmake any money butall remainingplaye rs will getpaid. So if three players arepaid outandfourrem ain,you are saidto be‘on thebub ble’, whileto goout at this point is known as ‘bubbling’

folding bad and marginal hands when you can afford to in the hope that someone else busts, getting your chips in first unless you have a monster, moving all-in to steal the blinds when you are running out of chips and attacking the big blind of the next shortest stacks whenever possible to lower the deficit. However, stick to the golden rule of cautious aggression. Don’t be reckless. Bet hard only when the cards truly deserve it or if you have less than six to eight times the big blind. Remember, though your ultimate objective is to win the whole shooting match, your first priority is to get a money finish. Take advantage of any opportunities that come your way, and do everything it takes to make the final three. From there you can up the aggression and start gambling on marginal hands, with the safety net of at least doubling your money.

KEY POINT Just because you thi nk you may havea sli ghtly better handthan your opponent doesn’t mean youshould always call.Chips arenot actually equivalent to theirmoney value, and youshould avoid situations where youcan be knocked out, allowing others to gainat your expense

WALKTHROUGH

S I T

Shoving with anything

G

& O

In the middle stage of a sit&go there are times when you shouldplay with serious aggression regardless of your cards

S

T

R

A T

E G Y

ouareon the bubble ina $10 sit&go where 1 Yeachof thefourremai ningplay ershave 2,500 chips. Theblindsare 200/400 andyou are dealt 3-2offsu it in thesmall blind.

M IDDL ES TAGE GAMyour E PLstrategy AN How your stack affects Your goal in the middle stage should be to adjust your game to the players in front of you. Your cards are not as important as your relative stack sizes SHORT-STACKED If you areshort -stacked you shouldbe lookingto movein withany playable hand, suchas pocketpairs , big Aces or twocourt cards(Queens, Kings, Jacks). Don’traise pre-flop, simplymove all-in. Only raise all-in if there hasbeen no raise before you if you have an averagehand. Re-raise all-in if you have a big hand. Attack fellow short-stacks when they are onthe bigblin d.The y willbe reluctantto callwitho ut a bighand. Avoid callingall-in moves frombig-stacks unless you havea bigpai r orA-Q,A-K .

MEDIUM-STACKED Attack other mediumand short-stacked players.Raisewith a wide range of hands

two players fold.The big blind is 2 Thefirst a tight-solid playerwho views you as the same.You move all-in.

and re-raise medium-stacked players who are raising frequently. Avoid thebig stacksas muchas possible. They are theonly players whocan knock you outat thisstag e. Donotbe the one calling.Be the one raising. Useyourchipst ackas a weapon.

BIG-STACKED Donotmak e too manyher o callswit h bad Aces andsmallpairs . You donot want to get intocoinfl ipsand wasteyourchip lead. Make frequentraisesto tryto steal the blinds,but don’t calltoo easilywhen players move all-inoverthe topof you. Bully theotherplay ersby making raisesand re-raises, as they willneed very good hands to callyou with.

Thebig blind folds. This will undoubtedly surprise a few people, butthe bigblind will call with very few hands here as he understands the valueof survival. Your cards are meaningless. You shouldalwa yspush here unless you suspect he is thetype to callwith substandardhands .

3


41


3 ENDGAME PLAY

So you’ve made it to the money – now what? Well, here is where the gambling begins as there is only 10% difference between second and third but 30% between second and first. You should be playing to accumulate chips and win. Turn everything we have told you so far on its head and be bold and aggressive. But remember to play the players in front of you. By now, af ter lasting this long, you should have a pretty good read on your opponents. So if you are playing a short-stacked maniac it may not be a great idea to call him all-in with your 6-3 offsuit when you’re on the button. If you make it all the way to heads-up play then the game takes on another complexion. Obviously, you want to win at this point since victory holds the biggest payout. Your opponents also want to win and their play will loosen up, becoming more aggressive. For much of the time there will be no change in the character of play from the middle phase. If the big blind represents a tenth of your or your opponents’ stacks, the correct play will be to push or fold. What changes is that your opponents will be more willing to gamble, and as your goal is to

42


TERMINOLOGY COINFLIPA

situationin poker where two players are all-inand both have roughly a 50/50 chance of winningthe hand. Thisis most commonwhen oneplay er hasa small pair suchas pocketsixesand the other hasovercards such as K-Q.

win you should be willing to take some chances when three-handed. If you are second in chips with stacks of 6,000, 4,000, 3,500 you should be willing to take a coinflip with the third-placed player, as the 7.5k resulting stack gives you an immense advantage over the other player heads-up.

KEY POINT When three-handed, tryto put yourselfin a positionto moveup theladd er rather than looking to simply hang on.The valueof winning is worth so much more than just cashing – even if thefreq uency ofdoingso is less

HEADS-UP PLAY If you make it to heads-up play you will generally find yourself in a push/fold game. In other words the only move you should make is all-in or fold. Your opponents are generally unaware that a dramatic change in tactics is needed. They are left puzzled as to why someone with a stack of 6,000 is pushing in just because the blinds are 300/600. Of course, their lack of understanding

S I T

& G O

S

T

R

A T

E G Y

gives you yet another advantage: if you play aggressively, you will quickly whittle their stacks down to nothing, and then it will be almost too late for them. But what happens if the blinds are lower – say 200/400 with a stack size of 6,000? A stack of 15 big blinds gives precious little room, though there is some. If the blinds are due to change in the next few minutes, we would recommend some deliberate play on your part – unless you happen to have a premium hand, such as a pair of Queens. If this is the case, then by all means raise it up and try to win a big pot. Aggression is critical in heads-up play. Most hands miss most flops – so you should be attacking and stealing pots the majority of the time. If you or your opponent creeps down towards the 10 big blind threshold, be prepared to shift gears to the push/fold game. If your opponent raises pre-flop every hand, however, then you will need to make an adjustment. Obviously, it is highly unlikely your opponent has a hand every time. This is a ‘perma-raise’ strategy designed to put immediate pressure on the other player, every hand. There are two options to counter this strategy. You can either look to trap or, be more aggressive.

If you are second in chips with stacks of 6,000, 4,000, 3,500 you should take a coinflip with the third-placed player, as the 7.5k resulting stack gives you an immense advantage heads-up

KEY POINT When you get to heads-up,yourstr ategy – if theblind s andstac kspermi t – shouldinclu dea lot of post-flopaggress ion.If you’re up against a playerwho raises pre-flopeveryhand, you should always become more aggressive

The problem with a trapping approach is that you must actually catch a hand. You most likely will not catch one unless you have a lot of time before the blinds increase. The typical result of a trapping approach, then, is that your chipstack will dwindle, as will your chances of winning when the blinds increase and correct play switches to the pre-flop push/fold strategy. Become more aggressive. Many players who use a perma-raise strategy at lower stakes will not follow it up with post-flop aggression. Typically, they will c-bet the flop and then giveup if they have failed to make a hand. A simple check-raise on the flop will win you several pots before your opponent considers switching strategies, and -at that point you should have a significant chip lead and can win the vast majority of the time.

43


o t s p e t s 5 1

Y G E T A R T

SIT&GO

S O G & T I S

SUCCESS Tailoring your poker game to the sit&go format can be a great low-risk way to build a bankroll. Follow these 15 tips for single-table tournament success

S

INGLE-TABLE TOURNAMENTS (STTs) or sit&gos provide the perfect learning ground for players new to the game. They can be very cheap to enter and take you from the early stages of a tournament, past the bubble and into the

money spots – all in 60 minutes or less. They can be a fun and profitable way to get started in poker without risking a lot of money. By playing sit&gos you get to appreciate the shifting nature of hand values and the importance of chipstack sizes, position and aggression. These games are available at all

times when you are playing online but they are also quickly becoming very popular in the live poker rooms. There is certainly money to be made if you can master this tricky game. We’ve learnt the hard way, so you don’t have to. Just follow our 15-step guide and sit&go glory won’t be far away.

STEP 1

KEEP IT TIGHT

In the early stages when the blinds are small in comparison to the chipstacks, keep it tight. There’s nothing to be gained in stealing the tiny blinds with substandard hands. You’ll also set yourself up with a solid table image which will put the fear of God into other players when you crank up the aggression in the later stages. Play big hands strongly and muck your muck.

STEP 2

BIG PAIRS, BIG BETS Play big pairs (A-A, K-K, Q-Q)aggre ssively.If four players have limped in beforeyou’v e acted with the blinds at 25/50,stick in a pot-size raise to about 400. You’ll noweitherpick up allthat deadmoney when everyone folds,get thehand down to heads-up where bigpairs aremost effective,or someonewill make a mistake, re-raise andoverpl ay their smallerpair or two‘big’ cards.If someonehas Aces andyou have Kings or Queens,well,that’sjust badluck, butyou should be looking to exploit opportunities to pickup these sorts of pots, or force others to make mistakes allthe time.

44


STEP 3

SNEAK IN WITH DANGER HANDS Tryand see a lotof cheap multi-waypotsear lyon withhand s thathav e the potential to do damage.Suitedconnec tors, small pairs andA-x suited can all decimate an opponent’s stack if youhit theflop big.Howe ver, fold these types ofhand s topre- floprai ses or ifyoudon’tmak e a majorhan d onthe flop.

S I T

STEP 4

& G

BE A SURVIVOR

O

S

T

If you’re theshor t stack earlyon, you’ve still got time tohang around. Don’t feel you haveto get your chi ps in straight away with hands like Ace-rag – bid e your time. Youcan come back fromjust 200chipsif you pick your spots. Be patie nt for oneor two rotations andwaitand see howyour opponents areplaying . Thereis plentyof time to move through thegear s. Ifyou doget a bi g handloo k for a sp otto get your chi ps into thepot for a double-up. Aboveall, make it hard for other players to get theirgrubbymitts on your chips.

STEP 5

GET PAID OFF Don’t be afraidto moveall-inafterthe flopwith bighands.Yo u’llfind a lotof players think toppair/ bad kickeris enoughto callan all-in.If the flop has come K-J-5 andyou’ve managed to floptwo- pair in thebig blind with J-5,don’tslow -playit andwaitfor another Kingto arriveon thetur n – try and get youropp onent to make a mistake. A check, followedby a betfrom someone else, shouldsee you re-raising heavily or movingall-in . Atthis point,they’ ll either fold and you’ll pickup a nice pot or, asis the caseso often, players willcall with K-xand willbe about a 3-to-1 dog tohit one ofthei r few outsandwin the hand.

R

A T

E G Y

You’ll see pla yers getting into a flop cheaply and thinking they can steal the pot with a bet of 50 into a pot of 400. Punish those aquatic creatures with a big raise (if you have a hand) or call with drawing hands these require you to push any edge you have and hope your hand holds up. Overpairs, top pair/top kicker and even flush draws (when you’re a big stack) become hands to move all-in with.

STEP 8

KEEP FIRING

STEP 6

Continuation-betting is essential in sit&gos. Generally, a pre-flop raise, followed by a betwill take down most pots. If someone plays back and re-raises, you can simply lay down your hand if you’re weak. But essentially a bet of around a half to two-thirds of the pot after the flop will be a profitable play in the long run and allow you to accumulate chips when you don’t have anything more than two cards in front of you.

PUNISH WEAK BETTING Forget the minimum betting crap. You’ll see it time and time again online – players getting into a flop reasonably cheaply and thinking they can then stealth e potwi tha bet of50 intoa pot of 400. Punish those aquatic creatures with a big raise (if you have a hand) or call with drawing or marginal hands. Usually they fold or make bad calls and turn over middle pair or an underpair to the board at the end.

STEP 7

SPEED UP

For the gamblers among you, turbo STTs are great fun, but you have to make moves very quickly. While normal sit&gos require patience,

STEP 9

KEY POINT Continuation-bettingis an essential play in sit&gos. A betof aroundhalf to two-thirds potafterthe flopis a profitable play in thelong run.

KNOW WHEN TO RUN FOR COVER It’s crucial that you know when to back down with marginal hands. Your hand requirements might be less than when playing long large-field tournaments, but even so top pair/bad kicker in the face of a big re-raise usually means it’s time to take cover.


45

Y

just because you drop into last place. Use it as an opportunity to become the danger man. As a short-stack you can use the force of the chips that you do have left to prise unopened pots away from your opponents with an all-in push. You’ll either pick up lots of blinds or potentially double-up and head back towards the top of the field.

G E T A R T S O

As a short-stack you can use the force of the chips that you do have left to prise unopened pots away from your opponents with an all-in push

G & T I S

STEP 13

BURST THE BUBBLE STEP 10

BE A BULLY If you’ve accumulated a big stack you shouldput pressureon smallerstack s allthetime . Pick the right timesandrig hthand s torais e withbut asyou approachthe middlestage s of an STT, theshort- stackswill be lookingto hang on or doublethrou gh to make themoney. Raise their blinds,movethem all-in (with hands which you won’tmind being calledwith),and generally terrorisethem intomakin g a mistake.

STEP 11

MONEY MANAGEMENT Observe all the players’ chipstacks fluctuate wildly as the blinds increase. Keep an eye open for the big stacks you don’t want to mess with and make a note of the small-stacks you want to bully. Also, never believe you’re dead and buried

STEP 12

DON’T FADE AWAY If you’re in dangerin thelatterstage s (aboutseve n or fewerbig blindsleft) you must be preparedto stick your chips in with lesser hands,which canstill make something.Lookto getyourchips intoan unopened potwith hands like K-8suited , J-10, 6-7suited and small pocketpair s.If you pickup the blinds,fine.If you get onecaller , you’re usually notwors e than a 2-to-1under dog. Don’t getblinde d down to a stage where you have no fold equity, anddon’tput yourselfin theposit ionwhereyou won’tget much backif you dodouble -up.

46


On the bubble it’s often correct to get aggressive as play often tightens up when people can smell the money. With a biggish stack try moving all-in a lot and you’ll find you pick up blinds uncontested, or have a good chance to knock someone out. If you’re a short-stack, wait for a big hand and chuck in your chips in the attempt to double-up, or move all-in on the button with any two cards if the pot is yet to be raised.

STEP 14

GET AGGRESSIVE When short-handed (three or four players) it’s time to get even more aggressive by raising from the button virtually every hand. With escalating blinds, there’s no time to wait for premium hands. Your opponents may be hoping to coast into the money. This is where you can steal the blinds and pick up money from the short-stacks who will fold regularly. Don’t be kamikaze about it but raises and re-raises in position followed by aggressive play after the flop (when you’ve made a hand) are the keys to getting to the heads-up confrontation.

S I T

STEP 15

&

FINISH HIM!

G O

S

When it’s down to two, it’s time to raise, raise, raise. Don’t let the big blind have free flops, realise that most of the time the other player doesn’t have a hand, and you can bully with a big stack. If it’s your big blind being raised every hand then you need to push back. Try a big re-raise and more often than not you’ll pick up the pot and send a message out that you can’t be bullied. Also consider that pot odds can often dictate that it might be correct to call an all-in when you’re an underdog if there’s a good chance to win the tournament. Remember to push every small edge, as top pair on the flop will often be good enough to win the hand. Of course, picking the right spot to exploit your opponent and noticing betting patterns will come with experience, but until then getting your chips in when you think you’re ahead is never bad advice. Good luck, and get winning.

T

R

A T

E G Y

A SAMPLE HAND WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH THESE HANDS PRE-FLOP? 2,150 chips

Blinds

5

Seat 5Aschipleade r a betof threetimesthe big blindis reasonable, althoughbewareof any raises withthis decent, but easily beatable hand. 800 chips

1700 chips

MID POSITION

25/50

6

7

4

8

Seat 6 Thechip leader raised in thepreviousseat andyouhaverag s.Evenif thepot is unopened you’re still outof position with rags. Fold. 1400 chips

3 9

Seat 4Withthe shortest chipstackanda junk holding outof position this isan easy fold.Wait topick upa premium handto getinvolved. 1,500 chips

2

1

EARLY POS. 1,350 chips

950 chips

Seat 7 Yourchip stack isn’tthat healthy, there’s been actionfromthechip leaderand yourhandhas verylittlegoi ngfor it.It’s a clearfold.

10

LATE POS. 2,100 chips

1,200 chips

1850 chips

Seat 3It’s notoriously

Seat 2There’sbeen far

Seat1 Usuallyif youcan

Seat 10A marginal hand

Seat 9 Thechip leader

Seat 8Laterin theSTT

difficult pairsoutto ofplaysmall position. You’refirstto actand decideto call butwillfold to anysignificant betting.

toomuchacti onto be calling withthis easily dominatedhand. Ditch itand lettheother s scrapit out.

seeacheapflopinthe small blindthese suited connectorsarewortha call. Butthere’sbeen a lotof action.Muckthem.

atbest–andwithanearly positionraise, followedby a latepositionre-raise thishandislike lyto be dominated. Fold.

has bet outpremium inSea t 5hand but you havea inposit ion– doubleor treblehis betto see how goodhis hand is.

inan you mightunopenedpot thinkabout raising withany twocards here, butearl y onthesecar ds areinstantmuck.


47

Y

Do t h is

G E

As the fie l from four d of a sit&go drop s to nature of three to two, the p of hands lay and the value changes hugely, s you must o adjus to each s t your play ituation

T A R T S P U S D A E H

LOe aFdeT r HE

O G & T I S

STACK Getting over the finishing line first in a sit&go can make a big difference to your overall profit. Here we look at how to exploit weak players when you get to heads-up

S

ETTLING DOWN FOR A BIT of online poker, you fire up a ten-handed turbo sit&go and start off playing a tight, solid game. Gradually you accumulate chips with quality hands, and you make it to the bubble. With four players left, you make some tight folds against the chip leader, but manage to sustain your stack and take advantage of the other three players who fear finishing out of the money. After a long battle, the bubble bursts, and the blinds are high. The very next hand, the other two players clash, leaving you heads-up. Now you might think your work is done, but the next step is incredibly important, because you’ll either eke out a small two buy-in profit for finishing second, or get a huge four buy-in profit for winning. That’s a big difference! Do you know how to handle this situation to maximise your profit?

48


WINNER TAKES IT ALL The heads-up stage of an SNG is a winnertake-all contest. Both players are guaranteed to win at least the second-place money, so it’s the difference between first and second that’s up for grabs. At this stage you should play each hand as though both you and your opponent have the shorter of your two stacks, as that’s the most you can win or lose in one hand. So, if one player has 9,000 chips and the other has 4,500, both players should play as though they have 4,500. This is called the ‘effective stack’ and the biggest concern at this point is how deep the effective stack is in terms of big blinds.

HAND VALUES Understanding hand values is crucial in the heads-up stage. As you may already know, relative hand values go up as the number of players in a game goes down. Whereas a hand like A-2 offsuit is complete rags at the beginning of a sit&go, it becomes a reasonably big hand when you’re heads-up. If you are used to playing at full-ring tables, some of the hands that are correct to push all-in with heads-up may come as a surprise. But it’s a fact that far too many players do not push enough hands or call often enough. After this lesson, you’ll be able to exploit those tendencies perfectly.

Hand values go up as the number of players in a game goes down. Whereas a hand like A-2 offsuit is complete rags at the beginning of a sit&go, it becomes a big hand heads-up

S I T

& G O

H E A

D S

U

P S

T R A T E

G

Y

THE NASH EQUILIBRIUM The Nash Equilibrium was named after mathematician John Nash, who theorised that some games featured an unexploitable strategy. If however, one player deviates from the strategy, the player who sticks to the Nash Equilibrium strategy stands to benefit. In poker, and in particular high-blind heads-up play, this theory can be applied to optimal push/fold strategy, where it’s possible to play unexploitably. In practice this means that if you are the small blind, you should push your hand if the number on the chart (see right) is greater than the number of big blinds in the effective stack. For example, if the blinds are 200/400 and the stacks are 9,500 and 4,000, effective stacks are 10BBs. Consulting the chart you may correctly push J-3s (10.6), but not 10-7o (9.0). When you are the BB/caller, you should call if the number of big blinds in the effective

HEADS-UP PUSH/FOLD NASH EQUILIBRIUM

SU IT ED

OF FSUIT

PO CKE TPA IR S

*6-3s :7.1- 5. 1,2.3 ** 5- 3s:12.9 -3 .8,2.4 ** *4- 3s :10.0 -4 .9,2.2

stack is less than that. For example, with the above stacks you could call with J-8s (10.6), but not J-9o (9.5). This calling chart only works if you believe your foe is pushing

according to Nash or wider. Of course, many players don’t play perfectly, so you can adjust the Nash strategy to exploit this. Turn over for three examples of how to do just that.


49

Y G E T A R T

NASH EQUILIBRIUM IN ACTION Heads-up strategy When to push and call, and how to exploit players who don’t knowany better

S P U S

CASE 1

CASE 2

BLINDS300/600 STACKS1,800 (HERO)vs

CASE 3

BLINDS300/600,

11,700

STACKS3,000 (HERO)vs

BLINDS300/600,

10,500

STACKS5,400 (HERO)vs

(Effective stack is 3BBs)

(Effective stackis 5BBs)

(Effective stack is 9BBs)

HERO CANPUSH 76.8% of hands

8,100

D A E H

HERO CANPUSH 71.3%of

hands (2-2+,Q-x+, J-2s+, J-3o+, 10-2s+,10-6o+ , 9-4s+ 9-7o+, 8-4s+,8-6o+,7-4s+ , 7-6o, 6-4s+, 5-3s+, 4-3s)

HERO CANPUSH 59.9%

(2-2+,J-x+, 10-2s+, 10-3o+, 9-2s+,9-5o+, 8-4s+, 8-6o+, 7-4s+, 7-6o, 6-4s+,5-4s)

VILLAINCAN CALL WITH92.8% of hands

of hands (2-2+,K-x+, Q-2s+,Q-6o+,J-3s+,J-8o+,10-4s+, 10-7o+,9-5s+, 9-7o+, 8-5s+, 8-7o,7-4s+,7-6o,6-4s+, 5-3s+, 4-3s)

O G & T I S

VILLAINCAN CALL WITH60.8%of

hands (2-2+,Q-x+, J-2s+, J-5o+, 10-5s+,10-7o+ , 9-6s+,9-8o, 8-6s+,7-6s)

VILLAINCAN CALL WITH40.6%of

(2-2+,9-x+, 8-2s+, 8-4o+, 7-2s+, 7-4o+, 6-2s+, 6-3o+, 5-2s+,5-3o+,4-2s+ , 4-3o, 3-2s)

In thisexa mple, thehero hasa tiny stack of just 1,800 againstthe villain’s 11,700, meaningthe effective stacksare 3BBs. As such, most villains are likelyto callall oralmo stall ofthe time.The Nashran ge assigned to thevillainaccur ately reflects this, sothe pushingrang e given is very wide.

Thistimethe herohasa stack of5BBs . Most villainsrealise they’re committed to callingoften in thissitua tion, butmany inexperienced villainsplay much tighterthan they should. As such it becomesprofi table topushanytwocar dsif thevil lain iscall ing only48%of thetim e orless .

Unlikethe first twocases , thevillainwill calla lotless often here – probablyless than 40%. Also, most players won’t push often enough,so a good playerwill tightenup his calling range to adjust. Inexperiencedplayers, however, don’t callas often as they should. In any event,unles s you think thevillainis calling as wide as therangegivenhere,you may push more hands than theequilib rium range (60%).If thevillainis calling with less than 30%of hands (whichis more than likely), you may profitably push anytwocards .

As the examples illustrate, it’s frequently correct to push all-in with complete junk when the blinds are high 50


hands (2-2+,A-x+, K-2s+,K-4o+,Q-6s+ , Q-8o+, J-8s+,J-9o+, 10-8s+)

A REMIN DER RO

CK BLU NTS SC ISSORS PAPER COVER S ROCK SCISSO RS CUT S PAPE R

ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS

&

Deep-stack adjustments

G O

If you’re heads-up with deeper stacks, it’s a whole different game

H E

ROCK: The straightforward player

A

D S

twoblank cards would be profitable. Even if your Never bluffs,raiseswith high-qualityhands only andopponentcalls , he’slike lyto giveup onthe flop to foldsto raises withouta good hand.A rockbetsthe a single continuationbet. Many rocks counter by flop whenhe hitsand check-foldswhen he misses becoming scissors after a while, and trapping you. and faces a bet.Won’ t trapand doesn’tchase draws. An alt ernativeis to rai se your good hands,and lim p your worst,with theinten t to betany flopthat is checked to you. Thi s ‘small -ba ll’strat egyworks BEST COUNTER-STRA TEGY Be paper (over-aggressive). Never fold your small bec ause he bets good hands andcheck s when he blind and raise often. In fact, raising withany hand misses, givingyou a per fect rea d. Sma ll-bal l poker works well, becausethe rockwill play againstyour all owsfor less variance,allow ingyou to wina raiselessthan20% ofthe time,mean inga raisewithgreate r percentage of gam es agai nstthe rock. CHARACTERISTICS

U

P S

T R A T E

G

Y

PAPER: The over-aggressive player becauseyour opponentwill often raise. And limp Rais Ra sesnear es nearly every handand betsmost flops, withthe intent to three-betwith your strong and hitor miss. Alwayssemi- bluffs vulnerable hands like 7-7or A-K.Call hisbets when with any type of draw. you hit toppairon any boardthatis notdra w-heavy. Theflawin applyingthisstr ategy onits own isthat you can’tsit andwaitforgoodhand s,or you’ll be BEST COUNTER-STRATEGY Be sc scissor ssorss (pla p ay a trapping style). Fold your small ground down. To balancethis problem, fightpaper blind/buttonwith blind/but ton wit your worst hands, because with paperwhenyou don’thavethegood s totrap . limping is futile against an opponentwho is going Try a check-raisebluff or re-steal. Heads-up is a to raise you. Limp-call withAces and Kings pre-flop gamethat favoursaggres sion, so fightback! CHARACTERISTICS CHARACTERI

SCISSORS: The habitual trapper CHARACTERISTICS CH

Play P a s a straightforward heads-up game, but l butlimps withbig hands pre-flop, such as9-9+or s 9-9+ A-J+,plan ningto out-flop andtrap you. Checksand calls a lotwith middle-pair you. type hands, in the hopethatyou’ llhang yourself outto dry witha triple-barrel bluff.Rarel y bets, preferringto play a trappy loose-passivestyle. atra

SHOVING WITH ANY TWO As the examples opposite illustrate, it’s frequently correct to push all-in with complete junk – and often any two cards – when the blinds are high. Nevertheless, many players do not want to put their tournament life on the line with 2-3o, and may be hesitant to shove. For the doubters, here’s the maths comparing a push and a fold in case three: If you fold you have 5,100 chips left. If you were to push 2-3o 100 times, when the villain is calling with a typical range (25% of all hands): 75 times the villain folds, you win the blinds, and your stack, after winning the blinds is 6,000. Total gain is 75 x 900, which is 67,500.

S I T

BEST COUNTER-STRA TEGY

Be a rock. Tightenup pre-flop, play a straightforward game andtak e allthefreecard s hegiv esyou. Eventually you’ll outdrawyour passive opponentand take himfor a lotof chips. Aggression is appropria te, but don’tfire outtwic e without a premiumhan d! If he check-callsyou must be wary! He’s usually settinga trapwhen he starts flat-callingmultipl e streets, so don’t fallfor it!

For this article we used the following: Seven times the villain calls but you get lucky and win the hand! Your stack is 10,800 The Nash Equilibrium chart – www. (+ 5,700). Your total gain is 7 x 5,700, holdemresources.net/hr/sngs/hune.html which is 39,900. The case study calculations – www.holdem 18 times the villain calls and you lose resources.net/hr/sngs/icmcalculator.html (-5,100). Your total loss is 18 x 5,100, which is 91,800. Therefore, over 100 pushes you win 15,600 chips (156 chips per shove) by pushing 2-3o, Sowhatif you’rein the BBand the SBlimp s? instead of folding.

TOP TIP

ADJUSTMENTS If you’re lost, your adjustments aren’t working, or you think your opponent has a skill edge, feel free to revert back to the Nash Equilibrium at any time. If you play this way, then, theoretically, the greatest player in the world can only tie with you – at best!

Thiscan bea tr ic kyspot , asit co uld bea trap, or a so -so ha ndthatwan tsto see a flo p.If you shovewith Nas h Equili bri um ranges you’llbe unexploitable, but an aggressive strategy may be correct against someonewho’s unlikelyto be trapping.Limp ingbig pairs isonly a good tactic if your foeis aggressiveand likelyto push.


51

E R A W T F O S O G & T I S

5 of the best

SIT&GO TOOLS A round-up of the best software to help you master the single-table tournament game

A

S THE GROWTH OF ONLINE poker continues apace, so does the amount of high-tech tools and toys to help increase your win-rate. And the good news is that most of them are as cheap as chips! When it comes to helpful software, the format of poker best serviced is sit&gos, where maths and hand ranges are a big factor in winning (and losing). It could be argued that the majority of your profits in sit&gos will come from knowing how to play correctly on and around the bubble. That is, how to make and respond to unexploitable shoves in the late game when stack sizes dictate that you only have two moves – to shove all-in or fold. Therefore, it’s no surprise that of the myriad sit&go software tools available most are designed to help you calculate ‘correct’ pushing and folding ranges in a variety of spots. So connect with your inner geek and read on.

52


1 INDEPENDENT CHIP MODELLING INDEPENDENT CHIP MODELLING (ICM) ICMform s thebasisof correct sit&go strategy andis a method of calculating the real-money value of tournament chipsat any stageof a sit&go based on payout structure, number of players left and individualchipstacks.

KEY FEATURES Itwillhel p you understandwha t todo in specific situationswher e cEV(thenumbe r of tournament chips youcan winor lose) is very different from the$EV (the amountof real moneyyou canwin or lose).

Typein thechips tacksand payouts andplayaboutwith themto see how the chipand real-money values differ in crucial situations. Usewhen awayfromthe tablesto work outhow your equitywill changeif you make a bigcall on thebubbl e or double-up early. www.chillin411.com (among others)

VERDICT ICM isa simpletoolyoucanuseaw ayfro m thetableto analyse commondecis ions until theybecome secondnature.After that, sit&gos shouldbe a cinch.

2

SIT&GO END GAME TOOLS

3

S I T & G O

HEADS-UP TRAINER

SIT&GO END GAME TOOLS (SNGEGT) SNGEGT is an

HEADS-UP TRAINER (HUT) Heads-UpTrainerdoes

ICM-basedprogram thatcan considersituationsand tellyou whether pushingor folding(or calling or folding) is more profitable.

exactlywhatit sayson thetin– it helps youimprove your heads-up gameat the end of ansit& go. Itcomeswit h the SNGEGTpackage.

KEY FEATURES

KEY FEATURES

SNGEGT takes calculations You can download a basic made byan ICMspreadsheet as versionfor free, so there’s no wellas considering handranges excusenot to getcrunching andpot odds, andenab lesyou to hand ranges. www.sngegt.com analyse situations withlittle VERDICT effort. Welove messing around with It’sparticularly effective as a handranges in Sit&Go End Game training tool, as even if you’re Toolsand it’sa great not sure about handrangesyou way of learningwhat factors cansimp lymov e theslid erup you needto callor pushin anddow n tofind thepoi nt at some common spots. which a certain play isbrea keven, and decide based on that.

HUTsimulates playingheads-up with highblindsagainstan opponent whois awareof optimalstrategy,where your only optionsare to shove or fold.

SNGEGT is so effective that the controversial‘live play’ versionhas beenbanned by PokerStars.

4

KEY POINT SNGEGTis so powerful it has been bannedby some sites

SITNGO WIZARD

5

SHARKSCOPE SharkScope is a data-miningsite thatcollects and collates information on sit&go tournaments to provide visitors andsubscriberswith detailed profilesof their opponents.

Helps with decisions in the spots where ICM is unreliable

The program should see u decimating youryoopponents

SHARKSCOPE

SitNGo Wizard is a similar program to Sit&Go End Game Toolsand hasmos t ofthe same features, but enables youto make more dynamic ICMbased calculations.

The interface is slightly more complexthan SNGEGT andit has a fewmore options.SitNGo Wizard is ableto calculate situations involving multiple all-ins,or what todo when there isa raise infro ntof you– infac t, You can download the software almost anysituationwhere therefor free on the website,wit h aretwo or fewerall-ins unrestricteduse for30 days. in frontof you. Unlimited use of the SitNGo Wizardis $99. SNGWizinclu desa future play www.sngwiz.com simulator,which helpsyou make VERDICT decisions in spots where ICM might be unreliable, suchas how An excellent resource thatany to play correctly whenunder the serious sit&go player would gunwitha shortsta ck,or when benefit from. And there’s a free, theblin dsare veryhighon the unrestrictedtrial on the website, bubble. sogi veita go.

A R E

Combinedwithuse ofthe jam-or-fold tables publishedby losechips waitingfor ‘good’ BillChen andJerrodAnkenman inhands. The Heads-UpTrainer The Mathematicsof Poker – should be unexploitable, and which give maximum push-or-callonceyou learn the appropriate values for allhand s – this strategies,so should you! program helps youlearn an www.sngegt.com aggressiveendgame strategy thatopponentscan’t exploit. VERDICT Thisheads-up training program is HUTwill see youdecimating soaddi ctive that if you use itat your opponents by movingall-in work you’ll have to uninstall as witha wide range, while they youwon’tget anywork done.

SITNGO WIZARD

KEY FEATURES

S O F T W

KEY FEATURES The site provides data on total SharkScope while itsclient is games played, average buy-in, open, soyo u willnee d tousea average ROI%, total profit/loss differentsiteif you want tolook andso on.The service canbe veryin detail at opponents while useful whenlookingfor softer playing. www.sharkscope.com tables or to size up opponents.

VERDICT SharkScope is alsouseful for checkingout your ownresults. A packagewhere youget 150 searchesa day(plenty) costs $11.99a month. You can break down resultsto your heart’s content using filters suchas number of entrants, days of the week andturbo or regular.

SharkScope is an invaluable databaseof sit-and-go results, best used tofind out whether you’re sittingat a tableof fishor sharks before youstart a game.

KEY POINT

Some sitesare starting toblock

Players should notethat SharkScopefromusingtheirresults PokerStarshas banned the use of


53

Z I U Q O G

The

& T I S

1 EARLY GAMBLE? Players9 Blinds10/20 Your stack1,500 Your hand A …-KÚ

SIT

UTG All-in 1,500

BB Fold

10

Fold Fold

ACTION

2 TAKE A STAND

You’re playing a non-t urbo $55nine- man SNGwith starting stack s of 1,500 chi ps.It’s thevery firs t han d andthe player und er th e gu n ra is es to60. Th e ac ti on fold s toyou onthe but tonholdi ng … A-KÚ and

you raise to180. Bot h bli ndsquick ly fold andthe under-the-gun player re- raise s you all -in . Wha t do you do?

DECISION a) cal l b) fol d

3 BUBBLE TROUBLE

Players8 Blinds30/60 Your stack1,210 Your hand K :-8:

Fold

Players4 Blinds200/400 Your stack1,850 Your hand :J -10:

Fold 5,500

Fold BB 2, 7 50

60

30

SB Fold

Fold

180

YOU(BTN) 1,320

So you think you’re a poker genius huh? Well, now it’s time to prove it. Test your knowledge on sit&gos to find out how much you really know…

YOU (BB) 1,150

Fold

20

SB Fold

& GO QUIZ

Fold

Fold

400

200

SB 2,800

150 BUTTON 2,880

ACTION

Fold

Fold

makes a small raiseto 150. You’re in an $11nine-man Thesmallblindfoldsand turbo sit&goand havebeen you’rein thebig blind with playing tight, blindingdown K:-8:. Whatdoyoudo? to 1,210 chips from a starting stack of 1,500. One player DECISION hasbeen eliminated. With a) call blinds at 30/60 the action b) fold foldsto the loose-aggressive c)raiseto450 bigstackon thebutton,who d) raiseall-in

54


YOU(BTN) 1,850

ACTION

which is just over four big It’s the bubble ofa $100 blinds,and theblindsare set nine-handed turbo sit&goand togoupinoneminute.What thebig-stackunderthe gun doyoudo? folds to you. You haveJ :-10:. Thetwo players in theblinds DECISION have similarsized stacksof a)call 3,000 and3,150before b) fold postingthe blinds(200/400).c) min-raise You have1,850 chips left, d) push all-in

4

BULLY TACTICS Players3 Blinds100/200 Your sta ck6,000 Your ha nd 6Ú-2;

BB 600

YOU (SB) 5,900

200

100

800

BUTTON 1,400

ACTION

of 5,900 chips after posting You’re onthe bubbleof a $33 thesmallblind,but lookdown six-max turbo sit&go. A tight to findabsolute rags.What do player on thebuttonraises to youdo? 800from hisstackof 2,200. This effectively putsthe big DECISION blind all-in,as he hasonly600 a) fold behindafter postinghis 200 b) call blind. You havea hugstack e c) raiseall-in

5

HEADS-UP Players2 Blinds300/600 Your sta ck8,400 You r ha nd 10 ;-8;

. yti uqe dl of hguone ev ahr egnol on y a muoy s dnil b gi b ev fi hti weli h w, hc u mti b a si s dnil b gi b 51r of gni v ohs t ub, el bi xe fl si si hT ) b 01 . s dnahr eht o y b What wo ul d be det ani mod er a t ubri ap pot po fl uoy neh w 6 a sol id ope nin g si ht ekil s dnah k ae whti wel buor t ot ni t eg ran ge fro m ear ly lli w uoy, s ddo t op t aer g eht eti ps e D ) b 9 po si ti on in th e fir st . ezi s el p mas t aht r ev ol anoi t pecxe le ve l of a tu rb o %61 dna, doog yr ev eb dl uo w %21 ) a 8 nine- hande d sit&go ? .ll ac t’ nac uoy dna s ehs up enoe mos fi s pi hc y na moot gni dnepx e t uohti wt ub dl of ot a) Al l pairs, suite d s dnil b eht t egll i wesi ar r ell a ms si hT ) b 7 connectors and Broadway . noi ti s op yl r ae ni yll ai c eps e, egat s combinations si ht t a t hgi t yr ev y al p dl uohs uo Y ) c 6 b) Pairs A-A to 7-7 dnuor er fi - kci u Q and all Broadway . kc at s r uoy ot s pi hc 006r eht ona combinations dda nac uoy eli h wnae M. t ops si ht ni netf o c) A-Q+ suited,10-10+ oot dl of ll i wdna t hgi t oot eb ot fl es m ih n wohs s ah t nenoppor uo Y. ni-ll a evo M) a 5 In th e la tte r 7 . noi ti s op t nani mod a ni ebll i t sll i wuoy, es ol st ag es of a dna dell ac t eg uoy fi nev E. oot dl of ot ev ah sit &go whe n you r sta ck is gett ing yl ni atr ec t s o m l all i weh, s dl of dnil bll a ms sho rte r in rel ati on to eht ni kc at s y ni t eht gni di v or p, dna ni -ll a th e bl in ds , ho w bi g ev o mt s uj nac uoy s a 008r of gni si ar y b shoul d you gener ally ek at si mel bi rr et a eda ms ah kc at s di meht make you r ope nin g , en fi si gni dl of hguohtl A. ni-ll a esi a R) c 4 raises? .l ai t net op hs u fl dna t hgi ar t s s ah dnahr uoy dell ac fi nev e dna, ni aga uoy ti h ot s dnil b a)2x bi g bl in d eht r of ti a wt’ nac uoy, osl A. s dnah mui mer p b) 2. 5x bi g bl in d naht r eht o gni ht y na hti ws pi hc ri eht c)3x bi g bl in d ll a yl r aenr of uoy gnill ac ksi r nac s kc at s What wou ld ezi s- di meht f or ehti en dna dekc at s- tr ohs 8 be consid ered yr ev gni tt eg er a uo Y. ni-ll a hs u P) d 3 a dec ent ret urn . yksi r oot si r ey al p es ool a t s ni aga esi ar on inves tment r ell a ms a hti wksi r t a kc at s r uoy f o dri ht for som eon e who a gni tt up dna ci t s ar d oot si ni -ll a gni si aR has pla yed abo ut . t eb noi t auni t noc a hti wn wod ti ek at yl ekil 2,0 00 $20 tur bo t s o mll’ eh dna noi ti s op f o t uo ebll’ uoy sit&gos?

ROUND

a)8% b) 12 % c) 16 % BB 4 , 500

60 0

300

YOU (SB) 8,100

ACTION

S I T

QUICK-FIRE

Bli nds are300/60 0 and You’ vejust gotto hea ds- up yo u ha vea st ac k of 8, 40 0. in a nin e-m an $20turbo You aredealt 10 ;-8; in sit &go aga ins t a tig ht thesmall blind.What do player. You’ve already youdo? pus hedall-i n on hisbig blind once (wh ichhe DECISION folded) and he hasalso a) move all -in folded fro m thesmall b) cal l blin d on two occas ions. c) fold

& G O

Q

U

I Z

ll ac uoy fi t ub, egnar s’ r ey al p es ool eht f o daeha yl babor p si dnahr uo Y. dl oF) b 2 . s el b mag yl r ae f o s dni k es eht ek at ot st fior p mr et- gnol dna yti uqe t ne manr uot r uoy r of el bi rr et si tI . t s eb t a gni c ar dna ri ap gi b a t s ni aga pu eb netf oll i w uoy dnah mui mer p a ev ah uoy hguohtl A. dl oF) b 1 ) hc aer of t ni op eno( sr e ws n A

You ho ld QÚ-5; 9 in th e sm al l bl in d ea rl y on in a si t& go an d thr ee pla yer s lim p in. You ’re get tin g odds SN G SH ARK OR FI SH ? of nea rly 10- to- 1 0-3 SHARK FOOD to ca ll . Sh ou ld yo u Hit the boo ks, watch som e tra ini ng cal l too? vid eos and read all the sit &g o strate gy gui des . You nee d seriou s hel p, but wit h a) Ye s ded ica tio n you can tur n it aro und . b)No Generally 10 speaking, atwha t st ag e in a sit &go sho uld you sta rt mov ing all -in or fo ldi ng , in te rm s of bi g bl in ds in yo ur stack? a)5 bi g bl in ds b) 10 bi g bl ind s c) 15 bi g bl in ds

4-7 TIGER SHARK

You ’re aware of wh at makes a win nin g si t& go pl ayer bu t yo u st il l ne ed to ma ke th e ri gh t mo ve s at th e ri gh t ti mes to increase your profits. 8-10 GREAT WHITE SHARK

You’r a sit& go mast terro rising opponeents with expeer, rt stra tegie s that make you som e dec ent mon ey. Kee p it up an d yo ur ba nk ro ll wi ll so ar.


55

All images taken from actual in-game screenshots.

Be a star on PKR.TV Take your game to PKR TV and take on the world.

Every week we capture final table action from our hottest tournaments - add cards-up commentary from Dan ‘Danski’ Grant, Neil Wright, Colin Morris and Ashley ‘Sin Cities’ Hames - then beam the results to over 15 million households all over Europe!

For your shot at glory check the PKR tournament lobby to see when the next tournament starts. To watch now just go to www.PKR.tv.

Please gamble responsibly. For more information and advice visit www.gambleaware.co.uk Licensed by the UK Gambling Commission

The ultimate guide to

TOURNAMENTS


57

Y G E T A R T S T N

How to be at

TOURNAMENTS

E M A N R

No-limit hold’em tournaments offer the glamour, excitement and money that attracts most players to poker. But in order to be a success at tournament poker you need discipline, stamina and, above all, the will to win

U O T E L B A T I T L U M

M

ANY PEOPLE GET INTO playing poker because they have watched it on television and it got them curious about the game. Most televised poker is tournament poker. The action is fast-paced and the capability of being able to risk it all in one hand makes for exciting television. If you’re new to poker and are interested in learning how to play tournaments, it is important to understand the various nuances of tournament poker and the basic concepts that will come into play through the course of a tournament. A major reason that tournament poker is so popular is that there is the potential to win a large sum of money in relation to the amount of the buy-in. Take the World Series of Poker main event as an example. The buy in is $10,000 but if you make the final table, you’ll be guaranteed more than 100 times that amount. It’s like a lottery ticket that you have some control over. Tournament poker, however, is not for everyone. If you are going to be a successful tournament poker player you must have incredible discipline and patience. Tournaments, especially the larger ones, last countless hours and sometimes days. If you’re looking to make a quick buck, try a cash game. Discipline is important because you have to stay alert and focused on what is going on at your table. This might be easy for an hour or two, but when you’ve been playing for 10 hours straight it can become difficult. CONTROLLED AGGRESSION In addition to discipline and patience, a good tournament player will need to be adept at game theory. This doesn’t mean you need to have a doctorate in game theory in order to succeed, but you need to understand the different dynamics that will exist over the course of a tournament and how to adapt your game to best take advantage of these dynamics. It’s also important to have the ability to be aggressive. While a patient and tight player can often make a good living in cash games, this isn’t necessarily P true in a tournament because of the increasing O S blinds and antes. You can’t sit back and wait for W Rpremium hands and expect to win consistently O F Iin poker tournaments. You will need to be able Dto win pots using imagination, creativity, and P IM well-timed aggression.

58


JamieGoldwon the2006 WSOPmaineventfor $12m

You will need to be able to win pots using imagination, creativity and welltimed aggression

M U

TYPES OF TOURNAMENTS

L T I T A B

Find your perfect tournament There are numerous types of tournaments that you can play. Here are the most common ones… This is themos t FREEZEOUT

REBUYIn theseevents,

HEADS-UPIn these

common tourney. Everyplayer starts withthe sameamount of chips andplay continues until oneplayer has them all.

players canrebuy (purchase another stack) an unlimited amount oftimesif they fall below a certain amount of chips fora certain period oftime– usually anhour orfirstfewlev elsof the tournament. Typicallyin these tournaments,a player canalsoadd -onat thebre ak to getadditional chips.

tournamentsplayersface offin a seriesof heads-up matches(one against one)with the winners advancing untilthereis one playerleft standing.

SATELLITE These tourneys

arelow-cost optionsto get intoa bigger buy-in event. Unlike a freezeoutthey do not play to completion but rather untilthe number of seats intothe bigger buy-in event hasbeen reached.For example, 100 players put up$100 for a chanceto wina seat into a $1,000 tournament.There are10 seats available.Once there are only 10playersleftthe tournamentis over.

SHOOTOUT These are

tournaments consisting of a series of single-table satellites where the winner ofeachtablemov eson to the next round.The winner ofthe tournamentis the winnerof thefinaltabl e.

L E T O U

R N A

In these DEEP-STACK

M

tournamentsthestacks arerelatively highin relation tothe blindsor antesbecause the players start withmore chipsand the blindlevels are often slower.

E

N T S T

R

TURBOIncontrastto

a normal-structured tourney thesehaveeither shorter rounds,lowerstarting chipstacks, or both.

A T

E G Y

Heads-up tournaments arefastand furiousaffairs

Rebuys can bewildbut also very profitable

STARTING OUT Basic tournament strategy When you first start out playing, there are a few things you should do until you understand the game better Y TIGHT It is always better to play 1 aPLA somewhat solid,predictable game. When you area beginner,you shouldbe playing bighands only andin position. Don’t getinvo lved witha handlikeK-10 in early position or 2-2when thepot hasbeen raised.

3

BECONSIST ENT WITHYOUR BETTING

When starting outin poker, it’sbest that you make thesame size bets whenever you are betting. Thereason is it gives less information to youropponentsand makes you harderto read. If you vary your bets, there is a chance a good, experienced player will beableto pick upon yourpatt erns.

POSITION Position is probably 2 USE thebigges t advantageyou canhave in poker. Themore information you have While small-ballpoke r is the 4 BETBIG availableto you, thebetterthe decisions current popularstyleof play,until you you willmake . When you play hands from get comfortable playing post-flop you should theblindsor earlypositi on you arework ing be makingyouroppon ents pay a premium to at a disadvantage because, post-flop, players play pots withyou.Makeyourpre-fl opraises will beacti ngafte r you and can react tothe larger than youropponents’ typical raise. actionsyou take.However, when you have Make your flopbets bigenoughto putyour position, you arethe onewho cansee what opponent to thetest.Don’t bethalf thepot, othersdo first andthus have an advantage. insteadbet around thesize ofthe pot.


59

Y G E T A R T S

THE STAGES OF A TOURNAMENT A poker tournament has three distinct stages – early, medium, and late – that require you to apply different tactics based upon a number of factors. These stages and how to play them are as follows…

T N E M A N R U O T E L B A T I T L U M

EARLY STAGE The early stages of a tournament is the time you should be speculating the most. This is the time to limp in and call raises with a wide range of marginal and speculative hands. The reason is simple: the cost relative to the percentage of your stack is small and the reward (implied value) is high. For example, calling a 3x raise with 7-6 suited early in a tournament will usually only cost you a small percentage of your stack. Later in a tournament, this same call would be a larger percentage. Players like Phil Hellmuth like to avoid the first level or two of play, but this is a prime opportunity to accumulate chips as it is when the really bad players tend to give their chips away. Don’t sit back and let other people get the chips from these bad players. Speculate and see some flops against these players. Make that 300 call with a marginal hand – your goal isn’t to win the initial bet your opponent made, it’s to win the rest of the chips he has in his stack. A great hand to play early on is small and medium pairs. The implied value for flopping a set at this stage is high. A key concept at this stage is to play small pots. There is no reason to commit a large portion of your stack with a marginal hand. If you think you can win the pot, take a stab at it, but if you face a lot of pressure, it’s often better to err on the side of caution. It’s only a small mistake to fold the best hand at this stage because if you’re wrong and lose a big pot, it’s harder to recover.

MIDDLE STAGE The middle stage is usually when the antes have started in a tournament. What you do during this stage depends on how you did in the early stage. There are typically three categories your middle stage play can fall under… SHORT (your stack has less than 20 big blinds) If you are short-stacked you are going to have to look for one of two types of situations. One, a hand where you can double-up with a premium hand. Two, a hand where you can pick up a pot with little risk despite your hand, for example being on the button with two very tight players in the big blinds or moving all-in from late Pposition when some weak or passive players O Shave limped into the pot. W

H E TMEDIUM (your stack has 20-40 times the Rbig blind)At this level, it is important to use O F Iposition. It’s probably not a good idea to raise

Dwith pocket twos in early position or call raises P IM with K-10. What you want to do is be aggressive

60


Phil Hellmuthis oneofthe best tournamentplayersintheworld andhas wona record-breaking 11WSOP bracelets

TOP TIP Earlyin a tournament tryand speculateas much as possible. This is thetime of thetourna ment when badplayersare givingawa y their chips and you wantto bethe one tryingto getthem ratherthan lettingsomeo ne else take them. Byspecul ating wemean calling raisesor limping in with hands like pocket pairs,suited connectors, suitedAcesand Kings.

when you are first to act and re-raise positional raises if you feel that the initial raiser is stealing. Don’t play too tight, just make sure you pick the right spots to make your steals. BIG (your stack is more than 40 times the big blind)At this level it’s still a good idea to use position but now you can takea few more chances. Here it might be fine to raise with pocket twos in early position. You have the chips to cause fear in your opponents, so use them. You should be open-raising liberally with this stack size. This will pay off because not only will your opponents often fold giving you the easy blinds and antes, but eventually they will play back at you and you will win additional chips when you actually pick upa big handor hit a flop hard.

There’s no reason to commit a big portion of your stack with a marginal hand. If you think you can win the pot, take a stab, but if you face a lot of pressure err on the side of caution

M

THE VALUE OF POSITION

TOP TIP

Use position to grow your stack

Avoidplay ingbig pots early. Theonly time you should playa big pot early in a tournamentis when you feel like youhaveby far thebest hand. Keep thepots small bymakin g small bets andplay inga bitmorepassi vely with yourmarginal holdings.

Actinglastcanbea huge advantageintournaments… You have pocket sixes on thebutton andcall a standard3x raisefrom a weak-tight player in mid position.

1

U

L T I T A B L E T O U

R N A

M

Don’t do thihsort stack

E

eas If yo u hav it back a nd wa it s don’t just ium hands. Take for prem ces in order to n some cha your stack or ma inta in ble up. dou

N T

Theflopcomes 2 5-K -7 andyour opponent checks. If you’dbeen outof position, you wouldn’t have wanted to c-bet tha tt flopand your opponent could have called or raiesed puttingyou to thetest.

Y ou betout. If your 3 opp onent hasa hand like A-Q, A-10 oreven 8-8, they willprob ably have to release their hand now that you have putthem to thetest.

LATE STAGE Like with the middle stage, what you do here will depend on your stack size.

MEDIUM (your stack is 10-25 times the big blind)This is similar to the middle stage in that you want to use your position and try and avoid race situations with stacks that can bust or cripple you, while embracing races with stacks that are less than half your stack size. You should probably avoid raising if you are planning to fold to an all-in shove from a short-stacked player.

SHORT (your stack is less than10 times the big blind)With this stack size, you cannot afford to sit back and wait. Many poker players advocate moving all-in with any Ace in an unopened pot. While there are times to do so (later position being one of them), generally you will want to BIG (your stack is more than 25 times the big move all-in with a hand that you know will not blind) With a big stack late in the tournament be dominated if called – hands like suited and you should keep attacking until your opponents connected cards. You still want to move ove start start pay playing n back at you. When they do all-in with hands like big Aces, K-Q this, adjust adj and pick your spots. For suited and pairs, but don’t be afraid example, examp you are in the small blind Do t h is to move all-in with a hand like 7-6 and a player that you know raises When yo u are a suited. You don’t have enough with a wide range in late position at t ac k y o u r o b i g s t ac k p ponents chips to fold your way to victory opens for 2.5 times the big blind open and pick yo so you have to take some chances from the cut-off. This is a perfect your stac ur spots. Use ks in order to maintain your stack time ime to use your stack and re-raise opponent ize to bully s and pus h until you get an opportunity to all-in. He will be forced to fold all them off hands double up legitimately. but ut the t e very best hands.

S T

R A T

E G Y

TOP TIP When theanteskickin, start opening up your gameand attackingplaye rs who are merelythinking about survival. These players arethe ones whofol d their bigblin d everytime or whomuc k their hand any time theyface pressure. Identify these playersearly , stealing theirblinds and re-raising themin position.

You want to use position and try and avoid race situations with stacks that can bust or cripple you, while embracing races with stacks that are less than half your stack size


61

Y G E T A R T S T N E M A N R U O T E L B A T I T L U M

THE BIGGEST MISTAKES PLAYERS MAKE IN TOURNAMENTS

TOP TIP

Don’t letyours elfget soshort thata If you play tournament poker, it’s inevitable raise/shovefrom you hasno meaning. that you will make mistakes. But it’s how you Many players make themista keof learn from these mistakes, and the adjustments blinding/anteing downuntil they that you make, that are the difference between have 3-5big blindsand thencomp lain being a winning and losing player. There are about how unlucky they arewhen hundreds of mistakes that players make on a their pocketAcesare cracked by9-7 routine basis, but the following four are among offwhen they shovedall-i n for just the biggest culprits. four bigblindsand thebig stack calledtheir measly littleraise.

1

RAISING IN EARLY POSITION WITH MARGINAL HANDS

This would appear to be a mistake that only beginners make but you would be e surprised how many experienced players fall into this trap. How Do t h is often do you find yourself Obser looking at a hand like A-J opponent ve how your under the gun and think to s situations play in different i yourself that this is the first money w n order to make hen you ha good hand you’ve had in an ve the goods and lo hour and you have to play it. You when you se less don’t grab some chips and open the pot t for a raise. There’s nothing wrong g with this you’re probably thinking... g... but you’d be wrong. When you are in early position with with aa good good but not great hand you will have the problem of reacting to your opponents. If someone re-raises, you’ve basically thrown away the chips you’ve raised with. Think about it – your opponent knows you raised from early position and has to give you credit for a good hand. They have raised you knowing this, which means generally speaking they don’t fear your reaction. They have a great hand and want to play it and you’ll have to muck your marginal hand gifting your opponent much needed chips.

WATCH AND LEARN Learn from your foes What you pick up from your opponents’ play can influence your strategy Observeyour opponents carefully.A key aspect of tournament poker is identifyingplayer s’ tendencies.When they raise fromthe button is this a play they makeall thetim e or never? Ifit’sa common play, they aremore thanlikel y stealing andyoucan makea moveon them.If it’snot something they do often, they probably have a big hand andyoushou ldfold . Dotheyonlylimpin with hands like small pairsand suited connectors but raise withbiggerpairs and A-K?Raisetheir limps sinceyou knowthei r range andcan make itdiffic ult for them to call. Calltheir raises withspecul ative handssinc e you knowthatyou canwina big potif youhit. Being ableto identifyhow playersplay certain hands can be thesinglemost important thingyou doin a tournament.

62


There is someseriou slybig moneyto bewonat thetop hold’em tournaments

2

GIVING AWAY INFORMATION

There are poker players who advocate varying bet size based upon your position, the strength of your hand, and the tendencies of the players left to act. These players say that you sho uld d o so randomly so that you don’t give away any information about the strength of your hand. The problem with this is that people have a natural tendency to fall into predictable patterns. You might think that you are raising three times the big blind 75% of the time when you have Jacks in early position, but the reality is that you’re doing it 95% of the time. The most common mistake players make is betting an amount based upon their hand

o this Don’t d

strength. These players might bet big with their good hands to reduce the rated size of the field or perhaps bet less ting frust Avoid get in ea rly position wanting to get as much money in g n i s i a r d grea t, an the pot. There is no problem with d, but no t with goo ou are re-raised this if you are consistent. The y f I . s d n ha e put in a problem occurs when you start to yo u will b y spot. vary your betting. If you are the type very trick of player who bets less when you have a strong hand but raises more when you want to steal the blinds, a player who is paying attention will notice and do one e of two things. First, they will re-raise your big bets because they know you are weak. Second, they will call your small bets more often because they know there is implied value, due to you having a big hand.

M U

3 NOT MAKING PROPER SIZED BETS

L T I T A B

This mistake consists of players who either bet too much or too little. The reason someone bets is to either get a player to fold, induce a raise, or call. When we makea bet, we have an intended result. The best bet is the one that accomplishes your objective at the lowest cost (if you’re bluffing) or highest value (if you’re betting for value). Determining these precise amounts will depend on a number of factors. You need to know what your opponents tendencies are. Do they fold when someone bets? If so, you can make a small bet when bluffing. Do they call when on draws and you have a hand like top pair? Then you can make a large bet. There will be times you want to bet an amount that gives your opponent the appearance that you are weak. This too will depend on who you are up against. You need to know how they have reacted to small and large-sized bets in the past. If they think a large bet is weak and you have a strong hand, you should make an oversized bet. Use observation to figure out the betting thresholds of your opponents. This is how you make money when you have the goods and lose less when you don’t.

L E T O U

R N A

M E

N T S T

R A T

E G Y

The best bet is the one that accomplishes your objective at the lowest cost (if bluffing) or highest value (if betting for value) 4 BLAMING EVERYONE BUT YOURSELF How many players do you know that have read everything there is to know about poker and insist when they lose it’s because they were unlucky and their opponent was a luckbox? This mindset plagues many players. They believe they are perfect and the only thing stopping them from winning is bad luck. While it is true that luck does play a role in hold’em, more often than not if a player is consistently losing the problems lie much deeper. If you are going to be a successful hold’em player, you need to constantly analyse your play and scrutinise everything that you do, both good and b bad. If you lost a big pot to a donkey, on ey, you need to ask yourself if there was something that you Do t h is could ould have done to prevent the Assess y loss. Could you have bet more whether our own play, you are w or r pr prevented them from seeing i nn ing or losing the flop? fl Rather than placing scrutinis hands. By you spot ing your play blame on the ‘donkey’, look for blam leaks and areas where yo reasons easo that you failed to win u can imp rove the he han hand. If you can do this, you will pro w probably find some holes in your game and understand how to counteract your opponents’ opp play. Eventually you’ll be complainin complaining less and raking in more and more big pots.

63


S R E T S A M E H T M O

LEARN FROM THE MASTERS

JC TRAN With a WPT title, two WSOP bracelets and close to $8 million in winnings, JC Tran is one of poker’s powerhouses and a true tournament legend

R F N R A E L : S T N E M A N R U O T

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN POKER?

On my 21st birthday my brother took me to the local card room in Sacramento, California, as he was already playing poker regularly. He introduced me to hold’em, broke down the basics for me, and from there I picked it up through putting in the hours. I started off at small-stakes limit hold’em and grinded my way up. I certainly wasn’t an overnight success – for years I was playing small-stakes where I’d make a few hundred a week. Limit poker tournaments helped build my bankroll and then I played no-limit, realised I had talent and began to focus more on thosetournaments. I still play limit but more in cash games. But I definitely consider myself more of a tournament player than a cash game player.

ASIAN PLAYERS ARE GENERALLYASSUMED TO BE CRAZY, LOOSE AND ALWAYS LOOKING TO GAMBLE, YET YOU SEEM FAR REMOVED FROM THAT STEREOTYPE. DOES THAT HELP YOU AGAINST UNKNOWN PLAYERS WHO THINK YOU’RE LOOSER THAN YOU ACTUALLY ARE?

Yeah, the majority of players and the public categorise me as an aggressive player, some even as a very aggressive player. The reality is that sometimes I do play aggressively or hyper-aggressively, but only when the table conditions are right. I’m just as comfortable playing very solid. Every day it can change. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS YOUR BEST ASSET?

Being able to adapt. I think the thing that makes me ASA TOURNAMENTPLAYER YOU PUT UPINCREDIBLY successful is that I can change gears. Sometimes if I spot CONSISTENT RESULTS. WHYDO YOUTHINK THIS IS? that people think I’m playing aggressively then I’ll shut I believe my style is very effective. And I think I’m down and play a solid game. This really works because fortunate with my image to get a combination of other players don’t think I’m capable of playing a solid respect and fear from players. I can also adapt to all game. You need to have a solid side if you want to do well. styles that my opponents have, which is key because the game changes all the time. Also, I’m careful about ASIA HAS TAKEN A WHILE TO WARM TO POKER my tournament selection. Previously I used to just play BUT IT SEEMS LIKE IT’S PICKING UP NOW, WITH every tournament and burn myself out. Now I play less, THE ASIAN POKER TOUR AND NEW CARDROOMS but make sure I’m more focused in the ones I enter. SPRINGING UP. DO YOU THINK IT’S GOING TO BE POKER’S NEXT HOTSPOT? THE STANDARD OF POKER SEEMS TO BE RISING ALL Asia is definitely the sleeping giant of the poker world. THE TIME. DO YOU THINK EVEN THE BIG $10,000 Asians are known to gamble all through their lives and BUY-IN TOURNEYS ARE GETTING A LOT TOUGHER? have a ‘natural’ touch when it comes to gambling.

Yes, very much so – especially in the last year or so. There’s not as much dead money in tournaments as there used to be. Most of the players in the $10k events are pros now – even the $2k and $3k events are tough – you recognise nearly everyone in the room. Even if you don’t know them, it’s likely they’re good online players. YOU SEEM TOBE ONE OFTH E PROSWH O LIKE TO ‘GET IT QUIETLY’. DO YOU CONSCIOUSLY LIKE TO KEEP A LOW PROFILE?

I’ve always been the type of player who comes in, plays my game and then leaves when I’m done. I’m not the type toyel l across the room or jumpup and down or get in confrontations with other players. I just act myself and I come to play poker. That’s what I’m there for.

There are many low-key Asian poker players who are extremely talented. They are not as well-known due to the fact that they don’t travel the world to play in major tournaments. Once poker is allowed on television in Asia, you will see them make a real presence. YOU TRAVEL WITH A GROUP OF FRIENDS ON THE CIRCUIT, INCLUDING FELLOW APT AMBASSADOR NAM LE AND WPT WINNER DAVID ‘CHINO’ RHEEM – IS THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU?

It’s always good to be around friends, and it’s not only important to have their support but to discuss poker. It’s always good to get different people to express their thoughts on how they’d play in a certain situation – getting a perspective other than your own can help you learn. Saying that, if I’m railing someone deep in a really WHAT’S YOUR PROUDEST ACHIEVEMENT IN POKER? big tournament, I won’t give advice. They’ve been with My World Poker Tour win [in March 2007] was a the players they’re playing with, sometimes for days, so great feeling because I’d come up short so many times. they’re the best judge of the situation. We’ll just be there The same goes for winning my first WSOP bracelet to support and make sure they don’t go on tilt. We also [in 2008] – I’d made final tables before but not gone try to avoid talking about poker over dinner. Often the on to win one. first person to bring up poker has to pay the bill!

64


TRAN FACTS

Name JC Tran LivesSacramento, California Livetournament winnings $7,938,169 WSOP bracelets 2008 $1,500 no-limit hold’em 2009 $2,500 pot-limitOmaha Highestmain event finish108th in 2009

Sometimes I do play hyperaggressively, but only when the table conditions are right. I’m just as comfortable playing very solid. Every day it can change

T O U

R N

A M E

N T S :

L E

A R N

F R

O M T

H E

M A S T E

R S


65

S R E T S A M E H T M O R F N R A


JULIAN THEW With close to $2.5m in career tournament winnings,

Julian Thewis

in

the top tier of British poker players. He’s made three EPT final tables, including a win in Baden in 2007, where he took home over 670,000

E L

HOW DID YOU DISCOVER POKER?

I had a sporting background, but hit 30 and packed it in. Afterwards I felt that there was a competitive element missing from my life. Then poker came on telly and I became fascinated with it. I started playing home games with friends and that’s how I got the poker bug. I was playing once a week losing about £10 a week for six months. SO WHAT HAPPENED TO CHANGE THINGS FOR YOU?

That Christmas I received a poker book, read it, and from then on I began to break even in the home games. The natural progression was to take it a step further and play in a local casino. A casino near where I lived in Dublin had two or three tournaments a week, and after entering the cardroom for the first time I felt at home – all I wanted to do with my free time was play poker. SO WOULD YOURECOM MEND STRATEGY BOOKS TO BRING YOUR GAME ON?

I’ve read a lot of poker books – I really immersed myself in them. I have probably got about 50 books at home now and I’ve read them all. It’s definitely a good way to bring your game on, but there are lots of other things you can do as well. SUCH AS?

Well I believe in taking notes – I’m a great note-taker and I’ve got folders full of them at home. I still take notes and keep records, and I always review my performances, as I think you can learn a lot from your mistakes. At the end of every year I like to do a full review – not a financial one but one which looks at the state of my game.When I was learning I was also very prepared to put the miles in. It was always important for me to go to different places and play against as many people as possible. That was a big part of my learning curve. In tournaments you can go a long time without any meaningful results but you can be

learning while losing. Learning from your mistakes is very important. AND DID YOU LEARN OFF FRIENDS YOU MADE ON THE CIRCUIT?

When poker started to become a nice top-up to my income, I began picking up bits and pieces from other players. Lucy Rokach and Peter Costa were both big influences on me. I can’t stress enough how incorporating facets from other people’s games was crucial to my improvement. WHEN DID YOU START TO THINK YOU COULD MAKE IT AS A TOURNAMENT PLAYER?

Winning didn’t come quickly, in fact I don’t think I won for the first six months I played in casinos. I slowly got better though, made a few final tables, and won a few small comps. In 2004 I decided to cut back hours at work which meant I could play later hours during the week. Getting the right balance between work and poker was a big step forward for me. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRSTTAST E OF SUCCESS?

I was scoring fairly consistently in tournaments and then in October 2004 I played the £3,000 EPT event at the Vic. I was chip leader at the end of day one, chip leader with nine left and then finished ninth for £8,000 (Julian’s nickname is ‘Yo-Yo’). I was very disappointed. Then two weeks later at the EPT Dublin I finished seventh. A week later I got a call offering me sponsorship. I thought it was a wind-up!

Once you’re sponsored everything changes. I can now pick and choose the events I enter and it definitely frees up the way you play

66


THEW FACTS

HOW DID SPONSORSHIP CHANGE THINGS FOR YOU?

Once you’re sponsored everything changes. You haven’t gotthe pressure of worrying about money or buy-ins. I can now pick and choose the events I enter and it definitely frees up the way you play. Saying that, even after getting sponsored I stayed in my job for another year and didn’t go full-time until the end of 2006.

Name JulianThew Nickname ‘Yo-Yo’ Lives Nottingham, UK Live tournament winnings $2,444,109 Biggest win EPTBaden Classic, October 2007 – 1st, €670,800

L E

THEW’S TOP TEN TOURNAMENT TIPS

A R N

F R

O M

Follow in Julian Thew’s footsteps as he reveals his top ten winning tips…

T H E

M

Co ntrary to popular opinion, you don’tnee d tobe good atall aspectsof poker towin tournaments. Forinstance, I’m terrible at layinga hand down. You’vejust gotto tryand improveall aspectsof your game allthe time.

A S T

1

E

R S

Alwaystrust yourpoker 2 instincts, even if you risk looking stupidsometimes. Don’t be lazy. There’s usually 3 a right orwro ngmov e and 90% ofthetimethe wrong optionis thelazy one– for instance, calling instead of raising, or checking instead of betting. B e aware of table image and how youropponentsperceive you anduse thisto your benefit.

4

Position is so important. You alwayshearit but it’strue– it’sonlyveryrecent ly that thishas reallyhit home for me.The sooner youunderstandposition the quicker you’ll startwinning.

5

Have patience. Pokeris often a boring game,but you needto beableto put hands downunti l you findyourselfin a favourable spot.

6

Learn to spot exploitable 7 situationsand have theballs topullthetrig ger whenyoudo so, such as isolating weak players to getthem intoheads -uppots.

8

Don’tget fazed bythe opposition.

ry to develop mental T toughness. You’vegot to be reallytoughto deal withthe swingsin thegame.

9

M O .C S E G A IM R E K O P

Remember, thecardsyou are 10 dealt are just oneelemen t of thegame.The best players don’t rely on cards to wina tournament.


67

Y G E T A R T S T N E M A N R U O T

Size is

EVERYTHING Poker might be a game of cards but the way you play any given hand in a tournament should largely be dictated by the size of your stack. We show you how to play short, medium and big stacks all the way to the final table…

W

HEN PLAYING A NO-LIMIT hold’em tournament, your stack is your life. B Lose it all and (rebuys A notwithstanding) it’s T game over. Use it wisely and you’ll see your stack grow to Himalayan proportions. I Your ultimate aim, clearly, is to accumulate T all the chips in play. However, only in a true L dream scenario is your tournament going to U be a smooth, steady process of accumulation. M Most of the time your chipstack will fluctuate wildly as your fortunes twist and turn, and all the while the blinds will be growing, diminishing the value of your chips and threatening to engulf you completely. As Hsuch, knowing how to play different stack C ITsizes effectively is an absolutely crucial D Btournament skill. E H Before we look at how to play different Ostack sizes, however, we need to know what IM Tdefines a small, medium and big stack. It’s E L

FIND YOUR GAME

Find your game at PKR.c om. Build your characterwith PKR’s state-of-the-art software and immerse yourselfin a rangeof tournament games. PKR has a range ofno-li mithold ’em tournaments across all levels running around theclock . If you love tournament poker,you need tobringyourgameto PKR…

68


important to appreciate that only blinds and antes dictate this, not the stacks of other players around you. Lose a big pot at the start of a tournament, see your stack go from 5,000 to 2,000 chips, and it’s easy to panic. But with low blinds of say 25/50, you’re still playing 40 big blinds. That means you have plenty of time to wait for hands and situations to rebuild your stack. In fact, you shouldn’t consider yourself short-stacked until you’ve got less than 10-12 big blinds left. A medium stack is anywhere between 12 and 25 big blinds. Anything above this and you can hold your head high – you’re officially a big-stack!

SHORT STACKS If you’re a short-stack your chips are more valuable than at any other time. That’s because if you win the tournament you end up with all the chips, but you don’t get all the

money in the prize pool (sadly). So as your chipstack increases above average, each individual chip is worth less, enabling you to play a little looser. But as a short-stack, the opposite is true. Because your existence in the tournament gives you some equity (as you still have a chance to make money), the smaller your stack gets, the more each individual chip is worth. If you have a genuine short stack, playing it is easy as you only really have one option and that is to move all-in or fold. The only exception to this is if you have a massive hand pre-flop and think youcan induce action from other players by making a smaller bet, although this often looks suspicious. DON’T FE AR THE RE AP ER So when should you get your chips in? Most players wait too long, hoping to pick up a big hand before committing all their chips, but the problem with this is your stack can

Most players wait too long before committing all their chips. The problem with this is your stack can become so short that you lose all fold equity

become so short that you lose all fold equity (i.e. your stack is so small you can’t make other players fold). Even worse, if you become very short (five big blinds or less) you can move all-in, win and double-up and still be short-stacked. The thing to remember is that you’re never that far behind if you get called, as long as you have two live cards. Even if you’ve got 7-2 offsuit, and are called by A-K, you still have a 33% chance to win the hand. Pick up a hand like 9-10 in mid position in an unraised pot and you shouldn’t think twice above shoving. You should also be aware that moving your chips into an unraised pot puts you in a far better situation than calling all-in. This is because you have a chance to pick up the pot uncontested, and to force hands that currently have you beaten to fold. Sometimes it’s right to call all-in when short-stacked, but only if you have a strong hand or your stack is so small that it has no fold equity anyway. Remember, if you’re almost certain to be called, either because there are loose players with big stacks behind you, or loose players in the blinds, you lose nearly all your fold

equity, so you need to tighten up your hand standards. Conversely, if you have tight players behind you, particularly in the blinds, or the tournament is close to the money spots, you can move in with a far wider range of starting hands.

M U

SHORT STACK

L T I T A B

Double or bust…

The challenges of playing a short stack alter according to what stage of a tournament you’re at…

L E

EARLY STAGESItcan be extremely

MEDIUM STACKS Having a medium stack in tournaments is uncomfortable because you’ll often be put in tough spots. You need to accumulate chips to make sure you don’t slip into being short-stacked, and the faster the tournament structure the more pressure there is on you. This should make you more inclined to take on coinflip situations (for example, playing for all your chips with hands like A-Q or 8-8 against an underpair or overcards respectively). In a slower tournament the opposite is true. You may be able to chip away (win some smaller pots to build up) but you can still get away from hands as you will have more time before the blind pressure becomes intolerable. However, the mistake you don’t want to make is to get too comfortable. You should always be looking to accumulate chips by seeking out the right kind of opportunities. You should also be looking to exploit any other medium-stacks, especially if they are feeling too comfortable and playing too tight. Re-raising and re-stealing (raising after someone has made a late-position raise to steal the blinds) are very important weapons to have when you’re playing a medium stack.

T O U

disheartening tolose a lotof chips early on,but make sure you don’t feel like you’re a short-stackstraightaway. If youstill have plentyof chips comparedto theblinds,you can stillmanoeuvreandplaygood poker to rebuild. Ifyou reallyareshort, tryto play an all-inpot with someone playing loose earlyon, whomay giveyou thatcourtesydouble-upyouneed.

R N A

M E

N T

MIDDLE STAGESPlaying the short-

stack in themiddlestage s is allabout being patientand findingthe right spots. Remember, you can’t wait toolong – don’t get tempted to start hangingon for themoney when you enteredthe tourney to winit. Find spots wherethe players in theblindsare playingtightand your all-inmovehas some chance of takingthe potdownuncon tested.

S T

R A T

E G Y

LATESTAGESBeinga short-stacknear

theend istough.If you’re in themoney yourtournament lifehas somevalue,which escalates as otherplayers areknockedout. However, unlessyou’reverycloseto theend of thetourneyyoushouldstill be tryingto grab chips. Lookfor spotswherethe blindsare playing tootight, orfind some high-card strength andhopea big-stack doubles you up.


69

Y G E

MEDIUM STACK

T A

Building plans

R T S T N

Whatever stage you’re at in a tournament make sure you’ve always got a plan for how you’re going to grow your stack

E M A N R U O T E L B A T I T L U M

EARLY STAGESVary your play according to the tournament structure. If it’s a slow struct ure, tryto steal your way to a bigstack . If thestru ctureis fast, look toget your chips in even when you’re marginally ahead – takinga 50/50 race if necessary, especially if you’re getting betteroddson thecall.Buildthatstac k for thebig bli ndsto come. MIDDLE STAGESThis is whereit’s vital not to siton your mediumstac k andlimpyourwayto a minimum cash. Use it tomakeplay s andtak e calcul ated risksto give yourselfa shot at thebig prizes.Don’ t get complacent orthe bli ndswillturn your mediumstackintoa small one. LATESTAGESBalanc e aggres sion with avoiding unnecess ary confrontations. Keep the press ureon your tigh t opp one nts who are look ing to moveup in themon ey withre-r aise s andre-st eals . Try to avoid playinghands tha t you’re not will ing to commit your enti re sta ck with .

PLAY TO WIN

Whatever yourtournamentyou’ll findit at PKR.com. Enter theworld ’s most advanced poker room and finda huge range of MTTs and sit&gosrunni ng everyday with big guaranteedprizes with buy-ins starting at just $1.Join Club PKR for exclusive freerolls in which you canplayfor bigcash prizes andgain accessto amazinglive events, plus a whole lotmore.

70


Both moves can be used to put a lot of pressure on your opponents and maximise your ways to win, by either forcing your foes to fold or by having the winning hand if called. Re-raising pre-flop is generally a better option than calling in no-limit hold’em, and with a medium stack it’s almost always the better option. This is due to a combination of it being better to commit your chips as the aggressor, particularly in a situation where you may well end up committed later in the hand, but also because you’re putting pressure on your opponents to fold. Other medium-stacks will often fold too much in tournaments, giving your re-raises great equity. Re-stealing is valuable for the same reasons, and if you pick the correct spot it greatly increases your equity in the tournament, as you’re winning more chips than your fair share. With more and more players opening pots with marginal hands to steal the blinds it’s vital you have it in your armoury. For example, say you’re in the big blind with blinds of 100/200 and you have 3,000 chips. An aggressive player with 4,000 chips raises to 600 from the button. You should be looking to move in here reasonably often. If he’s a typical player he’ll be opening with a huge number of hands that can’t call your all-in. If they fold you pick up 900 chips, increasing your stack by 30%. If you’re called and double-through you’re well on your way to becoming a big-stack again. Finally you need to watch out for shortstacks that might be willing to make a stand and tighten up your opening and stealing standards. This is where calling an all-in

could be profitable with a wider range of hands as well. If the short-stack is moving in with a substandard hand this can be a great opportunity to get some chips in positive equity situations.

BIG STACKS Having a big stack in a tournament is a great position to be in. It’s the time when you c an be a com plete poker player, making moves and using your bets, and the threat of further bets, to put maximum pressure on your opponents. There are two different scenarios where you could be big-stacked. The first is when everyone else is a big-stack (usually at the beginning of a tournament) and the second is when you are big-stacked in relation to the other players. At the start of a relatively deep-stacked event, say with 100 big blinds or more, every player is effectively a big-stack. In this situation there is more emphasis on post-flop rather than pre-flop play, and with both you and your opponents having deep stacks, your implied odds are increased. As such, you can sometimes take the worst of it pre-flop in order to make more money when you hit your hand. This means hands like small pairs and suited connectors become more playable – though you shouldn’t get carried away with such hands, and should avoid playing complete junk. Remember that in order to make up for a pre-flop disadvantage you have to get paid when you hit your hand, so don’t forget to

bet when you actually do. As ever, don’t forget to adjust your decisions according to your opponents’ play. If someone is playing more loosely because they have a big stack, you need to isolate that player and be willing to call them down with lesser hands – though that’s not to say with complete rags. Other players may play tighter because it’s a big event or because there are no blinds worth winning, and you can take advantage of this by putting greater pressure on them. The second scenario is when you have a big stack relative to the rest of your table or indeed the tournament, and this is perhaps the most enjoyable situation in poker. Conceptually, it’s important to recognise that the more chips you have relative to the field, the less each individual chip is worth. If this concept doesn’t sit naturally with you, consider that if you win the tournament you don’t get paid the true value of your stack. For instance, Jamie Gold won the 2006 World Series of Poker, which had around 85 million chips in play. He ended up with all the chips but was only (!) paid

$12 million. This means you can afford to be looser with your chips than if you were an average or small stack, but don’t keep calling bets with substandard hands ‘because you can’. It’s a good way to losea big stack quickly. If you do want to use the leverage offered by a big chipstack, targe t the players who appear to be playing too tight and put pressure on them with bets and raises. They’ll be all too aware of the fact your big stack could knock them out of the tourney at any time. If players are folding to you pre-flop because they don’t want to get involved in a confrontatio n, this is a mistake you should exploit. If your raises are successfully stealing the blinds, do it as much as you can get away with. Against a pre-flop bet, you should consider re-raising a lot and re-raising all-in if the blinds allow.

Being a big-stack is when you can be a complete poker player, making moves and using your bets to put maximum pressure on your opponents

BULLYING TACTICS Post-flop, look to semi-bluff a lot and play big draws. Let’s say you’re in hand against a poor player with predictable starting hand selection with 6-7 suited. The flop comes Q-4-5 and your opponent makes a standard continuation bet. More of ten than not you should make a large raise here and even push all-in as long as it’s not a massive overbet. If called, you may well need to make your straight to win, but the

M U

BIG STACK

L T I T A B

Test your opponents Piling the pressure on your opponents is the key to playing andmaint aining a big stack

L E

EARLY STAGESPutpress ure on where

T O U

you can, butremem berthat theother players probably have a decentamountof chips compared to theblinds , sothey won’t fold as often as they will later in thetourne y.

R N A

MIDDLE STAGESAttack theother

M

players as the blinds rise.Particularly targetthosetryingto hang on in the tournament orto scrapeinto themoney.

E

N T

LATESTAGESStay on thefrontfoot

S T

andput pressureon theweak er players/ smallerstacks, but avoid marginal situations withotherbig-s tacks whocan reallyhurt you.

R A T

E G Y

important point is that your opponent doesn’t need to fold very often to make this sort of move correct. It’s also important to be very aware of your image as a big-stack and how the other players are responding to you. Observe which ones are playing back at you and wait for a big hand to punish them – they often won’t give you credit for having a big hand, thinking you’re just a loose player.


71

Y G

YOUR MOVE

E T A R T S

In the cutthroat world of multi-table tournaments you can’t rely on getting dealt Aces and Kings every other hand. Instead, you’ll need some tricky manoeuvres, nerves of steel and perfect timing to see you through to the money. Adding some of these techniques to your MTT arsenal should help you go deep time and time again…

T N E M A N R U O T E L B A T I

PUSH YOUR DRAWS You put in a healthy raise with a big suited Ace and pick up a caller. The flop misses you but does give you the nut flush draw which you should be prepared to play fast. Being prepared to go all the way with monster draws is a technique a lot of successful and aggressive tournament players use to build a big stack, and it’s a good play as you have so many ways to win the hand. Your opponent could fold, but if he calls you could still hit your flush. If your overcards are live you are usually a favourite to win the hand, even if you’re behind on the flop.

T L U M

STOP-AND-GO

The stop-and-go is a great move to make when you’re in the blinds and starting to run low on chips and ideas. It involves you calling a late position raise – hopefully targeting a serial raiser – and moving all-in whatever the flop brings. You’re not making the pre-flop call on the odds the flop will help you, but on the fact that your opponent’s two cards will only connect with the flop a third of the time. If he’s missed, it’s very hard for him to call even if he suspects that you’re trying to pull a move.

RAGGY RAISE Everyone knows that a minimum raise from under the gun is often a sign of strength. It’s not likely to be respected in the first few levels when it costs so little to see a flop, but in later levels, when Hthe blinds are larger C ITand most of the weak D Bplayers have already E Hbeen knocked out, a Ominimum raise from M I Tunder the gun is more

likely to be respected, especially if you’ve got a tight table image. If you pick up a caller you’ll be playing the hand out of position, but you’ll also have a well disguised hand you can represent on the flop. If you meet some resistance, in the form of a big raise, then you know you’re usually up against a genuine hand, in which case you can fold.

SLOW-PLAYING Slow-playing a monster pre-flop can be a profitable move, but it’s risky and you need the right table conditions. Slow-playing generally won’t work in the early stages of a tournament when the blinds are small enough for lots of people to call without creating a pot big enough for someone to try and steal. And the last thing you want with a hand like pocket Aces is a table full of limpers. Later on in the tournament though, when the blinds are high and you’re on an aggressive table, try limping your Aces or Kings and hope for a raise or a shove. Be warned, if you pick up a few callers you need to be good enough to put the hand down if you meet strong resistance on the flop.

SQUEEZE! Often, when a player raises in early or mid position he’ll pick up a caller. This caller might induce others to come along for the ride, creating a chain effect which you can take advantage of in late position by making a healthy pot-sized raise. If you can get the srcinal raiser to fold the chances are you’ll get everyone else to muck as well, as if their hands were strong it’s likely they would have re-raised themselves. The only disadvantage to this move is that it’s a bit of an oldie and people are wise

For an effective re-steal, make sure you have a semi-decent hand, and when your stealer strikes, come over the top with an all-in shove

72


Creative urge:moves like theval ueshov e canadda newdimensi onto your game

M U

L T I T A B L E

to it. Saying that, it’s still hard to combat without a genuine hand. If you have a monster yourself, you can play it fast, hope someone pegs it incorrectly as a squeeze play and calls you with a lighter holding.

VALUE SHOVE! The value shove is a relatively modern move that sees you making a massive overbet with a huge hand. Say you’ve got the nut flush

on the river and you want toextract the maximum from your opponent. You’re pretty sure he’s got a hand that’s fairly strong and you know for certain he’ll call a small value bet. That’s the safe option. If you shove all-in, what percentage of the time do you think he’s going tocal l? It might not be 100% or anywhere near, but it doesn’t need to be for this tobe a profitable move. If hecal ls you one in five times, and you maketen times as many chips, you’ve just made this move your

own. And you’ll be surprised how many people take this shove as a bluff and call you light.

T O U

R

THREE-BETTING

N

The game of no-limit hold’em has changed immeasurably in the past few years, and nowhere is this more apparent than pre-flop aggression. A few years ago a re-raise pre-flop meant Aces, Kings, Queens or Ace-King. Now if you watch good players, re-raising before the flop is commonplace, and to survive in the modern game you’ll need to master the skill. It’s called threebetting because you’re literally putting in the third bet after an initial raiser (the second bet) has raised the big blind (the first bet). Look to make your re-raise around pot size, or if the stacks are shallower, you can move all-in. Three-betting gives you the initiative in the hand and puts the pressure on your opponent, but you need to mix your range up to keep your opponents guessing. You can three-bet for value (when you have the best hand), as a semi-bluff (a hand with potential) or as a complete bluff.

A

M E

N T S T

R A T

E G Y

ATTACKING HIGH-BLIND LIMPERS This sounds technical but it’s dead easy. Limping in the early stages of a tournament is a decent enough strategy but some people can’t stop limping, even when the blinds are high, with speculative cards. Punish them by making a hefty raise, or moving all-in if you’re short-stacked and they’re going to find it very difficult to call. Make sure the person you’re making the move on is a high-blind limper (i.e. they’ve limped and shown down speculative hands before, or you’ve pegged them as weak) and not a crafty player looking to trap with Aces.

RE-STEALING If you’ve pegged someo ne as a serial blind stealer (i.e. they’re consistently raising in late position ), it’s time to shut them down. For an effective re-steal, make sure you have a semi-decent hand, and when your stealer strikes, come over the top with an all-in shove. You should send a clear message that you’re not afraid to defend your blin ds, but make sure they’re worth defending before you pull the move. If your opponent raises to 60 on the button, you can probably let your 20 chips go!


73

S R E T S A M E H T M O R F N


CHRIS MOORMAN Chris Moorman is one of the hottest online tournament

players in the world. Now he shows you how it’s done…

R A E L

1

EARLY DOORS

2

KEEP IT TIGHT

3

NO SET, NO BET

In the earlystages of the tournament identify the weak players at your tableand try to get involved with them in a few pots. Theseare the players you’regoing to make most of your chips from. It’s best to avoidcallingraises with easily dominated handslikeA-J, K-Q andK-J. Smallpairs and suited connectorsaregoldenhands early on though, becauseit’s much easiertoknow whereyou’re at inthehand. You can flopmassively andmakea lot of chipsfrom a weak playerwho can’t folda big pair. Ifyou hit a set witha small pair, you knowthat 95% of the timeyou havethe besthand. Youcan then goabout buildingthe pot the bestway you can.

Before the antes kick in there’s no need to go crazy playing too many hands. You can still play hands like 6-7suited for deception, but you really need to be careful about playing speculative hands. This factor is mainly dependent on your stack size though.

Stacksizes areone of the most importantaspects of MTTs. For example, a lotof peopleovervalue pocketpairs with a mid-stack.What peopledon’t realisewithsmallpairs isthat in order togetpaid theyneed tohit their set,still have the best hand and hope theiropponent has a hand that they arewillingto go to the felt with. Smallpairs are a lot better early on in a tournament when pots aremore likely to be multi-way, because when you do hityour set someone else is likely to have a strong, but weaker hand.

4

THE EARLY BIRD

When decidinghow loose or tight to play at a certain tableyou should try to play the opposite of your table – tight on a loose table andloose on a tight table. However, other important factors,such as howmuch early position raises are being respected, should be considered. If youfind your early positionraises arebeing respected by the table, you can raise knowingthatmostly you will either take the blinds uncontested, or only have to facesomeoneflat-calling you with the possibility of taking it down on the flop.

74

QUICK ON THE DRAW

7

LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR

8

PILE ON THE PRESSURE

9

SWITCHING GEARS

Post-flop play is still important in MTTs, even though it’s usually not as important as in deeper-stacked cash games. Try and evaluate flops and put your opponent on a range. From this you can start to think about how likely they are to have hit the flop. This clearly helps aid you in deciding whether to continuation-bet or not. Also, take note of whether a player plays his draws fast or slow. This will enable youto represent when the draw gets there if they just calledyour flop bet, because you already know they play their draws fast or vice versa.

The most importantpeople at your tableare those to your immediate right andleft. That’s because every orbit you’re probably goingto have blind and late positionbattles. If you have a good read on theseopponents, you canreally start to pick up chips. For example, if you’re on the left of someone who likes to open a lot in late position, but doesn’t re-shove all-inunless they have a premium hand,thenyou can re-raisethemwithout the goods in positionand take down a healthy-sized pot a winning percentage of the time.

A strong traitof most winning players is theirability to get insidetheir opponents’ headsand forcetheminto making bigmistakes. In order to do this you need to apply constant pressure. One wayto do this is by winning lots of smaller pots from them without the goods. The real trick is to know when they’ve had enough, then pick up a hand and get it to hold… That’s somethingthatcan’tbe taught!

MOORMAN FACTS

Name Chris Moorman Age 24 Lives Brighton Online winnings Over$1.5m Online screenname Moorman1

RAISE THE RAISER

Bubble play isn’tnearly as profitable as it once was because a lotof people are approaching thebubble very aggressively. A great way to attack thebubble is to re-raise other people who are also raisinga wide range of hands, or to flat-call in position and mess with them post-flop.

5

6


Ona final table,if there’s one playerwhosestack isa lot shorter than the rest, then youcan really apply pressure on your opponents. They will all be concerned with moving up a money spot andwill wait for the short stack to bust rather than play back at you without the goods. Once the shortstack hasbeen knocked out, players will be more willing to gamble. You should then switch gearsand ‘slow down’ because your image will be looseat that point. The best MTT players canswitch gears constantlywithno difficulty at all.

10

PLAY TO WIN

Try notto look at the payouts of a tournament as this can affect your decision-making. Always play to winand go with your gut instinct. If your opponents know youare capable of anything it makes youa much trickier opponent.

A trait of most winning players is their ability to get inside their opponents’ heads and force them into making big mistakes

L E

A R N

F R

O M T H E

M A S T

E

R S


75

Y G E T A R T S T N E M A N R U

RULING REBUYS Hate busting out of a tournament? Play a rebuy and you can resurrect yourself time and time again – as long as you’ve got deep pockets…

O T E L B A T I

S

O YOU MIGHT REMEMBER WE mentioned earlier that the great thing about a tournament is that you know exactly how much money you’re T risking up front, and that no matter L how badly you play, you can’t lose more than your U initial buy-in? Well that’s true for freezeouts, but M there is another tournament format that gives you the opportunity to gamble a bit more, and potentially win – or lose – more money. A rebuy tournament effectively gives you extra lives for more money. So, when you bust your initial chipstack – or dip to a pre-agreed amount, say 50% of your stack – you can buy back in for another stack. And another. And another. Some rebuys limit you to two or three stacks, but the most common format is where you’re allowed unlimited rebuys for a set period (generally the first rst hour) af after which you get the option to to add on another set amount mount of chips regardless off you your stack size, before the ke a t s i tournament tou n moves into a m e th e k a m t a ’ e n lik Do standard freezeout mode. stan g a rebuy of trea tin ney. Play during Here Here, as in a standard ur norma l to y period will be tournament, once you’re tour the rebu e, so yo u must s out, you’re out for good. y o o l r supe me a g r u o y Starting tar stacks are adjust generally enerall smaller for rebuy tournaments – anywhere tournamen between 1,000 between 1,000and 2,000 is the norm. This is because as chi chips are added to the table in the form of rebuys, the number of chips in the tournament will grow quickly, leading to a relatively deep-stacked tournament once the rebuy period is over. With an average player rebuying once and adding on once, the prizepool usually ends up around three times as big as a standard freezeout for the same initial buy-in. That’s all well and good, but rebuys come with a

o this Don’t d

completely different set of strategies, and to ensure you maximise the return for a reasonable outlay you need to go in with a plan and stick to it. TIGHT VS MANIAC There are several ways to approach rebuy tournaments, depending on your style and how much money you are willing to invest. At the conservative end, you can try to maximise your value by playing tight and taking advantage of players who are looking to gamble with their stacks early on. What this means though is that you’re going to have to wait for big hands and sidestep a number of all-ins, getting lucky until you have enough chips to play standard poker. That’s because a lot of players will be calling you very light, and often with complete trash. These players are using another common rebuy strategy: gambling like crazy in an attempt to build up a big stack early on. Their plan is to ship it in whenever they see an edge or a decent chance to double up, rebuying up to dozens of times if their initial efforts fail. Alternatively, you can take the middle path, loosening up your range but not turning into a complete maniac. This approach often involves trying to see a lot of flops with hands that can improve to monsters. You might normally bin hands like 8-J in the opening stages of a regular tourney, but if you’re on a passive table and there are lots of family pots with excellent implied odds for drawing, it’s worth getting involved. Always keep one eye on your stack though. Starting off with a smaller number of chips gives you far fewer options for calling along and hoping to hit. Whatever you plan, try to peg the ultra-aggressive players early on. This won’t be hard. They will be moving all-in over any raise or group of limpers, and they’ll have no shame gambling with the likes of 8-5. If you’ve got any such players at your table and they’re still to act, the value of limping or trying to get in a pot with a speculative hand is next to nil.

With an average player rebuying once and adding on once, the prizepool usually ends up around three times as big as a standard freezeout

76


M

U L T I T O U R N

A M E N T

T O U R N

A M

E N T

S T R

A T E G Y

L L F A L E R H T H G U H


77


You also need to adjust your game in terms of bluffing. Bluffing in a rebuy period is generally futile, unless you’re facing someone who’s clearly playing tight and looking to eke out a stack. The trouble with playing a conservative game in rebuys is that it’s not a lot of fun. You’ll need to get lucky early on and have your hands hold up. For that reason, most players who enter rebuys to play tight still keep enough money for one or two extra buy-ins and an add-on if required. This gives you a couple of chances in the tournament and although you’ll still need to pick and choose your spots, you’ll have more flexibility to play. GOING CRAZY Of course, if you’re just out for a good time, you can join the ranks of crazy gamblers and come armed with enough money to rebuy five, six or more times! This might be a lot of fun, especially if the cards go your way, but we’d advise against it unless you’re a rebuy veteran. That’s because the maths dictate that if you rebuy a lot of times, you’re going to need to finish deep into the tournament, and possibly on the final table, just to break even. Most gambling players in a rebuy are looking to buy a big stack when the freezeout period starts, which they can use to bully their way to the final table and hopefully victory. If you do decide to go the crazy gambling route, remember that you don’t have to play this way through the entire rebuy period. The idea is to accumulate chips, so if you get a stack six or seven times your starting stack you can slow down, start playing tight and reap the rewards from people who still think you’re playing like a maniac. You’ve achieved your goal – to get a big stack – so there’s no point throwing it away. Whichever route you take, remember to keep an eye on the clock, because as the rebuy period comes to an end almost every short stack will be looking to double up or lose their chips, thus enabling them to rebuy. People will be pushing

with almost anything, which means you can choose to either sit tight and preserve the stack you’ve accumulated, or pick off shoves in position with a much wider calling range. FREEZEOUT Once the rebuy period is over you can usually elect to add on. Every player can do this regardless of stack size; whether or not you should depends on how many chips you’ve got. It might be tempting to get another 2,000 chips for a minimal outlay, but if you’ve got a stack of 20,000 it’s pointl ess. We would advise you not to bother if the add-on represents less than a fifth of your stack. Once the freezeout period has started, check your chipstack again. Your aim should be to start the freezeout period with at least three times the chips that you started with, which should give you an average stack to play with. If you’re way under this target you’re going to need to start pushing in while you’ve still got enough chips to knock people off their hands. If you make it with six times the chips then you’re doing well and can now sit and wait for hands and make the odd well-timed bluff or steal (these will now be possible, but pick your moment and player). The great thing about rebuys is that once the freezeout period starts, you’ll find a lot of players who forget to adjust their game. Despite having chips, they will still be operating on an ultraaggressive raise/push strategy, which is entirely unsuited to a freezeout. Try to make sure you’re in position to take their chips – they won’t last long in the tournament. Once they’ve gone, the rest of the tournament to the final table is real poker. Don’t be one of the players who can’t adjust to the change in pace, but do take advantage of the situation if you’ve managed to build up a big stack. Above all take time to make decisions, play a solid game with measured aggression and – bad beats aside – you should make it to the final stages.

TRIPLE TROUBLE Common rebuy strategies There are three distinct types of player in a rebuy tournament – which one are you? SKINFLINT > 1 THE Youwan t topla y for a bigpri zebutyou don’t want to putyourhand in your pocket. You may be limitingyourchance s ofbuildin g a stack for thefree zeout period, butyou’re willing to be patientand pick your spots, hopingto capitaliseon themaniac s. HOW YOUPLAY:You play big pairs andbig Aces andyou play themveryaggre ssively, committing yourself pre-flop if possible. PROBLEMS:You’ll quickly be peggedas tight andpeopl e willbe lesswillin g to gamblewith you. Plus you’ve only gota limitedamoun t of timeto pick up thepremi um cards you need togetyourchi psin. ADVISABLE IF:You’reon a reallytight budget.

78


SOLID PLAYER > 2 THE You don’t mindtakin g a few chancesbut you don’t want to gocrazy. You’ll limit yourself to two or three rebuys, andunlessyou getput on tiltyou’ ll leave thetourn ament as soon as you hityour budget. HOW YOUPLAY:You lovesuited connectors, or indeedany hand withpoten tial where you can see a flop for five bigblin dsor less. Ifyouhit big onthe flop orgeta bigdra w you’re willingto get all yourchip s inand ifyouloseyoucanreb uy. PROBLEMS:You’restill playing a verypredictable game andthereare no guaranteesyou’re going to build a big stack despite a willingnessto rebuy. ADVISABLE IF:You want to play a sensible game and maximise yourinvestment.

M

U L T I T O U R

DID YOU KNOW? Ifyou’ yo rea maniac, wha t stt arts asa cheap rebuy eventcan turnrather expensive. In the 2006WorldSeries of Poker, toppro Daniel Negreanu madea tota l of48 rrebuysin the$1,000 no-limitevent. He no wasattemp tingto buy was himselfa big stackto take into thefreez eoutpart of the tournament to give hima good chance of winninga bracelet, but it backfired and ended up costing himnearly$50,00 0. Thatmeant he needed to finish eighth just to break even,but unfortunately he ended up bustingoutsid e of themoney!

N

A M E N T

T O U R N

A M

E N T

S T R

KEY POINT

A T E G Y

Rebuysare fun tournaments butyou needto seta budget inyourmind beforeyou start playingand stick to it,evenif youget consistently unlucky. If younormall y play$20 tournaments, you should consider dropping downto $10or even$5 rebuys, to give yourself a chance to rebuy chips withoutplaying aboveyour means.

3

THE MANIAC >

You’re wil ling to gamblewith any hal f-d ecent hand and cap ita lise on anysign of wea kness.If youget call ed and lose thehand you’lljust rea ch dee p into your poc kets and buysome more chips – tha t’swhy it’s cal led a rebuy, right? HOW YOU PLAY:Pre-flopyou’llplay anypair, anyAce, anypaint cards, and you’rewillingto get allyou r chipsin if you hit evena tinypiec e of the flop. PROBLEMS:It could provevery expensiveand youmight endup needingto final-table the tournamentjust to break even. ADVISABLE IF:You are playing for funat a level you canaff ord– or you hate money.


79

Y G

BEATING SATELLITES

E T A R T S T N E

You don’t need a big bankroll to play with the biggest pros for millions of dollars – you just need to master the art of satellite tournaments

M A N R U O T E L B A T I T L

S

U M

ATELLITES ARE TOURNAMENTS which reward a certain number of people with a seat in a bigger buy-in event, and it’s no exaggeration to say they have changed the face of poker forever. Think of them as a sort of pyramid scheme. At the bottom you’ve got the ultra-cheap buy-ins with thousands of people, all paying for a few hundred places one rung up the ladder. Further up you’ve got the more expensive buy-ins, with a much smaller field and direct entry into the big money tourney. Eventually, you’re left with one winner, who cops the lion’s share of everyone’s cash. Satellites give you the opportunity to be that winner, and all for a few dollars initial entry. Unlike standard tournaments, there’s no sliding pay scale. Everyone who ‘wins’ a satellite gets exactly the same prize, so if you’re playing in a 500-man satellite tournament and 50 players win a seat, it doesn’t matter whether you are chip leader or sitting on one chip when the 51st player goes out – you’re still a winner. Tactics in satellites are very different from a standard freezeout tournament, for the simple reason that you’re not playing for first place. There are winner-takes-all satellites, but most of the time there are a number of seats up for grabs and you should adjust your play accordingly. REGULAR SATELLITES The most common satellites reward thetop 10% of finishers, so if 100 people play, you have to finish inthetoptento win.Thekeyher e is toplay your normal game. Don’t go risking three-quarters of your stack with A-K. Steal the blinds from the players you can steal from. Play your big pairs aggressively. Race in situations where your opponent’s stackonlyrepresents a smallpercentage of yours. Try to play a lot of small pots and only play big pots when you know you have the best of it. Let’s look at two example scenarios when holding A-K. In each case, there are 100 players left with the top 20 winning seats. You have an above average stack of 50,000 and the blinds are 500/1,000. You are in the big blind.

80


SCEN ARI O 1 A short-stack has moved all-in for 9,000. Everyone else has folded. This is a perfect situation to play with A-K and you should call. SCEN ARI O 2 An early position player with a 60,000 stack has raised to 3,000. A middle position player has moved all-in for 30,000. In a conventional MTT, you can make a case for playing A-K here. However, in a satellite this is a situation you should probably avoid. While there is a chance you are ahead, the fact that the call is for more than half your stack – as well as the fact that you still have the open-raiser to act behind you – make this a clear fold. Remember that your aim, above all else, is to keep your chip stack around the average. If you manage this then you’ll coast through the bubble. If you

Steal the blinds from the players you can steal from. Play your big pairs aggressively. Try to play a lot of small pots and only play big pots when you know you have the best of it

MONEY MATTERS Making the most from your money… Don’t just launch yourself into the first satellite you see. Make sure you sort out the practicalities first If you’veset your mindon qualifying fora big tournament, askyourse lf howmuch money you are willing tospen d totry toquali fy, given that you might, justmigh t,not succeed the firsttime?If there area fewsatell ites between youand theend tournament, can youafford tobuy yourself inone rung upto giveyou rself a better shotof qua lifying? It goeswithou t sayingthat youshouldalway s stick to a cut-offbudget . There’s no point playingso many satellitesthat youcould have bought yourself intothe actual tournament you’re trying to qualify fordirect.

M U


R N A

M E

N T S T

R A T

E G Y


81


manage to get hold of a big stack by picking up cards then you can tighten up and prey onthe weaker players, especially when you get towards the bubble. LOW BU Y-IN AND WINNER-TAKES ALL There are satellite s with only one prize up for grabs, or a relatively small number compared to the field. If you enter one of these you’ll need to play differently again. In both, but especially in winner-takes-all tournaments, it’s critica l to build a big stack early on. Don’t be scared to get into confrontations and if you do manage to build a stack you need to use it to bully the other players and keep your momentum going. The good news is that in the low buy-in satellites you’re going to find a bulk of very weak players who are just making up the numbers. These are the players to target and the ones who are hopefully going to build your stack up to a size that will let you play solid poker through to the bubble. The best tactic to adopt at the start of low buy-in satelli tes is to see as many cheap flops as possible. Weak players are unlikely to be able to drop top-pair hands and will enable you to double through if you manage to flop two pair or better. Winning a satellite like this, where the numbers are against you, is a lot harder than a regular satellite. However, the rewards are much greater and as the buy-in is generally a lot lower you can afford to loosen up and gamble. Be prepared to get your money in with big draws, show people that you’re not going to be pushed around and target weak players who are folding too much. After the first hour a lot of the weaker players will have been knocked out and the blinds will be up to the level where seeing cheap flops isn’t really an option. This is the time to evaluate your stack and push through to t he bubble by playing solid poker. An hour of play should also be enough to mark out which players you want to tangle wit h and which are bette r left alone.

THE SHARKPOOL! Satellites can be a tough training ground and you need to watch out for the sharks A lotof peopleplaysate lli tesas a means toan end,fora shotat a muchbigg er tournament. Others find thattheir game is just well sui tedto thepart icular rigours of satellite play and find satellites muchmore profitable thanregular MTTs. The straight payout of around 10% ofthe field means that strong players have a much big ger edge andit reduces the variancethat regular tournaments and theirsteep payout structures provide. For that reason, if you cash in a satell itea lotof onlinesiteslet you eitherplay thenexttour namentup, orcash in your tic ket for cash to add to your bankroll. Theupsi de ofthis is that it offersyou complete flexibility, but it doesmean that a lotof goodplay erscirc ulate in the satellitepool looking to prey on weaker players taking a shotupwar ds. This won’thapp en at thelow er level where the prize payoutsare relatively small, but

you canexpe ct thefield s to get significantlytougher as you moveup. Don’t letthis put you offtaki ng a shotthough. The experience youwill gain from playingabove your means and withbetter players is invaluable, andwor th much more than thepric e of the tournament buy-in.

ON THE BU BBLE The period approaching the bubble is an absolutely critical point of any satellite. You’re not just playing for a small cash if you break the bubble, but a shared first prize. Thankfully, it’s extremely easy to make the right decisions and avoid serious mistakes. Remember that your goal is simple: outlast other players. Let the other players make the mistakes and don’t put your life on the line needlessly. Here’s a good example of something you should never consider doing. It’s folded to

SATELLITE MAN Meet the man who invented the satellite and made poker the people’s game Satellites were inventedback in the 1970s bya mancalled Eric Drachewho wasthen tournament directorof the World Seriesof Poker.He waslooking for a way toincreasenumbersin the $10,000buy-in main event, when only the veryrichestplayers couldaffordto enter, andhit ona novelconcept.He gotten playersto putup $1,000each and gotthem to playwinner-takes-all forentry intothe tournament.

82


From these humble beginnings thesatell itehas become the dream-maker, offering amateur players withouta big bankroll the opportunity to play in theworld ’s biggest tournamentsfor an initial outlayof a few dollars. Thishit home when Chris Moneymaker, an accountant, qualified for the 2003 WSOP main eventfor $40online . He went on to defeatold-s chool player SammyFarha in an infamous heads-up

confrontation andwon the$2.5 millionfirst prize. In 2003, theWSOP maineven t was contestedby 839play ers. Justthree years later, thanks to Moneymaker andthe satellite craze,8,773play ers rolled upto makethe2006main event the biggestlive tournament of alltime. Jamie Gold eventually won thestagg ering first prizeof $12 million.

P O S W R O F I D P IM

the button who has 12 times the big blind. The tournament is three spots from ending and the button has more chips than eight of the remaining players. The blinds have about the same size stack as the button. The button looks down at A-9 and decides to try to pick up the dead money knowing they will fold nine times out of ten. He moves all-in, runs into pocket Kings and is eliminated. Unlike a tournament, chip accumulation during the bubble is not crucial – survival is. While openshoving with A-9 on the button with 12 big blinds is often a no-brainer in a conventional tournament, it’s not an option here. You could even look at a more extreme example. You’re second in chips with 32 players left and 30 get paid. You get Aces in the big blind and the chip leader in the small blind openshoves on you. Yes you’ve got the best hand, but the correct move here is to fold. If you fold you’ll win a seat 99.95% of the time just by folding every hand. Call with Aces and you’ve probably got a 15-25% shot of going out. The key on the bubble is to look at your chip position and compare it to the other players. If you are in a comfortable chip position, there is no need to get involved with all but the best of hands and only against stacks that can’t cripple you. If you have an average stack but are above the threshold needed to win the seat, again there is no reason to get involved, although it’s important to keep an eye on the bubble as the tournament moves on. With blinds very high at this point, and most hands getting decided pre-flop with shoves and folds, the button will move around the table very quickly and you can find yourself being whittled down from a position of relative comfort to being in danger. Whatever you do, don’t let yourself get to the position of playing the short-stack if you can avoid it.

M U

BE THE WORLD CHAMP! Poker is a game where dreams can come true… Some saythat satelliteshavemade theWorl d Seriesof Poker main eventtoo popular. With a field ofup to 8,000 players, it’sby farthe world’s biggestpoke r tournament, butit’s still alsothe tournament that everypoke r player wants to win,and it guarantees thewinnera place in poker historyas well as fame andfort une.It’s also thetourn ament that’sworth playing in just for theexper ience. Everypoke r playershoul d harbour an ambition to play in themai n event once,so setasi dea small chunkof cashand a weekendto try towin yourselfa seat to the2010 WSOP. You never know,this year it might just be you that comes home with thegold bracelet andthe millions of dollars in prize money.


R N A

M

While open-shoving with A-9 on the button with 12 big blinds is often a no-brainer in a conventional tournament, it’s not an option here

E

N T S T

R

Everyone will be gunning for you and if you let your chips run down too far you’ll find that your small shoves will be called by two, three or four people, in the knowledge that collectively they’ve got a very good chance of knocking you out. The bottom line is that if you are in danger of being eliminated, or moving to a position where you might be eliminated, you can’t be afraid to play hands and getting your chips in first is key. If you aren’t in danger, let other players panic and make the mistakes. Trust us, they will.

A T

E G Y

83


TIME TO FIX THAT LEAK od. We know you’re goAM E, the most

with R AISE YOUR Gker s trategy Now get e ven better free to view po tio complete selec n oyfwhere on the web. articles an game’s most respected nd-picked from the n ha ts r xpe e y ights you b ten t ri W with informatio andxtins . vel le magazines. Packedyou ne the to me r ga need to take

PKR.com. Get hold of it today at

Please gamble responsibly. For more information and advice visit 18+ www.gambleaware.co.uk.


CASH GAMES


85

Y G E T A R T S E M A G H S A C

How to be at CASH GAMES Cash games are arguably the most lucrative, exciting and difficult form of poker. So follow this crash course in how to win big in ring games…

KEY POINT Cash games areaboutplay inggood hands from good positions andnot trying to gettoo creativeall the time. If you canbe disciplined and notplaytoo many hands you will beat most low-levelgames.

TOP TIP Ifyouhav e a small pairyoucan usually call a pre-flop raise for anything less than 10%of your opponent’sstackwith thehope of hittinga set onthe flop.If you don’t make a setyou shouldnorma llyfold .

86


P

OKER IS A GAME OF DECEPTION and audacious bluffs. It requires the skilled practitioner to be unpredictable – to outmanoeuvre opponents, set traps and sidestep hazards. But these bluffs can often go wrong, and in a tournament this can be frustrating as one mistake can mean you are out. Thankfully there are also cash games where you can really let your creative nature loose. Cash games are arguably the hardest poker discipline to master because there is no hiding place. If you or your opponents go bust you can simply reload and start again. The only time you need to stop is when you run out of money, although it’s good common sense to stop a long time before that. Unlike in a tournament, the blinds remain at fixed stakes throughout the game, meaning there’s always a level playing field. As such it is frequently a game of waiting for other people to make mistakes.

Once you have a good grounding in them, full-ring (nine or ten-handed) no-limit cash games are considered to be one of the best ways of making a solid living from poker, not least because they are the most prevalent form of poker found in casinos. If you’re an online player, it also makes a lot of sense to play full-ring games as you can play on multiple tables with relative ease and make your decisions based on the action rather than just what cards you have. The nature of cash games, with their fixed blinds and the ability to reload, also makes them the form of poker where luck has the least effect on the long-term result. You can afford to take mathematically-sound risks because you are playing a long-term game. That is what cash games are – one long game that only ends when you want it to. It’s poker at its most pure. But before you can start dreaming about all the fancy plays you’re going to make, it’s crucial that you know the fundamentals of cash game poker.

C A S H

CASH GAMES Find your level

G A M

The stakes in a poker cash game are determined by the size of the blinds. All levels are catered for at online sites like PKR.com, from play-money and microstakes right up to ‘nosebleed’ stakes

E S T

R A T E G Y

Thisis a low-stakes game where theblindsare $0.05 for the small blindand$0.1 0 for the big blind. Themaximu m, andmost common buy-inis $10,butyo u can buy inforaslit tle as$2.Itis a great game forbeginn ersto start offwith online.

FULL-RING CASH GAMES Playing nine- and ten-handed Full-ring cash games are characterised by three main traits… Theyinvolve either nineor tenplaye rs maximum can be100 timesthe bigblin d.So, as opposed to short-handed where it’s at a $0.25/$0.50 table,the minimumbuy-i n sixor less.Ther e isno schedule tothe games wouldbe $10, whilethemax wouldbe $50. – theysta rtas soon asther e are enough players in thegame.When thetablesbecome u canleavewhene veryou want and 3 Yo full there isusua lly a waitinglistfora seat. you can buy morechip s atanytime . The only time you are ‘out’ iswhenyourun outof e is always a minimum andmaximum money,althou gh it’sadvis ableto stick to a 2 Ther buy-inamount . The minimumis usually stop-losslimit of 3-4 buy-ins.If you’vestacked around 20time s the bigblin d,whil e the off three timesit may bea goodideato quit.

1

There are five basic concepts that you must know and understand even before you sit down to play.

ROLL MANAGEMENT 1 BANK Okay, this might not seem like a very exciting topic to kick off with but you simply can’t ignore it. Good bankroll management means two things. First, keeping your poker money – aka your ‘bankroll’ – separate from your normal day-to-day money. And second, always playing within your limits at a level that can withstand the natural swings of the game. The bottom line is this: if you’re playing at a higher limit than your bankroll can sustain you stand a good chance of going broke. Even if you’re a good, winning player, bad luck will make you tilt, blow up and generally have a torrid time at the tables. As such, in no-limit hold’em cash games you should never risk more than 5% of your bankroll at any one time. In

Full-ring (nine or ten-handed) no-limit cash games are considered to be one of the best ways of making a solid living from poker Do t h is Only put poker ban money into your k comfortab roll that you can ly if you go afford to lose bu above yo st. Playing ur seriously limit is a bad idea

The $0.25/$0.50 level is probably thelowes t onewherethe vast majority of players willstill be recreational, as opposed to playingpokerfor a living.Yo u can buy infor anything from$10 to $50.It isalsothe lowestlev elcashgameyouwill typically findin a live casino or poker room.

The $1/$2 level is where poker startsto become serious.Her e you can buy infor $200at a timeand it’seasyto see how you can quickly winor lose a lot ofmone y.Be warned,onlin e you will find a lot of very skilled players playingat thisleve l!


87


other words make sure you have 20 buy-ins for the level you’re playing at. This figure assumes a decent win rate (something like five big blinds per 100 hands) and a normal standard deviation in the game. If your eyes just glazed over, don’t panic. Just understand that minimising your buy-ins to this level will give you the optimal balance between staking enough to grow your bankroll and preventing yourself from going broke. These are relatively conservative guidelines but they will give you good protection against going bust. This system does not mean you will inexorably build your bankroll. If you’re a winning player your edge should yield you a profit in the long-term, but there will always be ups and downs. Crucially, you must be prepared to drop down in limits if you encounter a sustained losing run. This of course takes discipline and requires you to leave your pride at the door, but many a poker player has gone bust because of ego. Downswings are a natural part of the game and some of the best in the world have had todro p down in limits for a time on their way to the top.

You must be prepared to drop down in limits if you encounter a sustained losing run. Of course this takes discipline

KEY POINT The abilityto dropdow n in limits isa vitalone.If you have $2,000 andare playing $0.50/$1 no-limit buthavea losing runthat sees your bankroll fall to justove r 10 buy-ins, you shouldserio usly consider dropping down in limits.Your $1,000will seeyou adequately rolled for $0.25/$0.50 no-limit.

2

POSITION

The power of position in no-limit hold’em cannot be overstated. It’s hard to quantify the advantage that acting behind an opponent gives you, but to put some perspective on it poker legend Doyle Brunson says, ‘If you give me the button every hand I can beat almost any game blind.’ Normally you should only enter the pot in early position with premium hands – which is essentially big pairs and A-K. Mucking A-Q up front is usually right in a full-ring game. In a deep-stacked game which is relatively passive before the flop, limping with smaller pocket pairs can also be profitable. Get used to mucking a huge amount of hands in the first three spots. As you move around the table you can open up your range far more. The later your position the greater your chance of being able to play the hand in position on future streets. We’ll come to this in more detail later on but for now let’s look at why you should play only premium hands from early and middle position and avoid cold-calling when there are still many players to act after you. The earlier the position you enter the hand from, the more likely it is that you will be stuck out of position for the rest of the hand. That puts you at a huge disadvantage as you’ll be forced to make decisions before your opponents. The closer to the button you are in the hand the later you act on each street and the more information you’ll receive about your opponents’ hands.

88

Avoid calling in the blinds with weak hands just because you’ve already committed some money. It may seem like a cheap way to see a flop, but you’ll have to play the entire hand out of position – and without committing more chips you’ll have little idea as to the strength of your opponents’ cards. Many fortunes have been lost this way.


3

o this Don’t d mping in

p! Li linds Don’t lim (i.e. flat-caalltienrgritbhle bha bit to is pre-flo p) Ra ising or folding get into. ly a lways much a re nea r r o ptions bette

POT ODDS

Playing solid poker is not about pulling off complex multi-street bluffs – it’s about calling when you have the correct odds to do so, folding when you don’t, and getting other players to call when they shouldn’t. It’s important to play a mathematically sound game, and for that you need to understand pot odds. In many marginal spots they are indispensable, such as when you are deciding whether or not to call with a drawing hand. If you do nothing else, learn how to work out rough pot odds and start using them. On the flop, count the number of outs you think you have to make the winning hand and multiply that number by four. This will give you the rough percentage chance of hitting your hand on the turn or river. On the turn, do the same but multiply your outs by two to get the odds. So, for example, if you have 10:-J… on an 8Ú-9:-A; flop you have four sevens and four Queens to make your straight or eight outs. So, multiplying 8 by 4 equals a 32% chance of winning. Some key numbers to keep in mind are nine outs for a flush draw, eight outs for an open-ended straight draw and four outs for a gutshot straight draw.

C A S H G A M E S T

R A T E G Y

4

IMPLIED ODDS

Another important concept in cash play is ‘implied odds’. Often in cash games the blinds are tiny compared to players’ stacks. This means you can play a lot of hands pre-flop that stand to win a big pot if you hit. You’re investing a little now for the ‘implied’ value of making a lot later. Specifically thismeansthatsuited, connecting hands (such as 8;-7; or A:-10: ) and small pairs often have a lot of value in cash games. You are hoping to hit a straight or flush and get paid off by a player with a big pair. In an unraised pot you shouldbe playing these hands – although don’t get toocarried away when you’re out of position. It’s also possible to play these hands in a raised pot. Proceed with caution though – to get the implied odds both you and your opponent(s) must have deep stacks (committing no more than 5% of your stack pre-flop is a good rule of thumb) and it’s best if your foes are tight players.

5

BLUFF LESS, WIN MORE

When youfirst start playing poker it’s easy to think the game is about bluffing and spotting tells – after all, that’s what it’s about on TV, right? Wrong. TV highlights tend to focus on the monster pots and audacious bluffs, making it appear that players bluff a lot more than they do. Bluffing should be just one weapon in your arsenal, and when you do bluff you should have a good reason for it. You need to gauge the situation carefully, weighing up factors such as your table image and whether or not your bets tell a believable story.

PRE AND POST-FLOP PLAY With those basic concepts in place it’s now time to look at some specifics relating to play before and after the flop. The strategic ideas here are very different from those used in tournaments. Concepts such as stealing the blinds, squeezing and protecting your tournament life, for example, have little or no relevance to cash play, while an ability to play every street is crucial.

PRE-FLOP PLAY Like every other part of a poker game, pre-flop play in a cash game is a situational concept. The correct play will change according to your table, the players in the pot, stack sizes, your table image and so on. With that in mind, when we recommend playing a particular hand bear in mind that this is a ‘standard’ play to give you a starting point in cash games. The most important thing is to grasp the factors that affect whether and how you enter a pot. If someone else has entered the pot before you with a raise you need to play far, far tighter. They’re stating they have a good hand, so you need to have a serious hand to play. But to balance this slightly you do have position over the opening raiser.

KEY POINT Themost effective raisepre-fl op is either3x or4x the bigbli nd. Soin a $0.25/$0.50 game you wouldmake your betbetwe en $1.50 and$2 if you hada playablehand andfold otherwise. When raising pre-flop you shouldalwa ysbet thesame amount – nomatt erwhatcar dsyouhol d – to disguise thestren gthof your hand.

TOP TIP If there have already beenseve ral limpers (people calling thebig blind) beforeyou andyou want to raise,add those betsto your pre-flop betsize.So if there have beenthreelimpe rs in a $0.10/$0.20game,rathe r than bet $0.80 you might raise to $1.40.

HAND SELECTION You may have read that in poker you should play the man and not the cards. Well, that’s true up to a point, but it doesn’t mean you should start ignoring the strength of your hole cards and get up in arms when ‘some fish’ doesn’t put you on


89


STARTING HAND GUIDE EARLY POSITION PLAY

10-10, J-J,Q-Q, K-K, A-A,A-K, A-Q FOLD

All other hands RE-RAISE

Q-Q, K-K,A-A,A-K andA-Q MID POSITION PLAY

All early positionhands plusA-J, K-Q, 9-9,8-8 and7-7 . A-10,K-J, Q-J,J-10 and 9-10 (suited) FOLD


J-J, Q-Q,K-K,A-A,A-K andA-Q CUTOFF SEAT PLAY

All midpositio n hands plusall pairs FOLD


10-10, J-J,Q-Q, K-K, A-A,A-K, A-Q BUTTON PLAY

All cutoff handsplusK-J,K-10, Q-10,K-9, Q-9,A-x suited and …

…

highsuited connectors(8-7 +) FOLD


10-10, J-J,Q-Q, K-K, A-A, A-K, A-Q,10-J,K-Q

KEY POINT Howmuch should youbet post-flop? Wellthebestideais tobet the same amount every timeyou getinvol ved. Ifnobo dy hasbetbefo reyou thenyou should bet two-thirdsof the pot. Soif youwere playing$0.50/ $1 and you gottwo callers pre-flop, thepot on the flopmigh t bearou nd$9. Inthis caseyou should betaround$6.

90


the big hand you’re trying to represent. Wouldn’t it be better if you just showed down a big hand instead and still had opponents call down your big bets? You don’t have to go as far as only playing Jacks or better, but if you stick to a solid range of starting hands including pairs, big Aces and the occasional suited connector, you will hit flops, out-kick other players’ bad Aces and take down some juicy pots. At the lower levels this is often all you need to post a regular profit. PLAYING PAIRS You should look to re-raise with big pairs most of the time. Bear in mind that there’s a big difference between A-A/K-K and Q-Q. You should almost always re-raise with Aces and Kings, but Queens are a more marginal hand that you should mix up with calls and re-raises. With hands like A-K, A-Q suited, J-J, 10-10 and 9-9, you should usually just call, but an occasional re-raise is good to mix up your play. It’s not simply a matter of what action there’s been but also who has made that action. For example, if a better player than you with a bigger stack than you has entered the pot, that should make you much less inclined to play. Conversely, if a weak player who calls far too much has opened the action, you should loosen your starting hand requirements considerably. WHY RAISE? If you’re going to raise pre-flop be clear why you’re doing it. Often you’ll be raising for value – investing money when you think you have the best hand. But that’s not the only reason to do it. Raising to steal the blinds has very little value in a cash game as the blinds are only a tiny fraction

of the stacks. In fact limping in late position or on the button (while not a good habit to get into) is a legitimate play if you’re better than the blinds and want to play a hand with them in position. BET SIZING There are two schools of thought regarding how big your pre-flop raises should be. One is to raise the same amount no matter what your hand is, to prevent giving away any information. The second is that you should vary your raise, making bigger raises when you want to build a big pot and keeping it small at other times. We’d recommend that until you have a good understanding of how the various situational factors affect your pre-flop decisions you make a standard open-raise of three or four times the big blind, giving minimal information on your hand. The exceptions are when there are limpers in the pot already, in which case you should raise it up slightly more. If you’re not sure how much to bet, a normal figure is anywhere between half-pot and full-pot.

POST-FLOP PLAY Once the flop is dealt you are playing real poker. This is where the game becomes a complex battle of assessing your opponents’ holdings. Most players at the lower limits make the mistake of only thinking of their own hand strength, but you should be playing close attention to the flop and how it may have helped other players’ hands. A flop which contains lots of connected cards or cards of the same suit may present dangers to your pocket Jacks. However, if you hold A-K onaA Ú-8;-2… flopyou can bet out safe in the

knowledge you likely have the best hand. What you need to learn to recognise is relative hand strength. How strong is your hand in relation to what the best possible hand is on the flop? From there you can decide if you are betting for value or to make other players fold. You should always havea clear plan in mind post-flopas this is when the betting starts to get much more expensive.

TOP TIP

WALKTHROUGH

Ifyouhav e a verygoo d handsuch asthr eeof a kindandsome one bets, you shouldre-ra iseto a numberat least twoand a half times their bet. So, iftheybet$6 you shouldrai se to $15. If they re-raise you back you shouldusual lyjust goall-in .

Continuation betting

A CONTINUING THEME Continuation bets are among of the most important tools at your disposal when learning to play cash games. Continuation-betting is following up a pre-flop raise with a bet on the flop. This continuation of your pre-flop aggression will of ten be enough to take down a pot if there is just one other player remaining, as the flop will miss most hands. Aim to make your bets around two-thirds of the pot regardless ss of whether your hand has improved or not. Aim to continuation-bet around 80% of the time, Do t h is but be wary of overdoing it in multi-way pots. Always k Someone will have caught a piece of the flop! are trying now what you

t making a o achieve when

b PLAYING THE PLAYERS in your he et or raise. Say ad whethe a bluff or But what if your continuation bet is called, r it’s a val or even raised? At the lower limits, by calling what you ue bet and wan your bet your opponent is telling you their hand opponent t your to do has improved, whether they have made a pair, two-pair or just a draw. This is where you need to pay attention to what hands your opponents have shown down previously. Are they the type to chase their draws? Or will they call with middling pairs? Every player is different and there are no hard and fast rules. Observation is key to being a winning cash game player.

You should always have a clear plan in mind post-flop as this is when the betting starts to get much more expensive

C A S H G A M

There’s no need to get fancy – basic moves such as continuation betting and using position are simple and effective

E S T

R A T E G Y

ou are in a $0.10/$0.20cash game on 1 YPKR .com andyou open thebettin g action with a raise to $0.80 with K-Qoffsu it.You’re calledby thebig blind, makingthe pot$1.70.

2

TheflopcomesA-2-3with two diamonds. Thebig blind checks to you.

shouldusually c-bet somewhere 3 Hereyou between $0.90-$1.40. You’rerepresenting theAce, andif they don’t have it you’lloftenwin.

POST-FLOP ODDS CHART TU RN

RI V E R

D RAWTY PE

17% 32% 3 5% 54%

9% 17% 19 % 33%

Gutshotst raightd raw(e .g.J :-10… onaflopofQ Ú-8;-7…) Open-endedst raight draw(e. g.J :-10… onaflopofQ Ú-9;-2…) Fl ushd raw(e .g.A:-10: onaflopofK :-7:-2…) Flush andop en-endedst raightdr aw (e.g.K :-Q: ona flopof10:-J…-4:)


91


ASSESSING THE TABLE You may have heard the saying (in Rounders if nowhere else), ‘If you don’t know who the sucker is at your table, it’s you.’ There is a lot of truth to this and you shouldn’t just blindly sit in the first game you find and start throwing chips around. Your first mission when you join a cash table is to assess the game you’re putting your money at stake in. You need to know what type of table it is, how the individuals are playing and, critically, where your profitis coming from. You need to gather this information as quickly as possible. If you’re waiting to sit down or for the big blind to come round, observe the game carefully, even if you’ve played with the players before. You can’t afford to make assumptions, as they might be playing differently from normal depending on how their session is going.

PLAYER TYPES Your first mission is to assess the game you’re putting your money in. You need to know what type of table it is and where your profit is coming from 92


In order to get a handle on how to vary your play against different opponents we’re going to look at some player ‘types’. Remember, this is to help you make decisions against different players, but you should try not to think in generic groups, rather in terms of the individuals you’re playing. We’ll assess playing types on two different scales: looseness and aggression. It’s important to understand the difference between the two. Looseness is how many hands a player is willing to get involved with – the fewer they play the tighter they are. Aggression is how often they tend to bet and raise rather than check and call. There is no necessary correlation between the two, and often it is how aggressively an opponent plays that is the more important factor.

1

TIGHT-AGGRESSIVE (TAG)

There was a time when a tight-aggressive style was the way all good players sought to play, and the truth is, for many it’s still the optimal approach. This style involves playing quality hands with a slightly wider range in position. It also involves playing those hands aggressively, looking to have the lead in the hand pre-flop by raising or re-raising, and keeping the lead af ter the flop by making continuation bets. This style is of ten employed by players who multi-table and are possibly earning a living from the game. STRENGTHSIt is generally tough to exploit a good tight-aggressive player. They continually put pressure on their opponents but play enough quality hands to make it hard to know when you can take them on. WEAKNESSESSometimes TAG players become predictable and end up playing on autopilot. For example, they tend to continuation-bet too frequently and play poorly when check-raised. Poorer tight-aggressive players sometimes lose their aggression on later streets and fail to extract enough value on the turn and river. COUNTER-STRATEGY TAGs’ biggest weakness is that they can be predictable in terms of which hands they will play in which positions and you can look to exploit this.

LOOSE-AGGRESSIVE (LAG) 2 This type of player will get involved in a lot of pots and play their hands very aggressively. This style has been extremely popular in poker over the last few years, but when you’re up against a loose-aggressive player it’s crucial to

C A S H

WEAKNESSESTight-passives usually play in a predictable style and are probably the easiest opponents to put on a hand. For instance, if they raise under the gun they’re highly likely to have a premium hand. If they call a bet on the flop and then make a big check-raise on the turn, they almost always have a strong made hand rather than being on a draw or bluff.

G A M E S T

COUNTER-STRATEGY You should be looking to bully this kind of weak opponent. They fold too much and will very rarely make big bluffs or get their stack in the pot with anything less than a premium hand. Make sure you give them every opportunity to make a big fold by representing the monster hand they’re already afraid of.

4

discern how competently your opponent is playing this style. The key to figuring this out is how they play the big pots. Are they making reckless bluffs in big pots or trapping people when they have the goods? STRENGTHSPlaying against a good looseaggressive player can be extremely tough. They will put huge pressure on you, sometimes betting all three streets with very little and then turning up with a big hand the time you decide to call. WEAKNESSESThe LAG style is extremely difficult to execute well as it involves entering pots with poorer hands and making far more marginal decisions on later streets. COUNTER-STRATEGY It’s vital to widen your calling range when playing against a LAG. They are playing and betting substandard hands, so if you want to fully exploit them it’s important to be prepared to call them with weaker hands than you would an average player.

3

TIGHT-PASSIVE (TIGHT/WEAK)

These types of players look to wait for premium hands, but when they get them don’t play them aggressively enough. When they meet resistance in a hand they often either fold or become defensive, checking and calling instead of betting. This type of player may believe they’re playing tight-aggressive when actually they’re playing in a highly exploitable way. STRENGTHSThese opponents are still playing good cards in the main and it’s going to be tough to get them to fold a big pair or top pair when there’s nothing you can credibly represent.

o this Don’t d oyed with

a nn Do n’t get e players. Even ssiv weak, pa y will suck out on e h though t sionally, they a re you occa d and butter as yo ur brea ing player a winn

R A T E G Y

LOOSE-PASSIVE (CALLING STATIONS)

It’s basically impossible to play winning poker if you play a lot of hands passively, but these guys try. They love to limp and flat-call from all positions pre-flop, then after the flop they will check-fold or check-call, often calling along if they catch any part of the flop. They are classic donkeys and in the long run you will make much of your profit from this type of player. It’s important to adjust your game significantly against calling stations. Time and again, even at the higher levels, it’s possible to witness good players trying to bluff loose-passive players. STRENGTHSIf one of these players has a run of cards it can be very frustrating as they’re basically playing showdown poker, which means you need to have a hand to beat them. WEAKNESSESThis is a losing style, which involves rarely taking the lead in hands and calling far too often with substandard hands. COUNTER STRATEGYExtracting maximum value from these opponents is absolutely vital to playing winning poker. They call too much, so make them pay for their mistakes. Have the discipline to wait for a hand, and then, when you have the goods, bet big and of ten.

HOW TO ASSESS THE GAME Taking stock of your table There are three main ways to assess the game you’re in… piece of informationis the 1 Thebest cards revealed at showdown. Replay thehan d in yourheadand see if ittell s you anythingabout theplayer s. Arethey playing too many hands? Arethey missingbets or calling too easily?Are they bluffingand playing very trickily?

youmay have a problemreadingthat player!

Y ou should alsoquickl y geta flavour forhow many playersare seeingthe flop and howmuch pre-flop raisingthere is inthe game – i.e. how looseand aggressive your opponents are. Takea careful mental note ofhow muchmone y the playershav e in odway toasse sshow wellyou’ re front of them. Stack size is a fundamental 2 Arego adingplay ersis totry to‘call ’ their consideration in mostcash gamedecisi ons hands to yourself beforethey’r e revealed.If andyoumustkno w wha t you standto win you thinksom eone hasA-A andhe shows 8-3 from(or loseto) eachplaye r.

3


93

Y G E T A R T S

With any marginal hand, it’s important not to get caught up in the ‘call because they are suited’ syndrome

E M A G H S A C

PRE-FLOP DANGERS Some of the most costly mistakes in no-limit cash games are made pre-flop. Here we look at some dangerous hands to watch out for and how to adjust to short-handed play

H

ANDS LIKE A-J, K-10, J-10 AND small to medium pairs are often referred to as ‘trouble hands’. These are hands that are playable, but can land you in serious trouble if you get too attached to them. It is of course impossible to state in absolute terms how to play any given hand. Doyle Brunson has won two WSOP main event bracelets with 10-2, but that doesn’t mean you should limp with it under the gun! Nevertheless, we will look at general strategies as to how to play certain starting hands that help you stay out of trouble.

K-J, K-10, A-1 0 With these hands you will never know where you stand on the flop unless you hit an absolute monster. Flat-calling with these hands out of position is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. If you call a raise with A-10 or A-9 then hit an Ace-high flop you can be in all sorts of trouble, as you’re often going to find yourself out-kicked and are generally only going to get action from a better hand. The same applies to hitting a King-high flop with the King hands. This concept is known as ‘reverse implied odds’: where a hand stands to win you a small pot when you’re ahead

94


but lose you a big pot when you’re behind. In other words, calling a raise with these hands is a losing proposition. You’re far better off holding a hand like 5:-6:, because it’s a lot easier to get away from on the flop. With any marginal hand, it’s important not to get caught up in the ‘call because they are suited’ syndrome. That extra 2-3% isn’t worth the call. You’ll also be in deep trouble if you have the King-high flush and someone has the Ace-high one.

KEY POINT The worst thingyoucando isflat- callout of position with these hands.Evenif you hit part of your hand, you could easilyhavekicke r problems. Play themwitha raise inposi tion, ornotat all

A-J The hand known as ‘Jackass’ should carry a government health warning and it should only be played if you are the aggressor, or you hold position. If you raise with this hand and get re-raised, it is difficult to make the call as you cannot know where

is In cDo ashtgham aware of es, always stay factors in the situational e include re very hand. These lat table imag ive stacks, your e, w and who’ ho’s on tilt s chasing losses

G N O U D A D N I L , H C T I D B E H O M I T

you stand in the hand. If you decide to call and hit the Ace, you could be drawing almost dead to an Ace with a higher kicker. Hitting the Jack is your best option, but you could still be behind to a higher pair (especially if your opponent raised pre-flop). If your opponent just called pre-flop your best hope is to hit a Jack-high flop, as you are probably ahead in this scenario. Hitting the Ace may get you into trouble and if not, all you will win is the pre-flop bet. Whatever move you make with A-J it’s a risky one, with little chance of reward, but a great chance of haemorrhaging chips. Basically, it’s the equivalent of a one-card hand, as the Jack is your only playable card.

KEY POINT Ace-Jack is oneof thetoughe st hands to play becauseit seems strong,but is so vulnerable to higher Aces. Essentially it is a one-cardhand, asthe Jackis the onlycar d you are hopingto hit

J- 10 (A ND OT HE R SU IT ED CONNECTORS) J-10 can yield good results as long as you are able to sidestep the dangers it poses. Many players like to limp into pots with this type of hand, hoping to catch a made hand on the flop – or at least a big draw. The only problem with the drawing hand is being able to gauge the strength of your opponent’s hand. You should bet this hand on good flops (for

C A S H

example, 8-9-2), in case you miss on the turn, so you still have the opportunity to bluff the river. What you have to be wary of is the Jack-high flop, which can give you a false sense of security, especially in a multi-way pot. So again, you can only play this type of hand if you are aware of its vulnerabilities and have the ability to lay it down.

G A M E S T

KEY POINT

R

Byall means call a small raisewit h this hand pre-flop, hoping to make a bighand ordraw. However, be careful notto fall in love withyour hand when theflop comes Jack-high

A T E G Y

9-9, 10-10 AND J-J A standard way to play pocket nines, tens and Jacks is to raise and then probably pass to a re-raise. In position, you should be looking to three-bet with these hands pre-flop, although a lot of players prefer to flat-call and play it from there. But you can get a lot of information from a three-bet that you don’t get by calling. For example, if you just call with J-J and see a flop of 6-7-10 and your opponent bets, what do you do? A re-raise from this position after the flop could easily leave you committed to the hand, whereas a pre-flop re-raise enables you to escape relatively cheaply if your opponent comes back over the top for most of your chips.

KEY POINT A positionalre-ra isepre-fl op with oneof these hands can bebett erthana call because itgiv es you a lotmoreinfor mationaboutthe true strength of youropponent’shand

SMALL PAIRS Playing small pairs (for our purposes, anything up to pocket eights) in no-limit hold’em cash games can be tricky and cost you a lot of money, but there is a simple way to play them that keeps you out of danger. In fact, one of the most profitable moves in deep-stacked cash games is set-mining with small pairs. This means calling a raise (although not a re-raise) with a small pair hoping to hit a set on the flop. This is usually a well-disguised hand and you can often get a lot of value from players with overpairs. Be careful to only go set-mining if the raise amounts to 10% or less of the effective stacks, as you will only hit a set one in every eight times (and some of those times your hand won’t be good). Also be careful not to fall in love with your set on a board where the flush has come.

KEY POINT

By allmeanscall small raiseswith small pairs with theintent ionof hittinga set. However, if you miss and facea betyo u mustbe preparedto let go


95


ADJUSTING TO SIX-HANDED GAMES

ADJUSTING YOUR UTG RANGE

While that range is definitely profitable at most The first thing students of hold’em usually learn tables, you can open your starting range up a bit after they’ve grasped the basics is some kind of more at a tighter table, including all pairs and hand selection chart and positional requirements K-Q offsuit, plus a few more suited connectors. for entering a pot. While these should notbe taken The reason is that your hands will be fairly easy as gospel, they can provide a good foundation for to play post-flop, as you are showing pre-flop play, as well as helping you to read your serious strength by raising UTG and opponents’ likely holdings. When you make the have the initiative in the hand. move to six-handed (aka six-max) cash games, If you are at a loose table on the you need to reassess your ranges and adjust to other hand (which will include e-bets ling thre the more aggressive game. Below we’ve outlined most $0.50/$1 and $1/$2 tables), Avoid cal l hands. If you na i rg ’t a m h some typical hand ranges for six-max no-limit you have to tighten up your range wit ised, don get re-ra cash, as well as tweaks you can make depending and get rid of the more disguised raise and ted to take a flop p m r o te -J be on how your table is playing. hands like suited connectors. likes of J with the r-bet bluff These won’t flop big enough of ten A-10. Fou it go t UNDE R TH E GU N (U TG ) enough in multi-way pots to be le r o This is the most vulnerable seat from which to profitable. Stick to high card value, enter a pot, as you are out of position and have where you will make bigger pairs with far less pot control. As you move up through the better kickers, which should enable you to cash levels, position becomes more and more extract money. Lose the suited connectors and important. As a result you should only really play possibly even 7-7/8-8 and replace those hands your best hands when under the gun, plus the with the likes of A-10 offsuit and K-Q offsuit. odd bluff to keep up appearances.

o this Don’t d

MIDDLE POSITION

SOLID UTG RANGE 7-7+ A-J suited+ K-Qsuited+ 7-8 suited+

HAND RAN GES The key to cash success If you want to be a winning cash player, you must stop thinkingin terms of specific hands and start thinking in ranges Theke y tocashgame s isthe abilityto putyou r opponents on a range of possiblehands , and, perhapsmore difficult, to know what rangethey’r e putting you on.Thin king inthes e termscanbe a leap for novice players,butdon’ t bedaun ted – a bit of logic andsome basic observational skills areall youneed. For instance,if a player moves all-in in midposi tion and you callwithA-K,it’scle aryou willoftenhavethe besthand.Howe ver, thisis less important than theunderl ying logic that states, ‘I believe A-Kis ahead of myopponen t’srangefor pushing all-in.’ Thatrange mightbe A-Jthrough A-K and 7-7thr ough A-A ifhe isa tightpla yer – or far wider ifhe isloose . What isimpor tantis thatthe average of your equity againstall of these hands is positive. On theother hand, callingall-inwith 2-2agains t theaboveplay er would be suicide,as, while youwouldbe a small favouritehalf thetime, theother half youwouldbe a 4-to-1 underdog. You should always be trying to putyour foes on a range ofhand s rather thanone specific handand assessing howyour hand playsagains t that.

96


Mid-position is a little easier to play, but not by a lot. You still want to be playing the top end of your range here and not much more. You should re-raise more hands though. Most players’ UTG raising ranges are tight, and as such you should only be three-betting in mid-position with Q-Q+ and A-K. The problem with J-J and A-Q is that you’re never sure whether you are ahead or crushed.

If your table is relatively lively you can re-raise Q-Q, J-J and even 10-10 for value. But versus a tight player you can’t be sure if you are bluffing or value-raising, which can be confusing on later streets. It is fine to flat-call with these hands.

every one bluff raise will really keep the pressure on. Even in the cut-off you don’t really want to be three-betting with junk Broadway hands like K-J and Q-10, but you can definitely add more suited connectors. Your value-betting range should now include 9-9+, A-J suited and K-Q suited, as you will have the initiative and position.

PLAYING IN THE CU T-OFF In the cut-off you can really start to open up your range. The main point now is that you are often going to have position, and position is ninetenths of the law. Now we can start isolating bad players who limp and re-raising middle-position openers. A standard six-handed raising range in the cut-off looks something like this…

CUT-OFF RANGE All your UTG/mid-position range All pairs 5-6 suited+ J-10 offsuit+ A-2 through A-5 suited The Ace-rag hands are really powerful in position as you can put immense pressure on players on some boards and always have good equity. ADJUSTING YOUR CUT-OFF RANGE You can add a few more hands to your cut-off range depending on the table, your image and how often you are being played back at from the blinds. Because being in position is so fantastic you can profitably raise the following in most games, unless you’ve just sat down at a random table with no background on the other players.

ADDITIONAL HANDS

Do t h is

THE BUTTON This is the most profitable seat at the table, so you’ll want to play a lot of hands here. All you are really after is to nick the blinds and isolate any weak players limping, so you don’t need to think twice about raising something playable such as Q-8 suited or 3-5 suited on the button. Stealing the blinds is so important that you should be willing to raise almost every unopened button until the blinds adjust. And when they do, simply tone it down a little then hammer them again once they have cooled off.

G A M E S T

R A T E G Y

Steal the b in full-ri linds! Unlike ADJUSTING YOUR where st ng cash games, eal BUTTON RANGE relatively ing the blinds is unimport At tighter tables you can probably open short-ha ant, in nded with any two cards on the button. At need to s games you teal just looser tables, this simply gets you into to stay aflo at a lot of spots where you feel compelled to

fire another barrel on the turn. If in doubt, tighten up. If you still get no respect, completely change your range and go back to playing solid ABC poker – it is the logical adjustment. RE-RAISING ON THE BU TTON Generally this is where you should bluff-raise the most and where you can get the most out of line. As you will be last to act on every street you can be confident you are getting the best out of the situation a lot of the time.

Suited one-gappers (i.e. hands such as 7:-9: and 8…-10…) High suited two-gappers (hands such as J…-8…+) A-x suited The ability to flop a flush draw plus overcards is a huge advantage. You can put lots of pressure on players with a flush draw and will frequently hit some kind of combo draw as well. You should note, however, that adding a bunch of hands in the cut-off is only useful if you are at a good table. If you are getting played back at a lot by the button and blinds then don’t raise them. Tighten up a bit – at least until your image is repaired. RE-RAISING IN THE CU T-OF F To re-raise a mid-position raiser you usually need to maintain a high ratio of value-raises to bluff-raises. Something like four value raises to

At tighter tables you can probably open with any two cards on the button. At looser tables, this simply gets you into a lot of spots where you feel compelled to fire again on the turn THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO POKER

C A S H

97

Y G

POST-FLOP DECISIONS

E T A R T S E M A G

In every cash game you will be faced with many tricky decisions once the flop has been dealt. We look at a some post-flop dilemmas and winning strategies to make you a master of post-flop play

H S A C

Oncetheflop hasbeendealtyou canquick lyassesshowit has likelyhelped youropponents

S

O, WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY once those all-important first three community cards hit the baize? One of the problems with modern poker is that most no-limit tournaments see a lot of hands decided pre-flop. In cash games, however, you need to know how to play on every street – and with deep stacks the idea of push/fold poker is completely alien. A golden rule to remember is to play big pots with big hands and small pots with marginal hands. This may seem like common sense, but many players get this wrong time af ter time. Inexperienced cash game players of ten make small bets when they’re strong because they’re terrified of not getting paid. But then they do precisely the opposite with marginal hands, making big bets because they don’t want to be outdrawn. Don’t make these elementary mistakes. The texture of the flop is pivotal to the strength of your hand and your ability to represent hands

98


you don’t hold. Obviously if the flop improves your hand that’s great news. Sadly though, the majority of times it won’t. You must be aware of how much a flop has helped you. Top pair is a classic example of this. If you hold A-Q and the flop comes A-9-2 rainbow you’re usually in an extremely strong position. If, however, the flop comes A-9-8 with two hearts and you don’t hold any, your hand is much more vulnerable. Don’t fall into the trap of over-betting your hand and ending upplaying a big pot with a marginal hand. To price out most draws you only need to offer your opponents worse odds than 3.5-to-1 on the next card (unless all-ins are involved), and a betof two-thirds of the pot will comfortably do this. READING TIME You should also be able to quickly assess the chances of a flop helping your opponents, too. For example, if you open the pot for a raise and it’s called behind you, your opponent(s) are far

Don’t fall into the trap of over-betting your hand and playing a big pot with a marginal hand

less likely to be helped by a flop like 6-4-2 than they are by K-Q-J. It can be very profitable to bet flops that are unlikely to have helped your opponents. For instance, with a flop like Q-5-2 (with no flush draws) you should often bet if no one else has, regardless of your cards, because it’s very hard for an opponent to call without holding a Queen. If you bet these flops two-thirds of the time they only have to succeed half the time to show a profit, which in low-stakes cash games they will. What’s often forgotten is that the flop has implications for your opponents, too. Let’s say a reasonably tight opponent opens the pot from early position and it’s passed round to you in the big blind with 4-4. You decide to call, thinking you have a good idea of his possible hands and hitting a set would make the call worthwhile. The flop comes 7-8-9 (with two clubs). You should strongly consider check-raising the flop. You should realise the board doesn’t help you but it probably petrifies your opponent if they’ve raised with a big pair or two big cards. An alternative play, which may sometimes be more profitable, is calling the flop and then check-raising the turn.

KEY POINT Reading theflop is a very importantskill . Make sure you take into acc ount thelike lihoodof there bei ng a hand outther e that beats yoursbefo re youget carried away with betting

PLEASE CONTINUE… Continuation-betting is your friend in cash games. By continuation-betting (aka c-betting) we mean that after you have taken the lead by raising pre-flop you should ‘continue’ your action by betting the flop. Normally this bet should be about two-thirds of the pot. A lot of the time your opponents’ hands will not have been helped by the flop and they will fold to a bet. In cash games – even up to mid stakes – you should c-bet a very high percentage of the time. For instance in a $0.50/$1 game you open the pot for $3 with A-K offsuit. You’re called by the big blind, which makes the pot £6.50. The flop comes 10-8-2 with two hearts. If the big blind checks to you, you should almost always bet $4-$5 – you’ll find you very often win the hand there and then. This policy of continuation betting applies unless you’re against perceptive opponents who may check-raise you with nothing – in this case you need to mix up the times when you bet and check. The number of players in the pot should also have a big effect on your actions after the flop. Put simply, the more players involved in the pot the stronger your hand needs to be. For example, we looked at c-betting with A-K against one opponent. Let’s say you raise with A-K offsuit in middle position, but get called by four opponents. The flop comes 10-8-7 with two clubs; D Ragainst one opponent you should usually bet, I B Ybut in this situation you would be crazy to. The N Nchances the flop has missed all your opponents is A Dvery unlikely. Your hand has not improved and

your prospects of taking the pot d own with a bet now are very slim.

KEY POINT If you have raisedpre- flopyou shouldgener ally makea beton theflop , but pay closeatte ntion tothe flop and the numberof players inthe hand before you doso

C A S H

CASH GAMES Post-flop play

G A M

How to play with top pair on dangerous boards

E S T

R

POSITIONAL SENSE Your position is, of course, vital on the flop. As you play more deep-stacked cash games you’ll start to appreciate just how critical having position is. For example, let’s say you limp in late position with A-4 suited. Five players take the flop of A-9-6. If it’s checked to you, with a reasonable degree of confidence you can bet that you currently hold the best hand. Contrast this with being in early position in the same situation when it’s hard to know if you have the only Ace and checking is probably the best play. One of the reasons you should look to enter more pots in late position is to pick up your fair share on the flop with nothing – make sure you don’t miss these opportunities. When you’ve raised before the flop and been called behind it’s often right to check a lot of your hands. If the player behind you bets out you have a lot of options. If you like your hand or think you can dissuade your opponent from liking their hand you can check-raise. You could also flat-call with the plan to take the pot away on the turn – or muck at minimal cost. Meeting resistance on the flop in a low-stakes cash game is something you should take very seriously. Players at the lower levels rarely make sophisticated plays like calling on the flop with nothing planning to win the pot on the turn. If you’re me eting resistance, either from a call or a raise, it means they have something. Now this something may not necessarily be a made hand, but at the very least it will be a strong draw. FIRE AT WILL One of the toughest decisions you’ll face regularly ina cashgam e iswhe theror not tofirethe second bullet (bet again) when your initial bet on the flop is called. If you don’t hold a strong hand and have had your post-flop continuation bet called, you should often check the turn. For instance, if you hold A-K and haven’t paired your hand you should probably shut down after the flop and try to play the hand as cheaply as possible. You should know that novice and intermediate players very rarely check-raise as a bluff. If you’re check-raised on the flop you should take it seriously and usually only continue with a strong hand or a draw that you will be paid off on if you hit. At lower-level cash games the pattern of calling a bet on the flop and then check-raising the turn is how the majority of players play their strong hands. When you flop a strong hand, such as two-pair or better, you should be calculating how to get money in the pot straight away and on later

A T E G Y

You’rein a $0.10/$0.20 no-limit hold’em cashgame. You hold AÚ-K; underthe gunand raiseto $0.80.Boththe cut-off andbutton call.Thepotisnow$2.70.

1

T heflop comes AÚ-9…-10…. You 2 haveflopped toppairbut the board is very dangerous soyou needto betout tofind outwhere you stand.

thplayersfold,and you wina 3 Bo smallpot.It’svita l tobet these flops when outof position, aswith so many draws outthere youcan’t affordto give awayfree cards,and if youcheck-call youare playingin the dark. Top pairis rarelythe winning hand bythe river in cash gamesso make sure you don’ttryto get too clever with handssuchas this on very draw-heavyflops.Bet outand see howyouropponents react.

TERMINOLOGY CONTINUATION BET (OR C-BET)

A bet madeafte r theflopby the playerwho tookthe lead inthe pre-flop betting


99

Y G E

CASH GAMES

T A

Post-flop play

R T S

A look at getting value with a big hand against a LAG

E M A G H S A C

o this Don’t d

Youareplayin g in a $0.10/$0.20 no-limithold’emcash game. You have 10;-10… on the button. Thecut-offraisesto $0.80. You call.

1

Thepotis $1.90.Theflopcomes 2 10:-5…-4;.Thecut-offbets $1.60. He is a loose-agressive player. You have floppeda hugehand,butyou should callto allow himto continueto bluffatthepotontheturn.

TheturncomesK… andthe cut-off bets out$3. Here you can raise to$7 asyouwa ntto start building a pot andyoualsodon’twant toallowyour opponent todrawto a backdoorflushor straight.If hehas a King it’slikelyhe willat leastcall andhe may evenre-raiseyouwith many handsyou crushso don’t be afraid to raiseforvalue.

3

TERMINOLOGY CALLINGSTATION A derogatory

term to describe a playerwho consistentlycalls bets and rarely (ifever ) raises, regardlessof the strength ofhis/he r hand

100

streets. A lot of your pre-flop decisions are Remember, playing the players is everything predicated on the implied odds available from and the further through the hand you get the the big stacks. If you can’t get paid off when you more important it becomes in your decisionmake strong hands this strategy is flawed. making. You must always be aware of who is in As such, you need to be clear about the best the hand with you. strategy for getting paid off in the game you’re WHEN TO SL OW DOWN playing. Very often in lower-stakes games this will be taking the lead in the betting. Players Let’s say, you are playing in a $3/$6 six-handed tend to call too much in no-limit cash games game. On your right is a very aggressive player and you should be charging them for trying called Phil. He’s by far the worst player at the to outdraw you. table and he likes to gamble. He’s been raising More importantly you’ve got a big hand so any two cards and will call re-raises lightly. You you want to play a big pot. If you check heck have been playing a patient style waiting the flop and bet a small amount on to bust ust him and eventually you pick up the turn trying to ‘sucker him in’ K:-K K … on the button. it’s extremely hard to get properly When Phil raises to $18 you smile Wh be ts paid. Remember you want your to yourself yo and stick in a re-raise, a ke yo ur D o n ’ t m w h e n y o u h a v e l opponent’s entire stack and l but only o to $45 as you don’t want to a y l m e s too ve rs n o c d n a d you’re not going to get that by scare car him off. He calls, and the flop a big ha n nic a nd be t too putting in a massive overbet on is Q:-JÚ-8…. After Phil checks you do n’t pa e n yo u have the river – massage that pot and muc h wh a l ha nd s lead o out for $80 into a $99 pot and ma rg in get his money in there and then. are ins instantly re-raised to $160. You Slow-playing does have its place of call,, ma ca making the pot $419. course. If you encounter an aggressive ssive At this po point you’re in trouble, and let’s opponent or one who’s taking the lead because look at why. For For aa start, your re-raise pre-flop was he has a hand (let’s say an overpair r to your set) way too small. All you are doing there is giving then it may be correct to trap him. Apart from Phil the odds to call with any of his raising range, your desire to build the pot you should also thereby not defining his range at all. Then on the take into account the number of players and flop you make quite a large bet. You’re right to be the texture of the flop; there’s a big difference worried about draws, because even though the between flopping bottom set on a dangerous flop isn’t massively connected you don’t want to 6-7-8 (suited) board than there is on a Q-7-2 give away free cards. But when you are checkboard. You would almost never want to slow-play raised it’s a tough decision. on the first board but you’re much less likely to Would he really be check-raising a tight player be beaten or drawn out on with the second, here without a hand that beats top pair? You are where slow-playing becomes a viable option. way behind to Q-J, Q-8, J-8, J-J, Q-Q, A-A, 8-8 and


9-10, all of which are possibilities given Phil’s previous hands. As such, you should have reluctantly folded here as the only range you can assign to Phil where he would possibly check-raise with a worse hand would be A-Q, K-Q and if he was playing really loosely, 10-K, A-K and A-J. Anything else just seems unlikely. The turn is the 8: and Phil bets $200, leaving only $200 behind. You call. The turn isn’t actually a bad card for you as it counterfeits J-Q and also might make Phil think twice. The fact that you called the flop re-raise almost commits you to calling Phil’s turn bet. However, you should be far more inclined to shove all-in than just call on the turn as the call is committing you to the hand anyway. The river is the 10…, making the final board read Q:-JÚ-8…-8:-10…. Phil is all-in for $200 and you reluctantly call, as you are pot-committed by this point. You can be pretty certain you are behind but the odds are simply too good. Phil shows J;-8; and wins a $1,200+ pot. This hand shows how it’s very easy to get caught up in a hand with an overpair and end up screaming at the screen when your K-K is beaten by J-8. Many players will go diving in headfirst with overpairs and not even bother to stop and look at what’s going on. LOWER OVERPAIRS What if your overpair is not as strong g as K-K? What if you have 10-10 on a lowish, textured board in a multiway pot? Let’s say you make a pre-flop raise in the small blind and get two callers. The flop comes

It’s very easy to get caught up in a hand with an overpair and end up screaming at the screen when your K-K is beaten by J-8

Do t h is Bet your confidenc overpairs with eu a call, a r ntil faced with aise or a heavy bo draward re-evaluat . You can then e whe are in the re you hand

C A S H

SEMI-BLUFFING Bluffing in position

G A M

Raise in position and take advantage of your opponents’ weaknesses Semi-bluffing is often a strong play – especially when in position. Semi-bluffing is bettingwhen you probably don’t have thebest handat that point but may improveto a winninghand . And bydoin g it you’regivingyours elftwo waysto winas you might takethepot rightthenand there or, ifcall ed,you mightmak e your handon the turnor river. You sho uldlook to do this much more from late position because if youropponents have shown weaknessyou have a betterchanc e of takingthe pot . In fact,you shouldoftencheckyourdraw s from earlypositi on on theflop bec ause if you bet an opp one nt canmakea bigraiseand pri ce you outof your draw.

E S T

R A T E G Y

7:-5:-4Ú and you bet the full pot only to see both players calling. You are left in no man’s land, not knowing what you’re up against. There are very few good turn cards for you, as an Ace, King, Queen and Jack all give overcards and 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 all give straight or set possibilities – not to mention the fact that any club could fill a flush. I’m not saying you’re not miles ahead of hands like 9-9 or A-7, but you must be very wary as this is a spot where it’s easy to lose a very big pot by being blind to the reality of the situation. In general, you should be making good money from overpairs. Don’t slow-play them unless you have a good read because you will invariably get caught out and end up trapping yourself. Bet them with confidence until you face a call or a raise by an opponent, or until a really draw-heavy board forces you to stand back and re-evaluate your hand. Finally, never fall into the trap of assuming your hand is the winner. Af ter all, how many big cash game pots do you see being won by a single pair other than all-in pre-flop hands? Not many I’ll bet.

THE DANGER OF DRAWS Not all drawing hands are equal The value of draws hinges on whether you’ll get paid off if you hit…

Be wary ofboards with alot ofstra ight and flush possibilities

Drawinghandspresen t a big challenge in thin king , ‘I’mnot get tingthe righ t pot no-limit hold’emcash games.The worth of odd s but I’ll ge t hiswhol e st ac k if I hit .’ your drawis notjus t based onyourcar dsbut Even poor players willoften slo w dow n also onhowofte n,and towhatdegr ee, you when theflushcardcome s. Al so,be aware cangetpaidwhe n you makeyou r hand. thatif youcal l a be t wi tha dr aw ontheflop For thisreason– aga instobserv ant and mis s on the turn you may face a big ge r oppon ents– straigh t draws oft en have more beton the turn.Yo u’l l nee d to bui ld up yo ur val ue tha n flus h draws as they’re harder to exper ien ce to kno w when you ca n ca ll wi th spo t and wi ll be pa id off mo re often . Do n’t inco rrec t pot oddsbecauseyou’llmake make the mis take of call ing withyour draws more chi ps if you hi t.


101

t e g o t w o H

Y G E T A R T S

PAID IN FULL

E M A G H S A C

Extracting r c maximum a value uts is the key n to being la -long-term i ’ewinner in no-limit -l t hold’em cash games. e . Here r we show you how tto do iit the rightt w way

XTRACTING MAXIMUM VALUE means e s earning nn a as s much h mo money ney as s possible from hands where you have a positive expectation. Whenever you win a hand and fail to get the maximum reward possible, you are theoretically losing money. Of course, this is not a precise science, so we have to judge how much money we can squeeze out of our opponent when we have the best hand without chasing him away or, conversely, letting him off too cheaply. A very basic example is flopping top set on a 5-8-J rainbow flop. We could bet the minimum on every street and would very of ten get three K Cstreets of value, but would rarely win a decent O Tpot with a very strong hand unless our opponent ,iSraised. We could instead overbet each street, D R I but most often we will see our opponent fold B Yprematurely and only win a small pot. We need N Nto find the middle ground that will extract the A Dmaximum value in the long run.

E

102


So,, o how wddo w weo gooabout deciding dec how w much u to o bet e n and w nwhen? h The ll w following g es fare some of the things we need to consider…

1

HAN D STR ENGTH COMPARE D TO OPPONEN T’S RANGE

Hand-reading skills are the key to extracting maximum value. Only when we can confidently assign a range of hands to our opponents can we use this information to our advantage and successfully win the maximum amount. By knowing which hands our opponents may have we can decide how much they are willing to pay, even if they are not confident of winning. OPPONE NT’S HAND STREN GTH

2

COM PARE D TO OUR PER CEIVED RAN GE

We need to work out not only what our opponent has, but also what our opponent is guessing we have. We can then play on his expectations and exploit them. We need to think about what worse

Hand-reading skills are key. Only when we can confidently assign a range of hands can we successfully win the maximum amount

hands our opponent could have that he can call with, and how much he would be prepared to call based on the strength of his hand compared to his assumptions about ours.

3

BOA RD TEXTURE

This often tells us whether to speed up or slow down when we think we have the best hand. Obviously the way we play top set on an uncoordinated board will be completely different from the way we play top pair on a draw-heavy board. The board texture needs to be taken into account alongside all our other information.

4

OPPON ENT’S PLAYING STYLE

Every playing style has an optimum counter-style. When trying to extract value this may include betting big on every street with a top-pair hand against a bad calling station, or slowing down against a good TAG with a strong hand in order to set up a river bet or in order to induce a bluff. It may be even more specific than this, for example if someone is frequently three-betting then continuation-betting the pot but often folding to a four-bet. Against this player we may want to just flat-call with our A-A and let our opponent bet the flop for us.

5

POSITION

It’s obviously much easier to extract value when playing in position as we have the luxury of our opponent acting before us post-flop. Extracting value is not easy though when out of position as we are often playing blind. We may prefer to keep the pot small with more marginal hands that we would be betting for maximum value when in position. In other words, we may want to be playing a stronger range of hands for value when out of position compared to when in position.

6

STACK SIZES

EXTRACTING VALUE IN PRACTICE Once everything is considered we can make an informed decision as to how we can play the hand optimally and win the biggest pot possible versus weaker hands. Let’s take a look at three example hands and then discuss some of the thought processes and decisions involved.

SCENARIO 1

KEY POINT Onceyou’re confident you’ve gotthe best handyouneedto forma plan to extract maximum value, taking intoaccou nt allthe factors listed here.Every situation is different, so don’t getcompl acent

EXTRACTING VALUE You are playing in a six-handed $1/$2 no-limit hold’em game. Everyone has a full stack. The player in the big blind has been fairly loose post-flop, calling down with marginal hands fairly frequently. You have only shown down legitimate hands so far in the session.

C A S H G A M E S T

R A T E G Y

the cut-off with QÚ-10Ú and open-raise to $7 – a fairly standard r raise from late position. The big blind calls. We can’t yet assume too much about our opponent’s hand other than ed ver-excit oing that he probably doesn’t have junk. on’t get o PRE-FLOPYou are in

o this Don’t d

D ’re g know you lm and when you ay ca

o t. St (pot $15). The big to win a p g off timing tells, n blind checks, you bet $12 and he avoid givi ight as well turn calls. The flop contains a lot of draws or yo u m and face up r u o y h so slow-playing here is a no-no. His check-call suggests he has caught something but is not overly confident t and d may be trying to play a small pot with a marginal a made hand and/or draw. We should also s be w aware that he might be trapping. FLOP Q:-10;-8:

TURN Q:-10;-8:-3:

(pot $39). The big blind checks, you bet $32 and he calls. We know that any flush draw hit but we can’t check here and give a free card as the board is now extremely draw-heavy. We aren’t pot-committing ourselves here and should be fairly confident that our top two-pair is ahead when our opponent only calls.

Sometimes, against short-stackers, it’s easy RIVER Q:-10;-8:-3:-J… (pot $103). The big blind to let them do your work for you. There’s just no need to think too much about maximum value checks, you bet $50 and he calls. The big blind as hands that progress past the flop will often calls and shows K:-Q; and you win the $203 pot. result in an all-in situation anyway. When playing Even though the river brought a lot of straights, deep though it’s much tougher to get opponents our hand still plays well against his range. Can to commit a lot of chips to the pot with a worse our villain really have a nine or A-K here? Would marginal hand. They have much more to lose he check the river with a straight or a flush? and this often creates unease in players and Against this player in this specific spot we feel we makes them play more conservatively. still have a positive expectation so make a small value bet. Hands we lose to other than flushes SIZE OF PO T and straights (which we have discounted) are Q-J 7 Not only do we need to base our betting and J-J. We do, however, beat missed straight around the size of the current pot, but often we draws and other paired hands including K-K and need a plan to get the pot size to where we want A-A. By betting small on the river we are asking it. We may, for example, want to put enough our opponent to make a fairly cheap call with a money into the pot on the turn, which if called, hand that we judge to have some showdown value. will leave a three-quarter pot shove on the river. By offering over 3-to-1 pot odds we can induce a call with a worse hand such as A-Q, K-Q, J-10, OURTABL E IMAGE and one-pair hands with a club such as A :-10…. 8 Obviously, the looser our image the easier OVERALL ANALYSIS we will find it to extract value with our winning hands. Conversely, if our image is super-tight, There were a couple of occasions in the hand we will find it much more difficult to get paid off. where it would have been easy to slow down and We need to be aware of our image and play in a try to keep the pot small, when in fact, the safest way that takes advantage of it. option and the biggest reward came from betting


103

Y G

all streets for value. We could have Checking back, however, gives our opponent a said, ‘The board is now very scary and chance to hit something. It may also convince we’re happy to win this $100 pot without him that a made weak hand such as 3-3 is good. risking any more money although we think What’s more, he may try to bluff the turn. we’re ahead.’ This is a perfectly acceptable We should normally be betting the turn if it’s line against some opponents, but against checked to us again, hoping our opponent has someone who is happy to call down with picked up a little something. This is a basic poor hands we should be taking advantage play that doesn’t require too much thought or and making him pay. planning but goes to show that bet-bet-bet is Some of the time we will lose the hand and not always the optimal line to take. other times we will be check-raised and forced to fold. But by betting all streets for value we are forcing our opponent to make k SCENARIO 2 tough decisions and put more money ey BLUFF-CATCHING U into the pot with what will be One n scenario s where checking most often, in our opinion, a can make us money is when we htless g u o h t e worse hand. If in the above hand specifically s eci want our opponent to k a Deotns’tom we thought our expectation bluff because we think it unlikely he n the river.tAtliw ngayfosr b e b e r ’ ou was slightly negative, due to a would u call a bet with a worse hand. know if y s a bluff. Don’t slightly different read on the This T s works best in spots where a va lue or a de ha nd into a player or just a different ‘feel’ missed s draw is our opponent’s most turn a ma without a bluff about the hand, we could instead likely holding and we are out of li n o s a e r ood g check behind on the river. position. it n. Let’s look at an example.

E T A R T S E M A G H S A C

o this Don’t d

SLOWING IT DOWN Making the most money when we think w we have have the best hand doesn’t necessarily mean we are betting every street expecting to be called by a worse hand. Sometimes slowing down may actually win us more money. There’s no point flopping a monster then betting for value only to see our opponent insta-fold. We have to weigh up our opponent’s range against the texture of the board, our own hand and also against what our opponent thinks we may have. Then we can try to work out which line will bring maximum reward. For instance, let’s say we raise from the button pre-flop with 9-9 and get called by a bad passive player in the big blind. The flop comes 5-5-9 and it’s checked to us. Our opponent’s range is big but doesn’t include too many nines or fives, as five of the eight cards are already accounted for. Betting here will only get value from some pocket pairs and everything else will be folded.

104


PRE-FLOPThe eb big

blind has been playing lots of hands ds an and seems to be a bit tilted. We both have full stacks. In a $1/$2 six-max cash game we open-raise to $7 from the small blind with AÚ-J… and the big blind calls (pot $14). FLOP J:-10:-3Ú. We lead out for $10 and the big

blind calls (pot $34). TURN J:-10:-3Ú-5Ú. We lead again for $24 and

the big blind calls (pot $82). RIVER J:-10:-3Ú-5Ú-7;. We check, the big blind

bets $65, we call. The big blind shows A:-9: and we take down the $212 pot. We were fairly sure that our top pair, top kicker hand was ahead on this draw-heavy board, so we bet the flop and turn for value. The river was fairly safe-looking and our opponent’s hand seems heavily weighted towards missed draws. We could bet here and hope to be called by worse but we hate it if he shoves, and we’ve gained nothing if our read is good and he folds. There are still times where value-betting the river is the correct play, but when we are sure our villain has a busted draw and will bluff, we should check.

Ideally, before we try to induce a bluff we want to have fulfilled certain criteria. We want an opponent with a history of bluffing, who is fairly aggressive with made hands (such that he’d tend to raise the flop or turn with hands that beat us), while being fairly passive with drawing hands. We also want our opponent to have more missed-draw possibilities than made-hand possibilities. Let’s look at some possible hands our opponent can hold in this spot. POSSIBLE OPPONENT RANGES

1

We must assess our opponent’s likely hand strength based on a range of criteria, including board texture, history and feel

D RAWS WE BEAT

All A :-x: as well as other flush draws, straight draws and combo draws. These hands make up most of our opponent’s range. There are more than 50 possible hand combinations! We feel our opponent has a missed draw more than 60% of the time in this scenario – betting will get no value from him and may even induce a bluff-shove that would be very difficult for us to call. Checking gives him the option of bluffing.

2

SCENARIO 3 SPEEDING UP On occasion, we need to bet for value on all streets. In the previous example we decided our opponent’s most likely holding was a missed draw and we checked the river to induce a bluff. In the next similar hand, on a draw-heavy board, we can spot some subtle differences and change our play accordingly.

G A M E S T

R

PRE-FLOP It’s

a $1/$2 six-max cash game and effective stacks are $200. The big blind has been playing lots of hands and seems like he overvalues hands. We open-raise to $7 from the small blind with A :-Q… and get a call from the big blind (pot $14).

A T E G Y

FLOP Q:-J:-3Ú.

We lead out for $10 and the big blind calls (pot $34). TURN Q:-J:-3Ú-8Ú.

We lead again for $24 and the big bind calls (pot $82).

HANDS THAT BE AT US

We are only losing this hand a small percentage of the time. Two-pair hands aren’t very common in an unraised post-flop pot, although hands like 10-7 and J-10 cannot be discounted. We would normally expect sets and overpairs to have raised at some stage and nd the non-clubbed 8-9 hands to have folded on the turn. If we check, we Do t h is should be losing the least money Practise you against better hands as we are not skills! Ev r hand-reading giving our foe a chance to raise. involved en if you’re not

3

C A S H

MADE HANDS WE BE AT THAT MAY CALL A RI VER BE T

in a ha opponent nd, guessing ranges w s’ hands and ill i hand-read mprove your ing no end

As well as K-J and Q-J, there are quite a few hands containing a ten that we beat that may call a small river bet if as asked e to. Often, however, we will see tens folding l i aafter three streets of betting on a scary board. . That’s ’ not to say, though, that value-betting the river is incorrect against some opponents if we have sufficient reads and information to tell us that we will likely be called by worse. This is not an exact science and involves a lot of educated guesswork, but the previous example shows it’s difficult for us to get value out of betting the river, and we may sometimes even get bluffed off the best hand. By contrast, checking may induce a bluff from our opponent with over 60% of his range as well as controlling the pot size with what is, after all, only top pair, top kicker. The downside to checking is the value missed when our opponent has a worse made hand and checks back, but this is more than compensated for by the times he bluffs or checks back a better hand.

RIVER Q:-J:-3Ú-8Ú-7;.

POSSIBLE OPPONENT RANGES

1

D RAWS WE BEAT

This time, our opponent has far fewer draws in his range. We have the A:, so many of his likely flush draws are gone. There are also fewer open-ended straight-draw possibilities on this flop. That leaves us hands like K-10, K-9 suited, and some suited club connectors and K:-x: type hands that are drawing.

2

HANDS THAT BEAT US

These include 10-9, two-pair hands and sometimes overpairs or sets, although, as in the previous example, we would expect our opponent to take a different line with these.

3

MADE HA NDS WE BE AT THAT MAY CALL A RIVE R BE T

These are all one-pair hands (K-Q, Q-10, Q-9) – a total of 24 possible combinations – and we would expect to be called most of the time. A-J, K-J, J-10, J-9, 10-10, 9-9 equate to more than 50 combinations, but we would expect to be called less frequently, depending on our bet sizing. In this example, our opponent’s range is much more heavily weighted to a made hand rather than a draw. Here, it would be better to put in a value bet on the river and hope to be called by a worse hand. As such, we bet $52 into $82, get called by Q-10 and win the $186 pot. OVERALL ANALYSIS

As we are working with imperfect information, we must assess our opponent’s likely hand strength based on a range of criteria, including board texture, history, notes, table dynamics and feel. When looking for maximum value, handreading is an important skill that should be practised whenever possible. Only with good understanding of our opponent’s range can we decide just how much money he is willing to part with, and whether he’s willing to bet or call.

105


S R E T S A M E H T M O R F N


DOYLE BRUNSON King of the old-school cash game grinders, Doyle Brunson explains how he fought off the bad guys of Vegas to find himself at the top of the tree

R A E L : S E M A G H S A C

OR DOYLE BRUNSON – HIMSELF A WINNER of back-to-back main event crowns in 1976 and 1977 – theglor y of tournament success has always come secondary to money. In Brunson’s world, the game is at its best at the cash game tables, where survival demands the instincts of a poker genius and the guts and brawnof a road gambler. ‘I’ve always played poker for a living,’ he says, his Texan drawl not quite as deep as you may expect. ‘If you didn’t win, you didn’t eat. The guys whoplay in tournaments today are good. But stick them in the big cash games, and they wouldn’t survive. Cash game players are better players. It’s a totally different environment.’ After a promising basketball career was ended with a horrificleg injury, Brunsondiscoveredpoker andfound he could make more money from playing in one day than he could from a whole month’ssalary. At first, poker was simply a way of makingmoney buthe quickly developed a skill-set that defined his life’s path. ‘Itwas obvious from an early age that I was better at poker than most,’ says Brunson. ‘I could just seethingsandremember them. People ask me how I rememberso many hands; I remember thousands of hands againstthousands of players.Earlyon, I would remember how people would act, what they didin certainsituations. I’dthink back, work on what was the best course of actionand actaccordingly. It’s like a sixth sense – something I’vealwayshad.’

F

MR TO UGH GUY On the outside, Doyle Brunson’s persona is a difficult one to gauge. He offers all the pleasantries you’d expect from a gentleman of his stature. But there’s also an edge to his character. For years, his gambling appetite took him into poker’s most dangerous waters in a world far removed from today’s Hollywoodhigh-rollers. It was an education earned the hard way, playing in games run by organised crime groups across America’s south throughout the late 1950s and 60s. Poker was always about winning, but it was never a time for careless minds. ‘I travelled to all the games across the south,’ says Brunson, his look becoming more piercing as if to add effect. ‘It was a dangerous time. There was always trouble and there were always bad people around you. It was never a safe environment to be in. But that was how we earned our money.’ It’s this fearless approach to gambling that has taken Brunson to where he sits today. The wide stetson sits on one of the toughest nuts in poker: a hard-nosed gambler from the old school, a man who realises the importance

106


of risk-taking, always willing to put his neck on the line and ready to rely on that gut feeling. ‘I takerisks when I have to,’ he says. ‘I have the urge to gamble and I’m convinced all the top cash game players are compulsive gamblers – because we all have to do it.’ He admits getting married in 1962 helped to ‘settle him down’. But the earning potential of poker was too great an incentive to ignore. And, when he moved to Vegas in the 1970s, the dangers on the Strip would never temper his hunger for cash games where the action involved anyone from hotel owners to drug dealers. ‘Vegas was a dishonest place when I first arrived,’ he recalls. ‘Pretty much everything that went on was illegal. But poker was probably the most honest part of gambling. And cash games back when I first arrived were easier than they are now. Trust me, nothing gave me more satisfaction than taking money off a drug dealer. When the boys from the southbrought Texas hold’em out here, it was always going to take time for other players to acquire the skills needed. It was a good time, I can tell ya.’ EYE FO R A WINNER Despite his love of the cash game environment and his determination to be recognised as a master in that field first, Brunson remains proud of his tournament record. Ten WSOP bracelets are testament to his pre-eminence over many of the luckbox winners the Series has thrown up over the years. But he still clearly places most value on his double main eventsuccess some 30 years ago, as his victories came against the ‘best players in the world’. ‘There were no weak players back then. Tournaments today have brought a new breed of player. Back when I won, everywhere you looked there were strong players. Today you can play the main event and not even come across a good player in days.’ With over 50years of poker behind him, Big Papa is well-placed to assess the standards of poker today. Poker has certainly been good to Brunson, despite the dangers the game has brought to his life. He has treated poker as an earner of money rather than an earner of fame – although one has complemented the other. And, his success is down to more than risk-taking. Brunson remains a student of the game with an unrivalled passion for it. Even at his age, the craving for action stems from a deep commitment to success. ‘I believe my passion has played a part in making me who I am. I was always determined. I love the game. Hell, I plan on playing poker for another 20 years.’

BRUNSON FACTS

Name DoyleBrunson Lives Las Vegas Livetournament winnings $5,819,350 WSOPbracelets 10 Highestmain event finishBack-to-back maineven t winsin 1976 and1977

Back when I won, everywhere you looked there were strong players.Today, you can play the main event and not even come across a good player in days

C A S H G A M E S :

L E

A R N

F R

O M T H E

M A S T

E

R S


107

Y G E T A R T S E M A

MOVING ON UP To make poker work for you over the long-term you need to ensure you are always learning and progressing – playing at the correct level to your ability and growing your bankroll. To aid this progress we present a guide to moving up through the limits in cash games

G

T

HE REAL CHALLENGE OF POKER is being a consistently winning player over a lifetime, and that means nurturing a bankroll and moving up through the cash limits. Sure, it takes time and effort. Butas compensation you’ll know you’re a complete poker player, you’ll have beaten every level, and you’ll have a stack of cash so you can buy your own massive cheque and write it to yourself. Many of today’s high-stakes regulars worked their way up through the levels – now it’s your turn to join them!

H S A C

MICRO-STAKES LIMIT: $0.05/$0.10 BANKROLL GUIDELINE: 20 buy-ins – $200 Welcome to no-fold’em hold’em. You’re on the nursery slopes and things are sticky – and by ‘things’ I mean the cards to the players’ hands. Here you make money by almost never bluffing and betting your big hands strongly;the players here want to go to value town and you’re the driver. You’ll sometimes hear players say they hate playing against bad players, quoting the eternal line, ne, ‘If tthey ey don’t on know what they’re doing how can I know?’ kn This is absolute rubbish – if i you can’t win here you won’t win w at the higher limits. At p ove u limit you’ll see a barrel load of on’t m re that this limi d u o u mistakes but the critical ones are mistake sure y n. Ens ing Make el too soo arly beat e that yo your opponents will play too a lev are regul d have th many h hands, they will overvalue you game an ake the tthose ose hands and call too much. the kroll to m . p n u a b They will also overvalue their draws step and, nd, again again, call too much. Finally, they won’t b bet their hands well for value. In short, tthey’ll call too much when behind and not bet bet often oft enough when ahead.

t do this Don’

IN ORDER TO BEAT THIS LIMIT YOU NEED: To shut away your aggro self and play solid poker, bluffing infrequently and playing your hands for value.

TERMINOLOGY A check followedby CHECK-CALL call of any betby your opponent

108


a

Make sure you really squeeze loose players for every penny. For example, if opponents are calling a lot pre-flop, consider making raises of five or six times the big blind – after all, whenever they call you with worse they’re making a mistake. Extend the same logic to your post-flop play – when you have a strong hand consider overbetting the pot,

particularly if you can move all-in without it being ridiculous. Very often you’re facing players whose only thought is whether to call or not, and not about considering the size of the bet. A classic situation in these games is holding A-K, pairing your Ace and out-kicking your opponent’s A-x. In these spots it’s essential you get every cent. You will find some maniacs at these limits who don’t care because the money is small. Don’t let this faze you – quickly identify them and just call them down with a wider range than you would a normal opponent. You’ll also be playing a lot of multi-way pots – it’s not uncommon to find tables at these stakes with 35% or more of players in a full ring game seeing the flop. Compare this to a $1/$2 game where it’s rare for this number to go above 25%. The key is to not get involved in the limp-fest too often, although if you do, remember that hands like 8-7 suited go up in value – while hands like A-J offsuit are danger hands that play very poorly in multi-way pots. Finally, the most important thing is to learn as much about playing no-limit cash as you can at this level. Start as you mean to go on, so buy tracking software, analyse your results, use learning materials to improve and play with focus. You’ll be able to beat the games without doing all this, but it’s all about getting yourself ready for the higher games.

KEY POINT Playsolid poker Betyourbig hands strongly Bluffvery infrequently

LOW-STAKES

MID-STAKES

LIMIT: $0.25/$0.50 LIMIT: $1/$2 BANKROLL GUIDELINE: 25 BUY-INS – $1,250 BANKROLL GUIDELINE: 30 buy-ins – $6,000 A couple of years ago, most of what you’ve just Make no mistake, these days $1/$2 is a tough read about $0.05/$0.10 applied to this limit too, poker game to beat. These players don’tmake but things have changed in online poker. As the big mistakes of lower limit players and wrong as it may seem, there are now peopleat aren’t afraid to commit their stack on a big call, $0.25/$0.50 actually trying hard to win! semi-bluff or total bluff if the moment is right. This limit has therefore become a transitional The good news is there are still fish, and the one – still fullof fish but also of players likeyou better news is you can develop the game to aspiring to get better. The good news is that it’s beat regulars with hard work and application. not difficult to spot who’s who, and the even You won’t be able to avoid the regulars better news is that even the regular players at completely, but there are still ‘bad’ regulars that this limit have big weaknesses you can exploit. you can exploit. These are players who have run Let’s focus on the players at this limit who are good and don’t belong at this limit or are good trying to play well. Typically, they have two key enough to beat the fish but still have big leaks. weaknesses. The first is that they play very Observe players and try to spot the mistakes they predictably. They have often learnt to play with make or patterns they repeat. Some multi-tablers starting hand charts and, when they raise under fall into predictable habits – for example, some the gun you can put them on a very specific range will continuation-bet almost every flop, making of hands. Second, they often play weak-tight after it very profitable to check-raise bluff them a lot. the flop. This means they go into check-call mode The big difference, as you start moving into when worried about their hand and make far too mid-stakes, is the level of aggression you’ll face, many folds in spots where they should commit. particularly from regulars. You’ll sometimes need In contrast to $0.05/$0.10 there will be fewer to fight fire with fire, increasing your aggression limped pots and far more raised pots, either and sometimes use these players’ aggression heads-up or three-way. Look to isolate weaker against them by inducing bluffs and mistakes. players and play in position. Make sure you open At this limit you really need to start being a up a bit and push your comfort zone further at complete, flexible player, dealing with situations each limit to really improve your game. as they come up rather than to a preset formula. Having got the basics at the lower limits – For example, if you have 7:-5: in the cut-off with enoughto makeyou profitable by the way – you aggressive players on the button and in the small should really start focusing on your hand-reading blind, it may be a fold. But with the same hand skills. Put your opponents on a range, understand under the gun, a good table image and a fish in what they’ll do with that range and adjust your the big blind, you might want to raise it. play accordingly. This is the skill that will slowly develop for years as you move up the ranks.

You’ll sometimes need to fight fire with fire by increasing your own aggression and using opponents’ aggression against them by inducing bluffs and mistakes

C A S H G A M E S T

R A T E G Y

KEY POINT

D R I B Y N N A D

KEY POINT Look to exploitthosewho play predictably Isolate theweak er players at thetable Focus on improving hand-readingskills

Game selection is key Games willbe muchmore aggressive Beflex ible – playthe situations notthe cards


109

S R E T S A M E H T M O R F N R A


PHIL GALFOND One of the leaders of the new school of online pros,

Phil Galfondexplains

his amazing rise to the top and how money hasn’t changed him

E L

Phil Galfond is a 24-year-old high-stakes online pro from Wisconsin. He regularly plays the best players in the world in cash games ranging from $50/$100 to $500/$1,000. He is very well known in the online world with his alias, ‘OMGClayAiken’, attracting legions of online railbirds.

be damaging psychologically and end up costing them a lot more money. I’ve found that I’m fairly mentally strong when it comes to dealing with losses. WHAT DO YOU THINK SETS YOU APART AS A PLAYER?

Frankly, I think I’m smarter than most other players. I certainly don’t study or work as hard as some of the other WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE POKER AND WHAT greats, although I do think about the game a lot. I think I SKILLS HAVE ALLOWED YOUTO EXCEL AT IT? handle different player types better than most people. I I was a college student studying philosophy at the adjust well when my opponent likes to bluff, or when they University of Wisconsin-Madison, though I dropped out are a bit of a calling station. Many good players just play a after five semesters. I’ve always excelled at maths and style anddon’t alter it enough for different opponents. I’m logic. I think those two areas are very important to also well-known for making big calls. I find spots where being a good poker player. Psychology is the third that players aren’t representing any real hand better than I’d consider most important, which I also feel strong in. most people. Some players with bottom pair will fold to a big bet on the river without bothering to think about WHAT’STHE STORY BEHIND YOUR SCREEN NAME? what their opponent might have. ‘OMGClayAiken’ was just a funny name I thought up. WHAT IS YOUR DAY TO DAY LIFE LIKE? [Clay Aiken was the runner-up on season two of American Idol]. Most people like to have toughI have a lot of great friends within poker, but most of my sounding screen names and I think that’s stupid. friends in Madison have no poker experience. I like it that way. I have no schedule at all. I often wake up at a HOW DID YOU GET TO THE TOP? completely different hour every day. When I’m not I didn’t play hold’em until I was 19. I started with playing poker I like to hang out with friends. sit&gos on PartyPoker and played them for a while, CAN YOU GIVE US AN IDEA OF WHAT YOU’VE MADE grinding my way up from $10 to $100 tourneys in the FROM POKER AND WHAT YOU’VE DONE WITH IT? first year of my career. Then I moved up to the $200 ones and took shots at the new $1,000 sit&gos. After I’d rather not be specific about my lifetime winnings. that I switched to $5/$10 no-limit cash games, which I do okay but I’m not a baller. I’ve never bought was probably a bit high, but I picked it up very quickly anything over $5,000 aside from my apartment. I don’t and never had to drop down in stakes. I grinded up to own a car. I don’t really see the point in showing off. $10/$20, then took shots at $25/$50 and $50/$100 on THE HIGH-STAKES GAMES SEEM INSANELY other sites when the games were good and ran very AGGRESSIVE. IS THIS A REFLECTION OF THE badly. So, I dropped down to $5/$10 and grinded back. POWER OF AGGRESSION IN NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM? I rebuilt my roll and eventually tried the bigger games again. I haven’t really looked back since. Aggression is a very powerful tool. Many people fight aggression with aggression. That isn’t the only way WHAT BANKROLL APPROACH DID YOUTAKE TO to do it, but it’s probably the easiest. This results in MOVE UP SO FAST AND WOULD YOURECOM MEND the hyper-aggro games that you see. As far as strategy OTHERS TO FOLLOW IT? adjustments go, this means calling down with weak I’ve taken some gambles with my roll, but have never hands, pushing back and thinking on very high levels. been in danger of losing it all. I take shots in good WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS’ TIME? games when I can afford to and I know that I can move back down if need be. Some people take a shot and then I would like to think I’ll be retired with a family and can’t move back down if they lose. They end up losing only playing poker casually. A lot depends on how everything. I think that most people should be successful I am in the near future and what non-poker conservative with their bankroll because a big loss can opportunities show up.

110


GALFOND FACTS

Name Phil Galfond Nickname OMGClayAiken Jman Lives New York Livetournament winnings $939,384 Biggest livewin $5,000pot-limit Omaha in 2008 for $817,781

GALFOND’S TOP TIPS Thecash game genius hassometipsforthetop 1

AGG RESSION ISN’T EVERYTHING

Aggressionis important,but you don’t need tobe aggroto win. Nothing can replace pureintelligence andthe abilityto think onthe fly. Beginners shouldfocusonhandreading. Alwaystry to figure out why youropponentis playing his handthewayheis.Itmostlycomes downto deductivelogicwith a hint of mathsknowledge.

2

L E

A R N

F R

O M T H E

M A S T

E

R S

K EEP IT SIMPLE IN TOURNAMENTS

In tournaments, youwill usually face weaker players.Youdon’thave to be astrickyandyou don’t haveto think onas higha level.Thepotsiz e onthe flopis usually sobig in tournaments that thebestline involves takingit downas soon aspossible. M IX IT UP INCAS H GAMES

3 In cash games,it’smore importantto balance yourrange, makingyourhandshardertoread. Also,stacksaregenerallymuch deeperin cash games.Thatleaves moreroomforcreativity and the abilityto playmorehandspre-flop. 4

BE CAREFUL ONTHE TURN

Theturnis probablythe street that isthe toughestto play.Pre-flop andthe river are easy,althoughthe river is importantand misplayedby many. Mostpeopledon’tcheck-raise bluffenoughon theturn.A lotof peopleblufftoooftenon theturn withnoouts,orwithalotofouts, butnot enoughto call a raise.

5

S E L I M M O T

C ATCH THE RIVER BLUFFS

Itcomesdownto puttingplayerson a rangeof handsand knowing your opponent.Tryto payattentionto whathandshada lot ofouts and missed. They’relikelyto firethree barrels.Also,if scarecards hit,likean Ace orKing ontheriv erwhen theflop is 10-high, someplayersarevery likelyto tryto represent them. However, therewill be timeswhen they hitthosecards.You just have to decidehowlikely they are tobluffat thescare card andweigh that against how likelyit was tohit their hand.


111

Z I U Q S E

The

M A G H S A C

1 CONTINUATION BETTING Players6 Blinds$0.05/$0.10 Your stack$10 Your handQÚ-J:

CASH GAMES QUIZ Cash games are where the big money and best players are, but thanks to online poker you can start out playing for pennies. Get a headstart on your education by taking our cash game quiz!

2 BARREL THE TURN?

BB $9.20

Pot: $0.65

YOU(BTN) $9.70

112

FOLD

FOLD

ACTION

is 10;-7;-5: and he che cks. You’re playing a 0.05/$ 0.10 Th e potis no w $0 .6 5 – wh at six -ma x cash gam e and do you do? make an ope n-rais e for three tim esthe bi g bl in d on th e DECISION but ton wit h Q a) che ck Ú-J:. The small bli nd fol ds andthe b) bet$0.30 big bli nd cal ls.Youboth c) bet $0. 50 have $10stack s. Theflop d)bet$1

Players6 Blinds$0.05/$0.10 Your stack$10 Your handQÚ-J:

SB FOLD

FOLD

Pot:$1.65

YOU(BTN) $9.20

FOLD

3 RIVER DECISION

Players6 Blinds$0.05/$0.10 Your stack$10 Your handQÚ-J:

SB FOLD

BB $9.70

SB FOLD

BB $8

FOLD

Pot:$4.05

FOLD FOLD

YOU(BTN) $8

FOLD FOLD

ACTION

DECISION

ACTION

Let’sassum e tha t in qu es ti on 1 you ma de a contin uationbet and your oppo nen t in the big bli nd cal led . Theturn now br in gsthe … K and th e potsiz e is$1.6 5. Wh at do you do?

a) che ck b)bet $0 .5 0 c)bet $1 .2 0 d)bet$3

Let’s assum e tha t in Q2 a) che ck you be t th e tu rnand go t b)bet$1 cal ledagain bythe big c)bet$3 bli nd; therive r nowbring s d)bet al l- in fo r ab ou t $8 th e J;, mak ing thefinal boa rd 10;-7;-5:-K…-J;. Th e po t st an dsat $4 .0 5 an d youropponent checks again . Wh atdo yo u do ?


DECISION

4

QUICK-FIRE

FULL RING ACTION Players9 Blinds$0.50/$1 Your stack$100 Your handQ;-QÚ

ROUND A good open-raise size is usually… 6

YOU(UTG) $86 BB FOLD

SB FOLD

FOLD

$10

$35

BTN $61

$10

FOLD

: $68.50 Pot

FOLD FOLD

ACTION

first player cal ls,the sec ond folds , andthen thethird raise s to $35 . Wha t now?

You’r e in a $0. 50/ $1 full- ring game.You raise to $4 un de r th e gu n wi th Q;-QÚ andget thr ee cal ler s; al l fo urof you have$100 sta cks. Theflop com es 4…-7…-8: an d you be t $1 0 int o the $13 .50pot. The

5

UTG+2 $86

DECISION a) fol d b) cal l c) move all -in

a) 2-3 times the big blind b) 3-4 times the big blind c) 4-5 times the big blind d) 5-6 times the big blind Ago od 7 three-bet size is usually… a) 2-3 times the initial raise b) 3-4 times the initial raise c) 4-5 times the initial raise d) 5-6 times the initial raise 8

A good four-bet size is usually…

a) 2-3 times the re-raise b) 3-4 times the re-raise c) 4-5 times the re-raise d) 5-6 times the re-raise

HEADS-UP PLAY Players2 Blinds$0.25/$0.50 Your stack$50 Your handA:-J…

BB $37 $8

Pot: $18

YOU(BTN) $45

ACTION

DECISION

Early in a $0. 25/ $0. 50 heads-up match again st a decen t aggressive player you rais e to $1 .5 0 on th e but ton fro m your $50stack . Here- rais esto $5 an d you defend wit h A :-J…. Th e flo p com es J-6 -2 rainb ow andhe be ts$8. Wh atdo you do?

a)call , pl an ni ng to ge t it all -inon the tur n b)call , pl an ni ngto fold to furthe r aggressio n c) raiseto $16 , pla nni ng to fo ld to a sh ove d) raiseto $16 , pla nni ng to ca lla sh ove e) move all -in

goodunder opening range 9 A the gun in six-max cash games is… a) 10-10+, A-Q+ b) 6-6+, A-8+ suited, A-J+ offsuit c) A-2+ suited, A-10+ suited, 2-2+ and good suited connectors d) Any Ace or pair; most suited/ connected cards

. hguone netf o st nenoppor uoy y al pt uo ot el ba ebr o dnah a eka mlli wuoy s a , egnar edi wyr ev a y al p nac uoy noi ti s op t s eb eht deet nar aug er a uoy wo N) d 01 . hguot yr ev si e mag eht ss el nu t fior p a wohs dl uohs es eht f oll a t ub, s dnah det ani mod y na moot y al p ot t na wt’ nod uoy os uoy dni heb sr ey al p eer ht ev ah uo Y ) c 9 . st ops t s o mni l aedi si esi ar- er eht s e m i t 5. 2 dna, ni -ll a na ot fl esr uoy gni tti mmoc di ov a ot ll a ms eti uq t eb-r uof ot t na wuoy s dnil b gi b 001f o s kc at s hti W) a 8 . dnah gi b a ev ah uoy neh wevi s nepxe oot r o ff ul b a ev ah uoy neh wpaehc oot ti gni k a m t uohti wt ub, dnah doog a ev ah uoy neh w t op a dli ub dna po fl a ees ot st nenoppo egr ahc ot ezi s doog a si si ht ni ag A ) b 7 . netf o oot uoyll acll i ws dnil b eht paehc os t on t ub, dnah gnor t s a ev ah uoy neh wt op a gni dl i ub tr at s ot hguone egr al si si hT ) b 6

C A S H G A M E S

Q U I Z

dnuor er fi - kci u Q

. po fl eht no esi ar a ot dl of t hgi meh t aht J- Q ekil dnah a hti wfl es m ih ti mmoc r o nr ut eht no ff ul b y a mt nenoppo r uoy gnill ac y B. ff ul b ot yl ekil er’ uoy s k ni ht t nenoppor uoy ss el nu gni si ar y b hc u m hsil p mocc a ot yl ekil nu er a t ub dnahr uoy r of s po flt s eb eht f o eno ti h ev’ uo Y ) a 5 . ri ap o wt r o t hgi ar t s, t es a dni heb y a wgnol ar o war d a t s ni aga y eno mnev er ehti e eb ot yl ekil er’ uoy esi ar a dnall ac a gni c aF. noi t c a f o t ol a dna po fl er a mt hgi n a ot ni nur ev’ uoy dnah doog a hti w detr at s uoy hguohtl A ) a 4 .em i t eht f o egat necr ep doog a t op eht ni w ot t c epxe dna n wod ti kc eh C. hs u fl a hti w gni ppar t eb y a mt nenoppor uoy dna esr o w y b dell ac t eg yl er ar ll i wuoy s a ss el t ni op eb dl uo w gni tt eb t ub, eul av n wod wohs t ne c ryeavim r ueohyTr)eavi r3 . tcoepdrueogyginbevni egvseanhadrniaw eht no t hgi ar t s a ti h od uoy fi dna, dnah t sr o weht hti wn wod t op eht ek at netf o ll i wt eb dil os A. ri ap mui de mr oll a ms a s ah eh fi k ae ws k ool won dnah s’ t nenoppor uoy dna st uo t hgi ar t s uoy s evi g gni K ehT ) c 2 . hc u moot gni ksi r t uohti ws uoi r es er a uoy wohs ot t eb doog a si si ht dna, od uoy neh w meht dl i ub dna gni ht on ev ah uoy neh w n wod st op ek at ot e m i t eht f o yti r oj a meht t eb- c ot deen uo Y ) c 1 ) hc aer of t ni op eno( sr e ws n A

A good 10 SHARK OR FISH? opening range on the button 0-3 SHARK FOOD in six-max play is… Do n’ t de sp air – sign up to a trai ni ng site an d learn thebasi cs from scratch . a) 10-10+, A-Q+ b) 6-6+, A-8+ suited, 4-7 TIGER SHARK A-J+ offsuit You’reon the rig ht track. With a lit tle c) A-2+ suited, A-10+ offsuit, 2-2+ more effort you sh oul d be a big winner. and good suited connectors 8-10 GREAT WHITE SHARK You’ve built your bankroll dominating d) Any Ace or pair; most suited/ low stakes – now it’s time to move up. connected cards


113


LIVE POKER


115

S E M A

HOUSE

G E M O

RULES!

H

Running a home game isn’t as easy as you think. We show you how to be the perfect host and avoid a first-time flop

S

O YOU’VE PLAYED POKER ONLINE or watched it on TV and now you’r e thinking about running a game for you and your mates. Easy, you might think, but there’s actually more to running a successful home game than a crate of beer, a pack of cards and a few chips. Not to worry, we’re here to act as your guide and mentor. Over the next few pages we’ll take you through the mechanics of a successful home tournament and show you how to be the perfect home game host. Do it properly and you’ll win the respect of your friends and, more importantly, they’ll come back the next time you invite them. Get it wrong and your social life is over.

CHIPS They’re everywhereat the a basic breakdownfor a 10-player moment– clothesshops,DIYstores, tournament is… younameit. Andyou prettymuchget 150red (worth5) what you payfor, sobe careful about 150green (worth25) ‘genuine casino’bargains.Youcanget 100black (worth 100) samplerpacksfrommostretailersso 100 purple/orange/other youcan trybeforeyou buy. Itseems (worth500 or 1,000) 11.5gclay-filledchipshave become Don’t worry about thecolour thestandard, butone thing to watch conventions butwe recommend you outfor – which always separates stick with these denominations. cheapchips fromthe top-of-the-line There’s little point having‘1’, ‘10’or ones theprofessionalsuse – is how ’50’valuechips.No tournament slippery they are. Towards theend of a blind structure willuse the‘1’ value tourney you’regoingto endup with chip and ifyouhav e a cashgameyou bigpilesof chips. Those dramatic canmake your denominations real all-inpushesaren’t going to lookso money value; 100= £1;25 = 25p. good when your stackspillsall over Your 500-piece chipsetwill then the table. have a monetaryvalu e of £645, How manyyouneedis going to which should be enough to cover depend on the size ofyourgam e but your average cash game. Think of

116


CARDS poker chips like currency.The ideais to usethe fewest denominations to make therequir ed sumand forchip countsto beposs ibleat a glance. Theblind structure andchips here is based arounda longfive-h our game – adjustto suitthe timeyou have. Example blinds SB BB 5 10 10 20 20 40 25 50 50 100 100 200 150 300 250 500 400 800 500 1000 1 0 00 2000 *Col ourup

Ro u n dl e n g t h 30 m i n s 30 m i n s 30 m i n s 30 m i n s * 30 m i n s 30m i n s 30m i n s 30m i n s 30m i n s * 30m i n s

Firstof all you need cards.It’s a card gameafte r all.The bestcard s are100% plastic.Playa full game withordina ry paper or plasticcoated cards andthey’l l be bent up andmarke d. If standard cards is all youhaveget online andorder some Copags or Kems.We particularly like theKem Arrows, which youcan get online foraroun d £14.

Do t h is H

The right way

THE SET-UP Poker hashundredsof variations. For yourfirst gamestick tothe most simpleand popular form of the game– no-limit Texas hold’em. Hold’emis dividedinto two different styles: tournaments and cash (ring) games.For your first home game stick withsit&g os (tournaments). Tourneys, as you probably know,havebecomethe mostpopu larfor mat ofthe game– and the onesyouusua lly seeon TV. They’re thebest forhome games because they give youclear winners, have a settime-f rame andlimit the amountof moneyanyone canlose in theone night. Witha tourneyever yone buys in for a set amount and the money is pooled together in a prize fund.

TABLE It’sup toyou how thepriz esare Preferably you’llhavea soft distributedand thislittl e detail will surfaceat your disposalas it makes make a considerablediffe rence to the cards easier todeal , pick upand yourgame . With a table ofeigh t to look at– notto mentionthe ability 10 players a prize distributionof forexper ienced players to riffle 60%,30%, 10% will give a balanced chipson a nicesoftbaiz e.A polished payout.First place should getthe tabletop isno good,andwhil e a lion’s share;secondshouldget a nice dedicated poker table doesn’tcost little payout andthird should get asmuchas you mightthi nkit’snot a their buy-inback, or similar. If practical solutionfor all. you’vegot sixplaye rs or less, you For a cheap alternative pickup a might want to consideronly paying few metresof artificial baize or felt firstand second 70/30. from a fabricshop, stretch it tight Anotheroptionis to play winner overyourtabl e and find a way of takes all.Thisis fineif you’re all holdingit in place. Cheap ‘poker’ experiencedplay ers with a good tabletops aren’tgreat butare chance of winning,but stick to useableif you’redespera te.But if places if youhavenovice s playing. you’vegot cash to splash,you can They’re likelyto getdishea rtened by find numerous websites selling an early exit andnot return. poker tablesfrom £100-£1000.

O M

FREEZEOUT OR REBUY? Freezeouts are muchsimpler to run. Everyonepay s a setamoun t andyou allplayfor it.Yo u know howmuch moneyis in thepot, thepay outs and howman y chi ps are on thetabl e. They’re a bitmore challengi ng to play,as peo pletend to play tig hter andbig bets andbold bluffs tend to be respected . The tension build s andbig pot s areboth rarerand more exciting . On the downside,once you’re out, you’re out! Rebuys allow players low on chips to pay again andreloa d their chi ps. If thebuy- in was £10for 1,000 chi ps the n therebuywillbe ano ther £10for another 1,000 chi ps (availa bleif down to less than 50% of starti ng stack). Therebu y chips areusua llyissu ed as a single1,000 chi p or two 500chips , which are then changed up for smaller chips with the biggest stack. The rebuy period is normally limited tothe first ou cou ppleof eo hoursof the tourneyororth th ee firstfour or fiveblinds s.A. Aft terer therebuyperiod ends s,t, the e game becomesa free ezeout. zeout. Everyonehas theoptionof tionof ‘adding on’, whichisaa rebuy availableto everyone regardless of stack size. If you’redown to 50%of your stack at the freezeout youare entitled to rebuy and add-on.This can take youfrom death’sdoor to back inthe game. Alsoall these rebuysand addd-ons ons willswel l theprize pool handsomely. Thisis a good moment foreveryone to take a short break, for you to‘colo urup’ the small denomination chips, to count the prize pooland letevery oneknow what thepayo utsare going to be. After theendof thereb uyperio d it becomesa freezeout. Oneotheroptionis thedoubl e chance . Here you getyourstart ing chi ps fora singlebuy-i n andhav e the op ti onat any ti mein the firs t two hours to ‘ad d on’. You caneven start thegamewith your extra chi ps.This means that no-oneneed go outtoo early, there areplent y of chance s for actionand tho se who canonlyaffo rd a singlebuy-i n are notas dis advantaged as with a normalrebu y.The choiceis yours.


E

G

A M E S

117

S E M A G E M O H

118

BUY-IN

BLINDS

Thi s is theentra ncefee, If you havea sol id bli nd whichevery one pays and forms the struct ure it will make for a pri zepool. Butobvi ous lythe well-paced and excitinggame. amount everyone is willing and able Make theblind s toolow andnot toput into a cardgam e wi llvar y. frequent enough and the tourney Newer players are unlikely to stump will drag on for what seems an up £10 0 to sitdownwith veterans eternity. However, setting themtoo of thegame!When you havesome hig h wil l oft en resultin thegame novic e players,it’s best to make being lit tlemorethan a crapshoot the buy-in (taking into account with lit tleopport unity for skill – not rebuys) about thesameas a to mentio n your poker nig ht bei ng night outdownthe pub. No-oneis over by9:30p m. Theleve ls the going to mind spe nding that for a bli ndsare setat will dic tate the night’s entertainment, and the lengthof your home game (along total pri zepoo l isgoi ngto bea with rebuys andadd-o ns), butit tidy sum. should lastanywher e between 90 For your first freezeout, make minutes and five hours, depend ing the buy-in £10-£50 depending on on your preference.One thing to how flush you are andhow many think about istha t ifyouhos t a new players you have. A £20 freezeoutwhichgoes on for five freezeout with 10 players could ho urs,som e poo r so d may end up givepayo utsof £110, £60and £30. twidd ling theirthumbs for three It’ll be a serious game, butfor the hours or so.Whichcoulddisco urage same sort of moneyyou’ d spe nd on them from turning up again. a ni ght atthepub,a kebab and a To keep things runningon time cab home. geta stopwatchor cooking timer.Or, For a rebuy youwan t tomak e the if youhavea laptop,downl oadone co stabo uthal f toa third ofa ofthe manyfre e poker timersto run freezeout. So if players are normally in thebackgr ound. Onceyou’v e set hap pyto play a £30free zeout your blinds,be strict withthem.If thena £10 rebuy isfine . Ifyoupla y the blindlev elgoesup during a hand a £20free zeouta £10rebuy (after dealinghas started) then might work outa lit tlemore enforce thenew level forthe next expensive if everyone takes into hand. If short stacksgrumbl e that account a pos sible rebuyplus an they arebeing blinded to death then add-on. tough! As theblindsrise thelowes t A £10 doublecha nce isa very value chips on thetable (the fives) affordable home game, which, willbecomeredun dant. Whenthis between 10 players andfive or six happensyou needto remove them add-ons, canstill build a decent pot. from thegame byexchanging them For most tourneysyou canstart fortwent y fives. Thiswill make everyoneoff with 1,0 00 in things much tidier andwill make chips– 10tim es‘5’,10 ti mes ‘2 5’ ‘all-in’count-ups simpler. After you and7 times ‘100’ wil l giveever yone have runa game youmightconside r a satisfying lit tlestac k to fidd le adjusting theblindsfor thenext with. If you’re playing a rebuy gameif thepac e seemedtoo fastor BOOZE then give theplay ersrebuy ing2 x slow,eitherby changing thelength Having a drinkat a home ‘500’.Theycan changethemup at of roundsor byaddingor removing game isone ofthe greatplea suresof the table. rounds.Howe ver, there is no lifeand we would never suggest If everyone ’s feeli ng a bitflush cutting itout, butyou’d beadvis edto structure that is going to stop andwant s to stick in twice as players grumbling about their bad keep it within reason. Playerswill much the n it’s fineto start off beats or howunluck y they are! tend toplaywors e,go on tilt easier with doublethe normalchip andgetangrymuchquick erwhen amounts. This doesn’t drunk.Theymaywel l nothear normally prolong the declarations and will game toomuch accidentallyexposecards – perhap s an and misdeal. The most extra level of importantrule isto never the blind s further start a game when than normal. A you’re allpiss ed – it’llall ruleof thumb is endin tears.Toavo id that tourneys argumentseveryplayer normally end needsto beclearon the when thebig rules, howmuch money blind isequa l tothe you’re playing forand buy-in. the payout structure.


STRING BETTING Inalmos t everyfilm or TV drama whichfeatures a poker game you’ll hearsomething like, ‘I’llsee your 50(paus e,camera closeup on anxious faces)and raise you200.’ This isa string bet and would notbe allowed in any casinoor card room in theworld. Raisesmustbe announced first: ‘Raise’, andtheneitherthe amountof theraisedeclaredor the chips putinto thepot in onemotion. Therule is designed to prevent people makingone declaration, waiting fora reaction, then alteringtheirplay. Bestpracticeis to declare ‘Raise’, countout your chipsand putthemin thepot in onemoti on.Or you cansay, ‘Raise200’ , andthenadd your chips in asyou like until you’ve putthe 200in thepot.

H

TABLE TALK

The wrong way

Playersmust notdisclos e whatcards they have until the showdown.This ruleappliesto playerswho have folded. Theboard shows K-K-K-A-6and youraise all-in. Your opponentlooks at hisA-J and wondersif youhave been slowplaying theKing all thistime.You stare eachother down, then some muppet says, ‘I knew I shouldn’t have folded thatKing’. Talking about hands you’renot playing inis notonl y badformbutis distractingand annoyingand will prejudice thechancesof those playing.Likewise, showingyour cards to anyone beforethe showdown,even if they areno longer inthe hand,is poor form.Pok eris about patience– justwait two minutesunti l theendof thehand .

O M E

G

A M E S

HOUSE RULES Enforce these basic poker rules. They minimise arguments and make thegame flowsmooth ly.

MINIMUM BETS AND RAISES Thebig bli nd is theminim um amo untyou canbet. If theblind s are25-50then any betafterthe flo p mustbe atleas t 50. Ra isesalso have rul es.Any raise must be the same size or greate r tha n the previo us rai se or bet.

SOFT PLAYING

AVOIDING PITFALLS Everplay edone of those gamesof Monopolywith your familywhere,by the end of the night, no-oneis talking to eachother?Well,if you don’t manage it right, your poker nightcoul d end up justliketha t,too. It’sa game whereyou are tryingto stitcheach other up forreal money. It’snot only importantto get the mec me chani an cso cs oftthegame egam e rrigh g t,t, but ut vital to considerthe human equation. Sotry notto get too seri er oousor usor ta taun unt ot othe errs s aabou outt tthe e ir rppla ayor y oruc luck. .

PERSONALITY CLASHES

ACTING OUT OF TURN

Don’t go easy on frie nds, family and spouses. It’s collusion andagains t thespiri t of an honest po ker gam e.If you get ina pot wit h them youshoul d tryand take their chips off them wit h the same det ermina tio n as youwould anyone else.

Takea momentto considerwho you’re Noviceplay erswillact outof turn inviting toplay.And thefirst question fairly frequently.Of course, it’s to askyourselfis, canthey afford it?If annoyingfor therestof thetabl e but they can’t afford to lose, they can’t you’llhav e tobe a bitsymp athetic RABBIT afford to play.You aren’tin it to take andexpl ainthe rules.Folding outof someone’s last£20 andthe turnis binding.Playersarenotallowed HUNTING atmospherecan reallysour if someone to fishthei r cardsout of themuck . Most pot s arewon unc ontested. goes genuinelybrokeat thetable. Players whoare eithercalli ngor You don’t getto seethe river, the Likewise, if you were thinking of raising outof turn,or both,clear ly tur n, or someti meseve n theflop. invi nv tting‘that bloke fromdown aren’t paying enough attentionand ‘Canwe see whatthe turnand thepub’who once gotbarr edfor after a few warningsthe rule should river would have been?I want to the putting hisfist through thefruit bethat they will beobligedto call putt know if myJ-4 suitedwouldhave machine, perhaps youmight want any raisebeforethem. mac caughta miracl e ful l house.’ No we to rec reconsider. Being sodesperateto getyourchips can’t.It’s calledrabbit hunting. It’s Infact n a , it’s probably a good idea intothe potis usually an obvioussign pointl ess and annoying and slows tostic o stic k to a groupof peoplewho that you’reholdingmonstercards. thegame down. allkno w each otherso there’sless Laugh at theculprit andwatch Good luckwithyourfirstgame potentia potent a l fora blow-upwhen player everyonefold round thetable.They – aboveall enjoy yourself and don’t X takeseveryone’smoney. Xta ese won’t make thatmistakeagain! worryif you lose.


119

S L L E T R E K O P

How o sE poR t TELLS P OtK Reading tells may not be as enigmatic a skill as the movies would have us believe, but we can glean a vast amount of information from a player’s face and body language. Deciphering these tells will give you a huge edge

A

TELL, IN POKER PARLANCE, is any behaviour that betrays something about your play or the strength of your hand. It’s a common device in poker films, where a tell usually takes the form of a chronic physicaltic or a bizarre tendency to bleed from the eyeballs. In reality tells are a bit more subtle than this, but they do exist and they can reveal a great deal about a foe’s state of mind. Over the next six pages we’re going to lead you through the complex world of Sphysical behaviour and explain how to spot E L I tells that convey either high or low confidence. M M Given that the human body is so complex O Tyou could literally write reams on the

120


physiological and psychological reasons for the way we act. However, for our purposes there are three main principles to keep in mind when it comes to physical tells. Firstly, all the tells we’re looking at are governed by the ‘limbic’ system – the part of the brain that governs involuntary behaviour. Although this doesn’t mean that tells can’t be faked, it does mean that a player’s initial reaction – however quick or subtle – is truthful because they have no control over it. The second principle is that reliable tell-reading can only take place if you have established baseline behaviour. In other words, what does that person normally do and how do they tend to deviate from this pattern? Lastly, remember

that high confidence doesn’t necessarily mean a player has the nuts, or even a hand that beats you – simply that they are happy with their holding. As a warning, note that each of the low confidence tells may not mean too much individually. However, when they appear in clusters it is a good indication that someone is lying. Note, too, that the most honest part of the body, and the place you’ll get the most accurate information from, is the feet. This can pose a problem at the poker table as it’s not often easy to see your opponents’ feet. The least honest parts of the body include the mouth, eyes and face. So tread carefully and try to catch the tells as early as possible.

1 STEEPLING

2 TILTED HEAD

Oneof themost accepted gestures indicating high confidence andpoweris the ‘steeple’. Watch politicians like Hillary Clintonand they can steepledozen s of times during the courseof a speech.In the gesture, thefingert ipsof each hand touch thecorresp onding digits of theother handwhile pointingupwards. Although it seems like a fairlyobviou s physical manifestation, a poker playermay only steeple momentarily,so youneed a keeneyeto see it.Don’ t confuse upwards steepling with a steeple that is directed forward. This hasa very different meaning andacts like a defensivebarrier betweenthe playerdoing it and whoeverelse is present.

Whenever we’recomfortable or interested in a particular situation, wetend to tiltour heads.Physi ologically weare exposing thevulner able carotid artery, therebyconveyingthe ideathat a weare very comfortable.In courtship, tthe tilt of the headis a flirtatiousgest ure expressing an interest in someone. Don’t e confuseit withaltern ately tilting thehead c fromsideto sideà laGus Hansen. Thisis more an expressionof uncertainty.

P O

K E

S L L E T E C N E D I

R T

E L L S

Researchsuggeststhat women indulge in more head-tiltingat thetable thanmen.

Watch tinyurl.com/tells1 forthe perfectexam ple of a steeple.The hand involves Ada mm LeLe vyvy anandPhil P He Hel mulmut ah at the2008 WSOPmain event.Levyhas thenuts utswwhe enHe n Hell mumut t hebet tsont s on theriverand er ver an as he decideswhat to do next, he doesa split-second steeplebefor e clasping hishan ds(poss ibly inan attempt tocov er itup).

F N O C H G I H

3 SMILING

4 LEANING FORWARDS

A smileis oneof our mostnatu ral and indicative forms of communication andif youcatchsomeon e smiling youcan usually assumethey areprett y happy withtheir hand/flop. However,it’s crucialto be able to differentiate betweena real anda fake smile. A genuine smile involves theorbicul arisoculi muscle,whichraises thecheeksand causescrow’ s feet to appear around our eyes. Research suggests wedo notcontra ct thismuscl e whensmili ng as a deliberate gesture – such a reaction is only triggered bygenuin e spontaneousemoti ons.

Itmayseem like themost obviousgesture in theworld,but when wehavea positive interest in something wetry toget closer by leaningin towards it.Some players try to disguisethis gesture by pretending they are re-adjusting their seatingposition, butthis ut usually only serv er es to highlight it.

Test yourabil ityto spota fakesmi leat tinyurl.com/tells2. . .

In thisnotori ous half-a-million dollar oll hand between GusHansenand us Daniel l Negreanu onHigh Ne Stak ta es Poker(tinyurl. com/tells o 3), watch Kid Pok oker leanforw ardwhen en he e thinkshis fullhouse e isgoodon g the turn.


121

S L L

5 EYEBROW ARCHING

6 PUPIL DILATION

Whenwe’r e attractedto someoneor happy to see thepers onin front ofus, ourrea ctionis toarchour eyebrows, evenbefore we’ve spokena word.Transposed to thepoker table,this gesture is definitive proof that a player likes,for example,his holecardsor howthe flop has turned out(unles s there’ssome seriousflirtinggoingon at thetable) . Thereasonwhy thismove mentis so foolproof as a highconfide ncetell is that it happensautom atically. Thedow nsideis thatbeca use itlast s barelya fifthof a second,tryi ngto pick upon itis verydiffi cult.

Whenour pupils ‘dilate’ it is usually a response toa light changeor becausewe areattra cted to someone or something. Although spottingit isnot the easiest task, if youdo you canbe surethatthe player involved likeshis cards.Pupil dilationis an involuntaryresponse causedby theiris dilator muscle and impossible to control.

E T R E K O P

S L L E T E C N E D I

According to studies, theeyeb rowarch,or eyebrow flash, is themost instantlyrecogn isable non-verbal greeting that humansuse. Check outthis hand fromPoker AfterDark(see tinyurl.com/tells4) andlook outfor themoment when HowardLeder er gives awaythe strength of hishand witha split-second eyebrowraise.Watc h hiseyeb rows carefullyafterthe K Ú hitsthe river.Leder er alsofeign s disinterest (see tellnumbe r 8 below) byanimat edly talkingto theother players about boxing.

Naturalpupil size variesfrom person topers onso keepin mind theperson’ s base level.

7 HAPPY FEET Although youwill see ee most physical tell e ss in theface, neckor bodyofa nec play p ay er, the most ‘hon hon est’ area is actuall ctu y the feet. ‘Happy Hap ’ bouncing fee eet area reliable indi ndiccator of a play lay er feeling ex xc cite t d about a sit tuuation or a hand. . You don’t even hav etos e to eseethe e ee feet them emsesel vesvesas as t ethemovem movemententwill w tra rannsmit to moving shoulders,hands or torso. If thebouncin g suddenly stop to s, it may be a ‘freezing’respon se,indica tingthat they arebluffin g.

F N O C H G 8 FEIGNING DISINTEREST I H Oneof thethemesexplo redin

Mike Caro’sseminalCaro’sBook of Poker Tellswas that ‘weak means strong

Some people have a disposition to ‘happy’ feet, so make sure you establish their baseline behaviour first.

that overacting,or ‘Hollywooding’, isone ofthe key traitsof the inexperienced player.

andstrongmeansweak’ . Tellsexper t Caro arguesthat feigneddisint erest is If theplaye r’s head is turned away an attempt to appear asnon-thr eatening buttherestof hisbodysee msto asposs ible whena player has a bighan d. be involved in thehand, he is probably Annie Dukehas previously commented feigning disinterest

122


9 THUMB DISPLAY

P O

1 NECK MASSAGE

K E

S L L

Thisindicatorfallsinto the category of self-touching. Oftenif you see playersput theirfing erto their mouth, scratch their neckor touch their face they’re doing thisto ease anxietyas they needsome self-comforting. Ata pokertabl e ifyousee thesesig ns, whichaga inwill usually comein clusters, it’snot too much of a stretch to determine that your opponentis anxiousabouttheir holding and decidingwhet herto carryon inthe handor not. Evenif they dodecid e tocont inue atthispoin t,your opponentwill likelyfold to continued pressure.

R T

E L L S

Thistell is particularly strong if your opponent deliberates fora longtime over any given decision . .

Accor ording ngto to for orme merFBI r FBIage agentJoe nt JoeNavar Navarro, ro,one one ooftthemost e most prevalentsigns of highconfide nceis the‘thumbdispla y’. Thumbs up denote that theplaye r is confidentabouthis hand. Navarrosay s the thumbscan goup and downduri ngthe courseof a hand, reflecting exactly howthe playeris feeling about hishand. Likeman y high confidencetel ls, the thumbsmayonlygo up for a second or two – theactionis involuntary. Psychologists who have studiedhandshakesrecommend extending thehand with a thumb ‘up’to convey confidence.

10 BETTER POSTURE Ifa player isin a slouchedposi tion,look s athis holecard s,then suddenly sits up…watchout! He’sproba blynot too unhappy with hisholding . No doubt a reflex borne of allthose no-nonsenseprimary school teachersbarkin g at us to situp straight,assumi ng an upright postureis oneof themost obviousway s of showingwe areatten tive and interested. However, given the universalityof this s gesture andthe eas see with whichit can be e mimicked, it’sone of themost common on tobeusedasa reverse tell. Watch this hand from the2004 WSOP (tinyurl.com/tells5) 5 andnote howMike Matusow’s posture changesafterhe movesall-in.

T E E C N E D I F N2 NOSE SCRATCHING O C W O L

Blood rushes to thenose when people lie,and this extra blood may make thenose itchy. The resultis that people whostret ch thetruth tendto either scratch their noseor touchit more often. Beware though– thisis oneof themore well-knownand obviouslow confidence tells. Savvyopponents whostart scratching thei e rnos r nosemay e may ebe trytry nging to reverse to reverse thetel l toappe arwea k.If itis theonl y low confidence tellthey’ re giving offbe very cautious. When a person islyin g the nose may swell insize andalso become redder.


123

S L L

3 FREEZING

4 LIP-LICKING

This isa natural human response to danger and something we’ve donefor millions of years to ensuresurviv al from predatorsstronger than ourselves. . Ata poker table this freeze response usuallyhappens when someoneis bluffing. An opponent whois bluffingwill attemptto stay as still as possiblebecaus e they don’t wantto do anything thatmay bring attention to themselves.It is very important to notea player’s response immediately after they make their betas theinitial(limbi c) response willbe to freeze but after a few secondsthe thinking part of the brainkick s inand informsthem thatthey should actstrong . In thiscase many players willfreez e and then become more animated.However , , baselinebehav iouris crucial her–e –orforinstanc nstance,GusHa e, GusHansenand nsen an nnAnnetteObrest ad aretwo proswho tend to ‘freeze’ after every action they take.

Lying takes more effort thantellin g the truth and causes stress. Lip-lickingand co ressionis anothersign of stressand comp liarsusual ly tightentheir lipsor frequently licktheir lips. As Joe Navarrostatesin Read ’Emand Reap, ‘If,afte r glancingat her hole ’E cards,a player does a quicklip press,you can ca besurethatsom e ething isnot good…thusit isprob s ably fair toassu methe player hasa weakhand. ’ Soif you catcha player doinga w momentary lippre ssand they come infor a m raise, three-betthem withimpuni ty. ra

E T R E K O P

S L L

T E E C N E D I 5 TALKING FEET F N O C W O L

WatchSammyFarha’s face at the 30-secondmark in this High Stakes Pokerclip: tinyurl.co . m/tells7. .

Checkoutthishandfromthe2008WSOPmaineve ntfinaltabl e (see clip at tinyurl.com/tells6). Notice howstill Ivan Demidovis after moving all-in againstDennisPhillip s, knowinghe probably hasthe worst hand.

Evernotic edhow you standif you get talking to someoneyou don’t really want to?Your feet point away,your heels elevate and youput more weight on your toes.Thisis a sprinting stance and meansyou arerea dy tomakea sharpexi t.At the tableyou’ llnoti cea similar phenomenon.If someoneis bluffingor nothappy with their holding,they willfind it difficultto plant their feet and their toesmay point away. Remember, thefeet areconside redthe mosthones t par p a r toof theeobod y.y.

6 FLIGHT The classic example fof flight is leaningaway fromthe table.In life our reaction to something we don’t like is wishing to escape orget awayfromit. . Think about whensomeon e says something thatcuts a bit close tothebon e – yourecoilin disgustand lean away. Ata poker table whenwe’refacing something we don’t like our reaction is thesame. Haveyoueve r faceda tough decisionand leant backto contemplate? Or closed your eyes while clickingthe callor all-in buttononline? We’re trying to putdistanc e between thedecisio n and urse ourselv ves.es. InthisclipScot ty Nguyen runs a big bluff onHumb erto Brenes andhasto get upfromthe tableas Brenescont empla tes his action. Watch it at: tinyurl.com/tells8.

124


P O

7 COVERING THE MOUTH

K E

Thinkbackto whenyouwerea kid andyou did something naughty. Your natural reaction was to cover your mouth almostto prevent thelie escaping.The sameis true atthe poker table. You’ll often seea player fleetingly cover their mouth, although some players have taken to covering their

R

mouths everyhand, mindfulof giving offinform ation – PhilHellm uthand Brian Townsend are good examples.

T

E L L

Inthishandfro m theMillion DollarCash Game, watch Brian Townsendfrom about the1 minute55 mark (tinyurl.com/tells9).

8 AND HOLDSW ING BREATH ALLOWING

S

9 STARING DOWN YOUR OPPONENT Thehuman response to danger T ssometimes manifestsitselfin the s ape sha pe of aggression.A player willoften actaggres ctag sivelyas a deterrent to stop some omeo onefrom takingan action they dislike. For instance, after making a move dislik tthe ey y may stare youdown to intimidate yo ou ua and deteryou fromente ring the pot– a ccla asssic‘stron g means weak’ tell. Verbal aggressionis also a weapon used at the aggr table.Look ta e fora discrepancy between ap pla a yer’s expressionand words,for instanc nst e frowning while saying ‘I’ve gotthe besthand.’ gott

Thisis an extension of thefreez ing low confidence tell.A foe who is lying will tryto stayas anonymous as possible and aswel l as making themselvesas small as possiblewill will oft ofte enhnold holdtheir their breat breath . .you If you give someonea goodstare -down this should become noticeable,as they can’t holdtheir breathfore ver! Alsoit’sthe oppositeof a high confidencetel l,as often whenholdin g a good hand a player’s heart rate willincrea se andthey’ ll breathe more heavily.

Inthishandfro mHigh Stakes Poker, Hellmuth bluffsMatusow off pocket King n s while holding 7-2. Hellmuth,who iis si silent formost of thehand, suddenly tta a lks onthe river and asksMik e how much u he has left: tinyurl.com/tells10.

Animalsin the wi ld al so hol d theirbrea th to redu ce the ir chan ces of bein g obse rve d by a pred ato r/th eir prey.

10 BLINKING ‘Wedon’t blink at random,’ saysDr Gifford-Jones,a Canadian medical practitioner.‘We blink at times that are psychologically important. You have listened to a question, youunders tand it, now you taketimeoutfor a blink. Blinks arepunctu ation marks. Their timing is what’sgoing on in your head.’ When liars aresearc hingfor an answerto an awkward question, their thoughtprocesses speed up.In this situation,lyingis frequently associatedwith blinkingand our rate of blinkingseemsto correlate to theamountof mentalstresswe areunder , so it standsto reason that if someoneis bluffingtheir rate of n blinkingwill ncrea incr se. eas Ree. mem Remer emb t er oug thou , gh, an opponentmay be blinkingexce ssively becausethey’v ’ e moved- all-in with a goodbut not great hand anddon’t want a call, notbecaus e they’re out-and-outbluffi ng. According to studies, a human’s normal rate of blinkingis about 20 blinksper minute, but itcan increaseto fouror five timesthatfigur e whenwe feelunderpre ssure.


125

O R P A E K I L L A E D

How to de al LIKE A PRO Ever wanted to impress your mates at a home game or earn money dealing at your local club? Read on…

E

VERYONE KNOWS HOW PAINFUL it can be waiting and watching as the cack-handed beginner at your table takes ages to gather the cards together, before spilling the deck and exposing cards when it’s their turn to deal. But even the home game veteran or regular club-goer in self-dealt tourneys can get it horribly wrong too. Forget what you think you know about correct practice in the field of shuffling and dealing – we enlisted the help of Nikki Letran, who has dealt at World Poker Tour final tables and in high-stakes cash games, to explain the fine art of dealing. So grab a deck of cards – well, several decks – clear the doilies off the dining table, lay some felt and get ready to learn how to shuffle, pitch, burn and turn until you are dealing like a pro. And when your mates turn up at your next home game, they’ll look at you with a new-found respect. Shuffle up and deal…

S E L I M M O T

126


A

WASH AND GO

1

D

E

2

A L

Atthestart ofyourgamespread thedeck outon thebaizeas shownon theleft so playerscanverifyall cards arethere,thendo thesamefacedown.Thisistocheckthedeck isallthesamecolourandtherearenomarked cards.Tospreadhold theleftsideofthedeck withyourthumb,placeyour index finger on topandyourother fingerson theright side. Putthe deckon thebaizeandswiftlyspread outin a semi-circle,releasin g cardswithyour thumbas you go.It’lltakea bitof practise andwon’tworkon hardslippysurfaces.

L

I K E A P

3

R O

Scrambleall thecards to perform

1 the‘wash ’. Do thisaftereveryhand. Collectall thecar dsin and show 2-3 themfaceout to theplay ers.Tap the deckon the tableandrun yourfinge rs overthe topto ‘box’ it.

4

Hold the deckas shownin (3) and 4 split thedeck in half,by simply sliding two sectionsapart .

1

2

C

STRIP AND CUT

Aftershuffli ng,you must then strip the deck.So byhold ingthecard s inone hand, take small sectionsoff thetop with your otherhandto lay on top ofeachothe r on the table.Then repeatthe shuffle.

1

Now you needto cutthecard s.With the 2-3 boxed deckin front of you, simplycut the deck awayfro m you and puttheothe r half ontop tofinis h off.

3

4

1

2

B

THE SHUFFLE

Hold thetwohal ves ofthe deck close 1 together as shown aboveand liftthe corners with both thumbsso thecardsbend slightly in preparationfor theshuffle .

cards should interlace over thetop of each other. Itshou ldtakeno more thana second or twofor theproces s to be complete.

3

Holdingthe cards in place, pushthe two

4 halvesof thedeck together to ‘box’ the In a swift,smoothmotionlet thecards 2-3 filter over each thumb;the corners of the cards.Repeatthe whole process. THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO POKER

127

O R

D

P A E K I L L A E D

THE DEAL

Holdthe deckin yourpalm with your index finger wrapped aroundthe bottomedge to protectthe deck from falling. You shouldalso hold it so that it’stiltin g downwards towardsthe table so whenthe cards are pitchedit will reducethe chance ofexpos ing a card. Now withthe hand you’re holdingthe deckuse your thumb to slidethe top cardoffandgra b the topcorne r withyourotherhand. Hold it withthumband indexfinger as shown in thepictur e andinstea d of just tossingthe card outuse your middlefinger, which is sittingjust behind thecard,to flickthe card out. Themomen t your middlefinger flicks thecard,relea se withyour other two fingersand thecards shouldglide,rathe r than flop, through theair onto thebaize .

1

1

2

Thiswill take a lotof practise,

2 sosit ata tablewit h a baize or felt surface andmakesure there’s a rail of some description to stop the cards spilling alloverthe floor.Now grab a deck of qualityplast ic cards (Copags, Kems) and pitch,pitch, pitch.When you’ve mastered doing one ortw o ata time, build upa rhythmand getthat middlefinger flicking the cards out ina low arc over andoveragain . Also, try pitching into a hat,to get usedto dealingat theright trajectoryand at thesame spot.

3 3

Onceyou’re adept at thepitch , startdealing to several positions at thetable andbuildup speed.The cardsshouldland right in front of each player’s chips.

3

E

PUSH-OFF

As an alternative to pitching, onetype of deal you willsee ina lot ofUK cardrooms,is the push-and-drag offthe topof thedeck. Hold thedeck firmlyand using twoor three fingersof theotherhand simply push down and draga cardfro m the top ofthe deck.

1

Slide thecardsout to each player. This is

2 easy on a small roundtable,whereyou

canreachever yone,but if you’re playingon a properpoke r table where it’shardto reach seats three andeight there’s a chance thecard will catch airand be exposed.

128


1

2 1

F

FLOP IT

1

2

over and,with your other fingers, spread thecards out tothe rightso they stayin line andareeve nly spaced out. You’ll need to trydoin g this a few times toloo k like a pro and it requires a baize or felt surface to workproper ly, otherwise thecards will slide around.

Finally, after betting 4 is complete, burnand turnthe river card inthe sameway . Theboar d is nowcomple te and oncethe lastbetti ng round is over thehand is finished.Now sweep theboar d up ina tidy way,mixwithall the muckedcards and burn cards andstart the‘wash’ processall over again.

A L L

I K

Themost commonroute into becominga dealer is through casinos, of which there are now several big chains in theUK. Gala,Grosvenor andStanley casinos from time to time offer jobs fortraineeand experienced dealers

2 gentlyflip thecards

Place thesecondburn 3 card at a slight angle ontopof the firstand expose the turn card to the rightof the flop.The dealer taps thetab lewithone handbefor e theflop, turn and river to indicatethe potis correctand that they’reabout to exposea card. Thisis theplayer s’ last cha nce tosay the pot is wrong.

E

BECOME A DEALER Finally make cash from poker

After shuf flingand 1 deali ng every pla yer two card s, and pre- flop bet tingis comp lete , it ’s ti me to seethe flop . Ho ldi ng thedeckin one han d, bur n onecardto the left , thentake thr ee card s of f the to p on e ata ti me andplac e fac e do wn on to p ofeac h ot he r ina ti dy fa shion , so that onl y one cardis visi ble.

Usingyour thumb

D

E A P

R O

Mar k Briggs hasbeen involved in thegamin g ind ustry si nce 19 96and isnow ma na ger of Di ala De ale r (www.dialade aler.com). Briggssays, ‘Asa casino trainee, you’ll receive your education in-house for abo ut sixweek s, usually in Roule tte, Bla ckj ackand Stud poker. These discip lines wil l get youused to handli ng chips, getting to knowing the righttechniques , andmakingsurethe bets arecorre ct. It takes abo ut 10-12 monthsto feel rea llycomf ort abl e and co nfi de ntat de al ing atpaceand asyougainmor e exper ience youcan then progress to other gam es tha t thecasin o runs, like thecardr oom …’ Mar k says tha t dur ingtrain ingstage s thepay is usually minimum wage, butincre ase s whe n youquali fy andas yougain exper ience.As a ful l-t imetrain ee you might expect an annualsalaryof abo ut £12,00 0, dep end ingon thecasin o andarea.

GOING CLUBBING

3

4

Sowhathapp ens ifyou do n’t wa ntto workin a ca si no , andjust want to dea l poker in clubs? Roy Houghton,ownerof Londo n poker club Loose Cannonand oneof themost exper ienceddealer s in the UK,says , ‘Wi th theamoun t of poker tourna ments being runat themomen t, the realway s seems to be a sho rta ge of dea ler s – I’dbe interested in running a tra ining school forpeopleinte restedin lea rni ng how to dea l, shuffleand pus h car ds aro undthe table.’ Houghton admits, though, that there aren’t many full-time positions in private clubs, but offersthis adv ic e:‘If I wa s togo intoit now I’d le arnhowto de al but ha veano therjob,and thenfit itin ona cas ua l ba si s.’ So on a part -time basis wha t could dea ler s expect to make fora shift?Hough tonsays , ‘Atourn ament dea lercould ear n anywhe re between £100-£150a night [a shift is typ ica lly8pm-2 am]. Cash game dea ler s in clubs canearn very good money. If youweredoingit on a ful l-timebasis[sev era l nightsa week,8-12 hour shifts ] youcouldearn maybe£500- £800 a week.’ And that’sbefore tips..

TRAINING Beforeyou commence work youwill need to gai n a lic ence from the Gambling Commission. This is usually awarded onc e youhavecompl eted ‘onthe job’ tra ini ng.Tra ini ng canlast six-to-eightweek s andcan be in-house at a cas inoor at a tra ini ng fac ili ty. To check forUK vacanc ies you should contac t the Britis h Casino Association. Of course , youcouldteachyours elfby rea ding ourguide and thenoffe r todealin ca shgame s atyourloc al club. Formore information on job and traini ng opportunities check out www.dialadealer.com, www.loosecannonpoker. com and www.thefullhouse.co.uk. Otheruseful links: www.grosvenor-casinos.com, www.galacasinos.co.uk, www.stanleycasinos.co.uk.


129

S E M A N K C I N D N A H

Poke r h and NICKNAMES Poker is awash with names, phrases and strange terms. And poker starting hands in particular have been given a whole range of pseudonyms. If you’re

R E K O P

new to the game here’s your chance to learn some of the parlance… A-A

Pocket Rockets; American Airlines; Bullets Big Slick Little Slick; Big Chick A-8 Dead Man’s Hand (the hand held by Wild Bill Hickok when he was shot dead) A-3 Ashtray; Baskin Robbins (31 flavours) K-K Cowboys; King Kong K-Qos Mixed Marriage K-Qs Marriage K-J Kojak K-9 Canine; Fido Q-Q Siegfried & Roy; Ladies Q-J Maverick Q-7 Computer Hand (from claims that this, on average, is the median of all hold’em starting hands) Q-3 Gay Waiter, San Francisco Waiter (Queen witha tray) J-J Knaves; Hooks; Fishhooks; Jay Birds J-A Jackass; Ajax

7-2

A-K

A-Q

6-6 5-5 4-4 4-5 3-9

3-8

3-3 2-2

Beer Hand (if you’re playing poker’s worst hand, it’s time to head for the bar...) Route 66; Kicks Speed Limit; Presto Magnum Jesse James; Colt 45 Jack Benny (refers to a running gag about the late comic’s age) Raquel Welch (said to refer to the size of the One Million Years B.C. actress’s most impressive assets) Crabs (looks like two crustaceans on their sides) Ducks; Pocket Swans

J-5 J-4

Motown; Jackson Five Flat Tyres (as in what’s a Jack for?) Dimes 10-5 Woolworth’s (because it was traditionally a chain of 5- and 10-cent stores); Five & Dime 10-4 Over And Out; Roger That; Convoy; Good Buddy 10-2 Doyle Brunson (because he became world champion twice with the hand) 10-10

9-8 9-9 9-5 9-2

8-8

7-7

7-8 7-6

Oldsmobile Popeyes; Phil Hellmuth Dolly Parton Montana Banana (as in it’s more likely bananas will grow in chilly Montana than this hand will make money) Snowmen; Two Fat Ladies; Doggie Balls Sunset Strip; Mullets; Saturn; Hockey Sticks RPM Union Oil

K C O T iS

130


The Ultimate Guide To Poker - 2009 UK.pdf

Recommend Documents