When to Reraise in a Tournament

In tournament play, the best players in the world usually won’t reraise a bet before the flop. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t certain situations where it’s appropriate to do just that. It’s okay, for example, to reraise when you’re short-stacked. This is the most obvious situation for a pre-flop reraise. In this case, you’ll likely be reraising for all of your chips when you do. If your opponent folds, you’ll probably increase your stack size significantly, and that’s not a bad result.A reraise in this situation is effective because it limits the field. With any luck, you’ll get to play the hand heads-up; that will increase your odds of tournament survival. Remember, even with a hand as strong as pocket queens, you’d much prefer having just one opponent to beat.You can also reraise when you’re out of position with a strong hand. In no limit Hold’em, position equals power. One sure way to neutralize an opponent’s positional advantage is by reraising before the flop.For example, say a player from late position raises when you hold pocket jacks in the small blind. A reraise here is often better than a call. That’s because pocket jacks are tough to play after the flop and even more difficult to play if you have to act first. By making an appropriately large pre-flop reraise, the hand becomes easier to play since you’ll likely be committed to the pot regardless of the flop. Now, if the flop comes A-K-10, you’d obviously have to consider laying down the jacks. If the flop came Q-6-2, however, you’d want to continue to bet after the flop even though there’s an overcard on the board.It’s also a good idea to reraise against bad players who tend to overplay hands like J-J, A-Q, or even A-K. While you should occasionally slowplay big pairs like pocket aces or kings in deep-stack tournaments, it’s simply unnecessary and not recommended when playing against bad players. Go ahead and reraise your big pocket pairs against these players. A weak player who raises with A-K will probably respond to your reraise by shoving all of his chips in before the flop -- with the worse hand.You can also reraise pre-flop when you have position and want to define an opponent’s hand, particularly if there’s an aggressive player at the table.Say you’re sitting on the button with a not-so-strong K-J and an aggressive player raises. Reraising pre-flop in this situation will help you take control of the hand and will reveal information about the strength of your opponent’s hand.If he folds, he was trying to steal. If he reraises, he’s probably got you dominated. If he calls, assume he’s got a relatively strong hand, something like pocket eights or A-Q. Finally, consider reraising before the flop if you have a solid table image. At some point, your opponents will see that you rarely reraise before the flop. That observation provides the perfect opportunity to bluff by reraising with a trash hand. Even a hand as weak as 7-2 offsuit can be a winner if you make a pre-flop reraise. But you’ve got to have a rock-solid poker image to make this play work.Important: Don’t overuse this play. When you do, be prepared to abort mission if you get any resistance at all. And only try this play if it won’t put at risk a large percentage of your chips.Learn more at PokerVT.

Bankroll Management By Craig Marquis

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Bankroll Management

Craig Marquis

October 24th, 2008

When I first started playing poker, I had no idea what bankroll management was. I just sat in whichever games were open at the stakes I wanted to play, even if I barely had enough money in my bankroll to cover the buy-in. I worked my way up the ranks by jumping to the next level as soon as I had enough money to pay for a single buy-in. This strategy worked amazingly well for a while, but once I reached stakes where the quality of play was much higher than I was used to, my lack of bankroll management almost proved disastrous.

After playing thousands of hands and building a bankroll large enough to play in almost any game I wanted, I managed to lose almost all of it in the span of a few days. Many professional poker players end up going broke multiple times in their careers, and this is almost always due to a lack of bankroll management. The players who will be around forever are the ones who have learned this lesson.

Although painful, some good did come from these experiences: I learned the importance of bankroll management. Now instead of playing at the highest limits that my bankroll allows, I play in lower stakes games where I still feel like I’m playing for a significant amount of money. Playing as low as $2/$4, $3/$6, and $5/$10 No-Limit, I’m able to play a completely objective game. Because I’m not afraid to lose a $1,000 in a single hand, I can make a lot of moves that I probably wouldn’t make at higher stakes and if I fail the loss hardly affects me. This gives me an enormous advantage over opponents who would be devastated by a $1,000 loss.

There’s an old saying that goes "scared money is dead money," and it’s true. You simply can’t consistently win at poker if you’re playing with money you’re afraid to lose. To combat this, I like to play in games with buy-ins 40 to 50 times smaller than the size of my bankroll. Ten buy-in downswings are common in poker, and it’s comforting to be prepared for such variance.

By observing proper bankroll management and playing at stakes your bankroll can handle, you’ll be able to limit the impact variance has on your game. You’ll be able to endure a ten buy-in downswing without going on tilt and you won’t be crushed when you hit the cashier button and see that your balance has dropped dramatically.

One of the biggest problems with playing at stakes that are too high for your bankroll is not being able to minimize the impact of variance. If you choose to play in a game that could wipe out your entire bankroll by losing four buy-ins, you’re not going to be able to get involved in many situations where you only have a slight edge. Playing with this sort of restraint isn’t good for a poker player.

In an attempt to lower variance, poker players who are under rolled for the game they’re in give up a lot of their EV because they’re playing scared. If you happen to spot one of these players, you can easily exploit their fear.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. I recently played heads up against a player who was obviously playing with scared money. He was one of those players looking for an excuse to fold unless he could show the nuts. Taking advantage of his tendency to fold all but the very best hands, I picked every marginal situation I could find and attacked. Any time I found a spot where I believed he thought I couldn’t possibly be bluffing, I would do just that.

In one such hand he bet $150 on the river when the board showed a pair and three cards to a flush. There was $300 in the pot, and I moved all in for my last $300. It was only $150 more for him to call, but he folded because it was a spot where he must have thought there was no possible way I could be bluffing. Discovering this weakness in his game made for a very profitable session for me, but I wouldn’t have discovered it if I hadn’t been willing to shove all my chips into the middle in marginal situations – I never would have done that if the stakes had been higher or I had a smaller bankroll.

If you are properly bankrolled for whichever game you choose to play, you’ll be able to make the optimal play in any situation that might occur without having to decide if it’s a high-variance move or not. By playing in games where the loss of ten buy-ins in a row would hardly put a dent in your bankroll, you’ll be able to maximize your EV, enjoy less dramatic swings in your bankroll, and celebrate an increase in your win rate, which in poker is a recipe for success.

Online Timing Tells

Tips from the Pros

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Online Timing Tells

Taylor Caby

October 15th, 2008

When playing poker online, one of the most important pieces of information you can pick up on is the "timing tell." Whenever one of your opponents gets involved in a big hand, you should always pay attention to how long it takes him to make his decision because it will often give you a clue about the strength of his hand.

Here’s an example of how important a timing tell can be. Let’s say you’re playing in a $1/$2 No-Limit Hold ’em cash game, and everyone folds to you on the button. You raise with A-8 suited, and the big blind calls. The flop comes 8-7-2, and your opponent quickly checks. You have top pair with top kicker, which is a very good hand heads up, so you check behind, hoping to get some value out of the hand on the turn and the river.

A 4 falls on the turn, and your opponent checks quickly once again. You bet $10 into the $14 pot. Previously your opponent has acted very quickly, calling and checking within a second or two, but now he takes his time making a decision. This should be like an alarm bell going off in your head, telling you that he has made a big hand.

After letting his time bank nearly run all the way down, your opponent decides to raise, but only for a small amount. This is another indication that he has a big hand and is hoping to get paid off, but it was the timing tell that should have tipped you off first. By taking so long to make a decision on the turn, he deviated from the normal timing of his actions. He was obviously thinking about much more than whether he should call, raise, or fold; he was trying to decide the best way to extract the most money from you. Now you know that your opponent has a big hand, most likely a set or a straight, and you’d be wise to fold.

Now let’s say you’re at the same table, and a player limps in under the gun. Everyone folds, and you have J-4 in the big blind. This isn’t much of a hand, but you should still take your time before checking. By acting like you are possibly considering putting in a raise, you are disguising the strength, or, in this case, the weakness of your hand.

The flop comes 9-6-3, completely missing your hand, but once again you should take your time before checking. If your opponent instantly fires a bet at the pot, that should tell you he was planning on betting no matter what the flop brought because he couldn’t possibly have had enough time to think about the flop and decide what he was going to do. Because of the speed of his bet and the nature of the flop, there’s a good chance your opponent failed to improve his hand, making this a good spot to put in a large raise. Even though you have nothing, there’s a good chance your opponent also has nothing and will fold.

Another timing tell you should be aware of has to do with the auto check/fold option. Players who use this option are giving their opponents information about the type of cards they’re likely to have and the way they play certain hands. By using the auto check/fold option, these players are telling you that they usually play their hands in a straightforward manner. Such players are more likely to play their hands based solely on the strength of the cards dealt to them, rather than taking into account all the other factors involved in a poker hand.

As important as it is to pick up on these timing tells when you’re playing online, it’s equally important to avoid giving off such tells yourself. Oftentimes you will know instantly whether you want to bet or call with a certain hand, but you should always wait a few seconds before acting. By doing this when you don’t have a hand you like, it will allow you in the future to take a little more time to consider the best way to play a hand you do like without tipping off your opponents.

It’s also important to note that some advanced online players will give off reverse timing tells in order to mislead their opponents. Therefore, before giving too much credence to an opponent’s timing tell, you should determine what kind of player he is, an inexperienced player who is genuinely perplexed by the decision he needs to make or a cagey professional trying to set a trap.

A Powerful Tell

Success at poker is ultimately the result of solid fundamentals and the ability to read your opponents’ betting patterns. This is especially true when playing online. But playing live poker is a completely different animal. In this venue, the presence of physical tells can not be overlooked.Picking up a tell -- a hint that a player unknowingly gives that reveals the strength of his hand -- often means the difference between winning and losing a big pot.Most physical tells, however, are notoriously unreliable. What might signify a bluff from one player just might indicate a full house from another. That’s why it’s wrong to generalize physical tells by adhering to profound-sounding statements like, “When a player throws his chips in forcefully, it’s a bluff.” It’s simply not true in all cases.There are, however, some tells that are more reliable than others. One in particular is the habit of glancing at one’s chip stack. It’s powerful because so many players aren’t even aware that they’re doing it. Let me explain.Some players will immediately glance at their chips as soon as the thought of making a bet crosses their mind. Say a player is holdingpocket threes and another three hits on the flop. That player will often take a quick glance at his chip stack as soon as the flop is revealed. It’s like hearing a voice inside your head saying, “Oh, three of a kind. Next step is to bet. Where are my chips?”That’s when you’ll notice the quick glance. Once you find a player who has this habit, it will be the most reliable tell you will ever spot.Now, a player with this tendency might also look at the flop with a blank stare, never once glancing at his chips. That is a tell, too! Since you know that he glances at his chips when he wants to bet, you can infer that when he doesn’t, he has no intention of continuing with the hand. The pot is yours for the taking with a bet.Here’s an example of how picking up on this particular tell can help you avoid being trapped.You make a pre-flop raise with 8c-10c. The player in the big blind calls. The flop comes Jc-7d-3s and your opponent checks to you. With an inside straight draw, you might decide to bluff at the pot. However, you realize that your opponent could be considering a check-raise. Knowing that, the better option is to check, take a free card, and hope to catch a nine to complete your straight. This play would eliminate the worst case scenario where you bet, get check-raised, and then have to fold, potentially costing yourself a huge pot.Here’s where the chip-glancing tell is most valuable.Watch your opponent’s eyes as he sees the flop. If he glanced at his chips before he announced check -- beware! There’s something he likes about that flop. He probably won’t fold to any bet you make. Just check and try to catch a card on the turn.On the other hand, if you are facing a player who habitually glances at his chips when he likes a flop, but doesn’t do it this time -- bet! Chances are he missed the flop. Take the pot right away. Don’t give him a chance to catch a winning card on the turn.The art of reading physical tells isn’t an exact science. But of all the tells you’ll encounter at the poker table, you can pretty much call this one “Old Faithful.”