Strategy

by David “The Maven” Chicotsky

There’s a common theme that we encounter in tournaments, especially towards the endgame, where we have to decide whether to make a play or save our chips for another hand. Many times, these plays are for a substantial percentage of our chips, if not our entire stack. The ever-increasing blinds (in many situations) force us to constantly accumulate chips. This poses two distinct risks: (1) the risk of not accumulating fast enough and having your stack blinded down; (2) the risk of making too many plays in an attempt to accumulate chips, causing you to bust from the tournament.

by Barbara Connors

In a game where aggression reigns supreme, raising with a good hand (or even a not-so-good hand) has become almost automatic for some poker players. Whether your hand is good, bad, or indifferent, it’s always easy to think of reasons to raise: to thin the field, induce a better hand to fold, charge opponents a high price to see the next card, gain information, enhance table image, and of course, the daddy of all reasons, to get more money in the pot when you believe you are favored to win.

by Lou Krieger

This is a continuation of sorts of my recent two-part series on stack sizes (read part 1 and part 2). This time we’ll develop hand values that relate to decisions you might make under conditions defined by a variety of effective stack sizes.

 When You’re Short Stacked. Suppose you’re in a tournament and have only ten big blinds remaining. You can’t sit around and wait for a big pocket pair or Big Slick, because you’re unlikely to be dealt that kind of hand in the few remaining opportunities at your disposal. The effective stack size—the most you can win or the most you can lose—is 10 big blinds. While it’s a lot to you (since it represents your entire equity in this tournament) it might not mean much at all to an opponent with 40 or 50 big blinds in front of him.

About 1985. The conversation goes something like this: “If you want to win at poker, stay out of the spotlight,” a friend named Jackson tells me.

 “How come?” I probe.

 “When you draw attention to yourself,” he explains, “you’re inviting disaster. Players will watch you more closely and spot tells. The right way to win is to be invisible and strike when they least expect it.”

 Let’s examine Jackson’s advice in today’s self-interview.

 Question 1: So, was Jackson right in stating that being invisible is the right way to win?

 Absolutely not!

by David “The Maven” Chicotsky

While playing poker, it’s vital to prompt the question: What convincing indicators do my opponents give about their playing ability? The answer is deduced from several variables. How they look, act, and speak, are such variable examples, and these attributes are just as relevant as player methodology and playing style.

 Observantly judging and categorizing players should allow you to identify the good and bad players at your table. Deciphering what sort of impression a truly clueless donkey gives off will enable you to employ aggressive tactics against your opponents, and launch unanticipated, pointed attacks. Getting inside the mind of a poker donkey will help you beat the bad players, while providing a smokescreen of sorts when playing against good players.

by Diane McHaffie

What is a rock? Mike Caro says it’s “a conservative player who is extremely disciplined and enters very few pots.”

 Many players succeed because they’re rocks at the poker table. But that isn’t exciting enough for some. They frequently think it takes the fun and challenge out of the game. Instead of secure rocks, they’re just loosened stones, tumbling down the hillside in search of excitement. You can potentially win extra money by being more aggressive than a so-called rock, but don’t do it just for thrills.

by Barbara Connors 

The Gap Concept is a term coined by poker author, David Sklansky, to describe the difference in starting-hand standards between the type of hand you need to call a raise, as opposed to the type of hand you need to put in a raise yourself. This concept has become famous as a fundamental part of tournament poker strategy, but the basic idea behind it can apply to ring games as well.

 When you are the first player to raise, there is no evidence yet that anybody else at the table has a particularly strong hand. Moreover, being the first player to show aggression gives you two ways to win the pot: either by making the best hand, or by pushing your opponents out.

by Lou Krieger

Last time we left you making a slightly more-than-half-the-pot $12 wager and your opponent raised $200. You have a pair of queens, an overpair to the Js-10c-6d board, but realize that even if you call his $200 wager, you can expect to see bets on the turn and the river that will put your entire $700 stack at risk. What now?

by Tom McEvoy

 Mental attitude is everything. There’s an old saying: “Quitters never win, and winners never quit.” Where poker tournaments are concerned, this is especially true. I will give you an example of a quitter.

The more you know about poker and the more you master the game, the easier it is to play fancy and still win. Playing fancy is fun. But there are things you need to ponder about choosing unusual tactics in poker. And that’s the subject of today’s self-interview.

 Question 1: Do you play fancy?