I recently played in a $25-50 No Limit Hold’em game online. The hand discussed in this column was interesting because it taught a valuable lesson regarding position, the board cards, and reading betting patterns.
At a full table, the first player decided to limp in (call the big blind rather than raise) from under the gun. The button also called. I was in the small blind holding Qh-8d. I called, too, since I already had half the bet in the pot. The big blind checked.
Four of us took the flop: Qh-Qd-4c. Bingo!
Hoping to pick off a bluff, I tried to disguise my trips by checking. The next two players also checked but the button bet $150. I didn’t raise. Instead, I just called so that I could gauge the interest of the other players.
The player under the gun also called and that had me worried. Yes, I flopped trips but my kicker wasn’t very good.
My thinking was that the original bettor could have had a wide range of hands and might have been trying to steal the pot. Also, the other player probably had a strong hand because he called the first bet even after I had called.
The turn card was the 10s.
I checked again. The players after me also checked so I felt like there was a decent chance that I had the best hand. I’d know soon enough if the limper was planning to check-raise the turn with a better hand than mine. He didn’t.
The river brought the Js. That card filled the straight for anyone with A-K.
The good news, though, was that the jack nullified my kicker. My hand was now Q-Q-Q-J-10 rather than Q-Q-Q-10-8. Still, I took the cautious route and checked.
The first limper bet $400 and the button folded. With $650 already in the pot, I was getting pretty decent odds on my money, about 2.6-to-1.
What’s the right play?
Well, most players in this situation see only the strength of their own hand and think, “I have trips; I have to call.” They act on impulse.
That’s not the right way to act in this situation. It’s much better to break down the hand in a way that allows you to make an educated decision. Take the time to ask yourself two key questions.
Could my opponent have the same hand as me?
Not likely. Remember, he called from first position. Most players under the gun act conservatively. If he had a queen, he’d likely have a ten, jack, king, or ace to go with it. So, a split pot is extremely unlikely.
What hands would my opponent play in this manner that I can beat?
First, try to determine the premium hands that you can beat. Maybe he was slow playing pocket aces or pocket kings before the flop. Those would be the only two big hands that you can beat. On the other hand, if he limped in with big slick, the river card made his straight.
Next, try to figure out how likely it is that your opponent has one of the hands you can beat. If, for example, you think you’ll have the best hand about 40 percent of the time, then the pot would definitely be laying the right price for you to call.
But that wasn’t the case in this hand. In fact, based on the information available, I thought my chances of winning were closer to 10 percent. So, I folded my trips.
The other player, incidentally, had A-Q and would have had the winning hand, but that’s irrelevant.
The important lesson is to slow down, and collect and analyze the available information before you make critical poker decisions. There’s just no need to act impulsively.
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There is no stopping Phil Ivey. At the 2009 WSOP*, Phil showed why he is considered the greatest poker player of all time, by winning a seat at the Main Event final table, 2 bracelets and more than $1.5 million in prize money.
Check out this classic tip from Phil. Ignore the title: this tip should be required reading for all poker players.
125
Don't Read This Tip
Phil Ivey
November 7th 2007
When it comes to advice about poker, my attitude is very simple: seek it out, absorb it, but while you're at the table, forget it.
I'm a firm believer in learning the game by playing the game. I'm not saying there aren't a lot of great resources around to help players improve their games or that poker books and tutorials don't have their place. They do. However, the problem I see with people who rely on these kinds of aids is that they end up playing poker like someone else or - even worse - like everyone else.
One of the things that makes poker great is that it's a game where there's really no right or wrong way to play. Every player has their own approach to the game and the key, in my opinion, is to take the things you learn from other players and incorporate them into a style of play that works for you.
There are some players who take a very mathematical approach to the game, and for them, it works. They study the odds and make decisions based on whether they think they're getting the right price to commit their chips to a pot. It's a solid way to play, but the fact is, it's not the right approach for everyone. What's more, even the best of these players will tell you that math only takes you so far.
Calculating the odds can certainly help you decide whether you're making a smart move, but it doesn't take into account who you're playing against. There are many times when you can do all of the math you want and your decision still comes down to intangibles and a feeling about your opponent or the situation you're facing. Does this guy have a hand? Can I push him off the pot? Am I getting myself into trouble here? Even if the odds say you should play, your gut may be telling you something else, and that's something you can only develop by playing.
Relying too much on other peoples' advice can actually make it harder to develop this kind of reading ability because it tends to clutter up your head. You get so focused on thinking about odds, probabilities and strategies that you forget that you're playing against someone else and that you have to try and figure out what he or she is doing. Are they scared? Will they fold to pressure? Are they a maniac? In my opinion, these are the important things to keep in mind during a hand.
It's been said before, but it bears repeating. Poker isn't about the cards; it's about the players and the situations. Winning players understand that sometimes you have to take chances. Sometimes they work and other times they don't. Whether you win the hand or not, you have to make the play that you believe is best.
At the end of a hand or a session, go back and study the things you did well and be honest with yourself about where you made mistakes. Don't, however, overanalyze how you could have played a hand differently because this can negatively impact how you approach your next hand or session. Identify your mistakes, learn from them, and move on. Just because some play or move didn't work the way you wanted doesn't mean you were wrong to try it. As I said before, there are just some things that you have to learn by playing.
So here's my advice. Read this tip. Read other tips and poker books. Talk to your friends. Absorb as much information as you can. But at the end of the day you have to trust your instincts and play your own game - not someone else's.
We’re bringing together the 16 finest poker playing nations from The Americas for the ultimate battle in the inaugural Americas Cup of Poker (ACP), playing for $250,000 in prize money!
It’s Nation vs. Nation as The Americas fight for their place in the ACP live final at the Cerro Catedral Ski Resort in Patagonia, Argentina.
How to qualify The 16 nations are divided into four groups of four who will play head to head in daily freeroll, $0.20 and $5.50 qualifying tournaments. Round 1 matches begin on July 27, and you can find them all under the ‘Tourney’ > ‘Regional’ tab in your PokerStars lobby. Click here to see the full details.
Fund a Friend Give your country’s qualifying chances a boost by making sure all your friends play! Use our ‘Player to Player’ transfer feature (conditions apply) to transfer as little as $1 to a friend so they can play in a $0.20 tourney and join your national fight for points. For every player you send a transfer to who then makes a final table in a $0.20 tourney, you will receive $50!
This is your chance to play in the largest online poker tournament in history, and be part of a Guinness World Record. We’re aiming to beat our previous World Record of 35,000 players, set in December 2008. And with a buy-in of just $1, it’s easy for everyone to take part.
Here’s what you need to know for the New Guinness World Record promotion:
Sunday, July 19 at 14:10 ET
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To find the tournament, go to the PokerStars Lobby and select ‘Tourney’ and ‘All’ or ‘Special’. You can also use the Tourney Filter in the Lobby to search for the tournament name. To use the Filter, open the PokerStars Lobby and enter a word or words from the tournament title. The Filter will then search all tournaments and provide you with the relevant results.
If you have any questions about the New Guinness World Record, contact support@pokerstars.com.
Leading the world in online poker staking Newsletter
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Congratulations to Dwayne Stacey on a brilliant performance in this year's Main Event at the World Series of Poker. Dwayne represented the ChipMeUp Team and finished 113 in the biggest tournament of the year taking home over $40,000. Check out the video of Dwayne and hear how ChipMeUp helped him get to this year's event.
Recent Results We had some amazing winners at the WSOP this year, with many share buyers bringing home some big money. Here are some of our big events from the World Series:
- Poker Superstar Reinforces His Status as the Greatest Player of All Time Team Full Tilt's Phil Ivey has made the final table of the most prestigious live pokertournament in the world, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Battling through eight days of play and a field of 6,494 players, Ivey earned a spot at his first-ever Main Event final table and a shot at the US$8.55 million top prize. The final table will play out starting on November 7th, with the final nine players, nicknamed the "November Nine," returning to duke it out for the most esteemed title in poker - WSOP Main Event Champion. A Main Event victory is the only accolade missing from Ivey's illustrious career. The growing popularity of poker and the WSOP in recent years has made it a tall order for professional players to "go deep" in the Main Event, making a final table finish more significant than ever for the soft-spoken, 33-year-old New Jersey native. Other high-profile pros who have made the Main Event final table in recent years include Team Full Tilt's Allen Cunningham and Mike Matusow, along with Full Tilt Poker pro Lee Watkinson. Ivey honed his poker skills at the casinos in Atlantic City, perfecting the aggressive yet calculated style that he uses to dismantle his opponents any time he sits down at a table. Making the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table has sealed Ivey's status as the greatest poker player of all time. Known as "The Tiger Woods of Poker," Ivey has dominated the game since he began playing at 21. He has more than US$12 million in career tournament earnings, seven World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour championship and a reputation as the most feared cash-game player in the world. Ivey dominated this year at the 2009 WSOP, winning Events #8 and #25 of the 57 event series. Ivey is now one of only seven players in the world to have earned at least seven World Series of Poker bracelets. If Ivey finishes in the top seven at the final table, he will become the highest grossing tournament player in the history of poker. Phil Ivey will not be alone at the final table. Full Tilt Poker pros represent four of the nine remaining players. Joining Ivey in the 2009 "November Nine" are fellow Full Tilt Poker pro James Akenhead, along with Full Tilt Poker sponsored players Steven Begleiter and Eric Buchman. All final table players will take home at least US$1.25 million for reaching the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table.
Playing hands when seated in the big blind -- the second position to the left of the dealer button -- can be tricky. On the one hand, you’re in bad position because you’ll have to act early in all future betting rounds. On the other, you’ve already invested money in the pot.
Let's look at a $10-$20 Limit Texas Hold'em game scenario.
In the big blind, you hold 7-8 offsuit. A player in middle position raises the pot and now it’s just you and he left in the hand. Sure, 7-8 isn't a very strong hand, and you wouldn't play it from an early position outside the blinds, but should you call with this hand if you've already invested a bet?
Take a look at the math.
Your opponent has thrown $20 in the pot. In addition, there’s also $5 from the small blind, plus the $10 you've already put in. That adds up to $35. It only costs you $10 to call. You’re getting odds of 3.5:1, and you only have one player to beat.
It’s clear that 7-8 offsuit isn't going to be a favorite over most of the hands your opponent will raise with, but since you’re getting such favorable odds, it doesn't have to be. Consider that if your opponent raised with A-K, your 7-8 still has a thirty-eight percent chance to win the pot.
Making the call is a reasonable play.
In a No Limit Hold'em tournament, it really gets interesting, especially when antes are added to the mix. Once again, you’re in the big blind. This time your hand is 6-4 offsuit. There are nine players at the table who have anted 100 each, and the blinds are 400-800. Right off the bat, there’s 2,100 in the pot.
A tight player, representing a strong hand, raises the minimum under the gun (the position that must act first). Everyone folds to you, and you’re faced with the prospect of putting 800 in to call. With his 1,600 raise, the pot now totals 3,700.
You only have to call 800 more to win 3,700, giving you close to 5:1 odds. Even if your opponent shows you that he has pocket aces you'd still want to call this bet; pocket rockets are only slightly better than a 4:1 favorite against 6-4 offsuit.
There are some drawbacks, however, to defending your blind with trash hands.
When you start with garbage out of position, you might find yourself forced to make very difficult decisions. For example, if the flop comes 9-6-2, should you bet with your 6-4? Should you check and then fold to a bet? What about a check-raise?
Playing optimal poker isn't easy. The very best players in the world -- those that consistently make correct decisions in sticky situations -- are generally known as tough blind defenders. Without doubt, they do the math, but they’re also very confident in their ability to read opponents and to strategically bluff them out.
Ideally, that should be your goal as well.
You need to learn to defend your big blind, but it's not a strategy a beginner can master immediately. As a novice, you'd be better off folding some of your big blind garbage so you won't make costly mistakes later in the hand. Even the best professionals won't defend a big blind with 7-2 offsuit (with the exception of Gus Hansen who's known to be an extremely loose player).
By defending your big blind more often, and contesting more pots, you'll send a message to the rest of the table that your big blind "is not for sale". That's a table presence that really works.
Incidentally, if you know that a certain player in the big blind will only call a raise with a very strong hand, never give him a break. Apply maximum pressure on him.
However, if a big blind player sometimes re-raises, or calls most of the time, give him a little respect. Instead of raising his big blind at will, be more selective against him, and go after easier targets.
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The chatter among media representatives and tournament officials over the past couple of days has usually included the following line: "Yeah, but it's certain to slow down soon." The observation refers to the furious pace of eliminations since the bubble burst on Saturday; we have shed more than 450 players in what amounts to little more than four levels, meaning two days have been called to a premature close.
No one, however, seems to have told the players. Although seasoned tournament observers predicted a slight hurry-up in the post-bubble period, none expected the extent of the flurry, and even in yesterday's closing stages, players were still getting all their chips in the middle, despite the relatively low blind levels. There's a chance that overnight, the remaining players have made calculations based on "M" and the like, or read the countless internet forums where this is being discussed, but we really cannot be sure.
The loose target today is likely to be a reduction from 185 to about 90, with between four and five levels of play scheduled. So far, though, we have paid scant regard to these schedules, and today may be no different.
What we do know is this: today will another crucial passage of play, again featuring countless stars of the game. For Team PokerStars Pro, Noah Boeken now leads the charge and the table draw has put him right next to his countryman and colleague Thierry van den Berg. Expect "Double Dutch" headlines throughout the day. Dennis Phillips and Joe Hachem are also on the same table: Phillips was in or around the tournament chip lead this time last year, taking it all the way to November's final table. On day six in 2005, Hachem was already champion.
Our braniacs are today centred on Peter Eastgate. Not since Greg Raymer and Hachem returned in 2005 and 2006, respectively, has a defending Main Event champion even reached the money. We are now attempting to figure out in what place Eastgate will need to finish in this monstrous field to outdo his colleagues as the most successful returning hero. Have no doubt, this is already a terrific achievement from the Dane, and it is now just a case of by how much can he surpass all expectations.
And then there's ElkY. After a wonderful day three, when he flew to the top of the leaderboard, the Frenchman endured a difficult day four and five. But Bertrand Grospellier still has in the neighbourhood of a million chips. That's enough to make a comeback surge.
All this, plus the obvious focus on those PokerStars qualifiers still in the mix. Remember the names Affleck, Akenhead, Ramage, Shou and plenty more. They could be household names come November.
Play is due to begin at noon, Vegas time. We are ready.
Even the best players have C game leaksBefore you can work on lopping off your C game, you need to pinpoint all of the individual elements that actually make it up.
If you don't know what your C game is, or how you're supposed to lop it, read this article first:
What exactly are the root causes when you play your worst game? What loses you the most money?
These are the most common causes of playing your C game:
Tilt
Exhaustion
Distraction
Being out-skilled
Playing scared
By far the most common cause of the C game is tilt, so that's a good place to start.
1. Tilt
When most players think of being on tilt, they think "super-tilt" - Phil Hellmuth kicking over chairs and calling people idiots, or a red-faced Mike Matusow yelling at other players on ESPN.
Realistically though, tilt comes in tons of different forms and degrees and can be caused by almost anything.
Even Negreanu gets tilted: just watch HSP.
The simplest definition is any time your emotions are making you play anything less than your A game, you're on tilt. You don't need to be steaming or frothing at the mouth. If you're at all emotionally distracted, you're losing money.
And because of the elusive nature of it, it can also be difficult to stop yourself from playing on some degree of tilt.
The best advice is to listen to the little thoughts in your head. As soon as you hear yourself think, "Wow this is frustrating," or "Jesus, will I ever get a single card higher than a 9?"- even something like "That guy's really damn annoying " - you're on tilt.
Although all levels of tilt detract from your game, some obviously do so more than others. The "light" tilt, such as finding a player annoying, may only be enough to bring you down to your high-B game.
Playing your B game isn't ideal, but it's not going to cost you lots of money. You have no need to leave the table when it happens.
But any time tilt reaches a point where you're clearly playing your C game, you need to get up or log off and leave the game. When you're on full-steam tilt, it's not possible to calm down enough to return to your A game in a matter of minutes.
By leaving the game, you're 100% eliminating this aspect of the C game. If you always leave when you're steaming, you'll completely remove the outer ring from your circle of play.
You've lopped it off, and your whole game benefits as a result.
2. Exhaustion
It's just not possible to play your A game when you're exhausted.
When you've reached that level of tiredness, you're thinking neither quickly nor clearly - two of the most critical requirements for playing good poker. And it's when you start getting tired - well before you become exhausted - that it's time to leave the game.
Exhaustion: It costs you money.
Exhaustion is a sneaky devil. You don't notice how tired you're getting until it's too late. If you're seated at the table, it's easy to fall into a rut where you don't move or do anything other than play cards.
You need to get up, take short breaks and walk around. Assess how you're doing mentally off the table so you can go back and make better choices on the table.
When you start to feel tired at all, cash in your chips and go find your pillow. The goal is not to limit the amount of time you spend playing your C game - the goal is to completely remove each ring of the C game from your play.
3. Distraction
Pretty self-explanatory. If you're distracted, you're not playing your best poker.
Try to sit facing away from TVs, stop flirting with the cocktail waitress, turn off your MSN. Limit your distractions and focus on poker.
If you're trying to limit distractions, the last thing you want to do is bring some ones of your own with you to the table. If you came to play poker, do exactly that.
4. Being Out-Skilled
If your A game is only as good as your opponent's B game, you're hooped. The quality of your game is best evaluated by comparing your game to that of your opponents.
When you're beat, you're beat. Get up and get out.
5. Running Scared
Try not to bring distractions with you to the table.
The final item that causes C-game play is fear.
A No-Limit poker player has to be willing to put all of his or her chips across the line at any given moment. If you're scared of losing what you have in front of you, it's not possible to play a proper game.
You need to have the money to lose (have a proper bankroll), and you need to be willing to lose it.
You can't be scared of the money or the other players. People do very strange things when they're under stress or scared. And strange things at the poker table equate to lost money.
Have a bankroll, be confident and strip this ring from your C game entirely.
It's not enough to try to limit or avoid the elements that bring on your C game either. C-game catalysts are like tumors. You have to completely remove them or they'll grow back into your game, eventually bringing you down.
In a nutshell:
Stay calm, stay positive, be healthy and get sleep. Stay focused, play within your skill level and be fearless. The rest will take care of itself.
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Poker Player Alliance's National Poker Week Set for July 19 - 25
The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) announced National Poker Week will be held July 19-25, to rally the PPA’s nationwide membership and send a message to lawmakers that their constituents support poker and legislation that regulates and licenses online poker.
“Our members—the poker players of America—are our best advocates to protect the future of poker,” PPA Chairman and former Senator Alfonse D’Amato (pictured right) said. “National Poker Week, with events in Washington, D.C., and across the country, is the PPA’s way to make it clear to my former colleagues in the U.S. Congress that poker is important to voters and is here to stay.”
PPA’s state directors and half a dozen professional poker players will meet with members of Congress in Washington, DC to ask them to support Barney Frank’s (D-MA) bill to license and regulate online poker,. They will also deliver a petition to President Obama asking his support to exempt poker from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), and for the licensing and regulation of online poker. To sign the online petition visit, http://www.pokerpetition.com/.
PPA will also organize telephone and email campaigns to Congressional offices for poker players to make their voices heard. You can visit http://www.nationalpokerweek.com/ to learn how to be an advocate for the game during National Poker Week.
In addition to meetings with members of Congress, PPA will host a charity poker tournament on Tuesday, July 21, benefiting the USO and the Malone House at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Wounded servicemen and women will be playing alongside poker pros, PPA’s state directors, members of Congress and their staff. PPA is covering all administrative costs so that all proceeds from the event go directly to the USO.
PPA is working with leading technology providers to host a “tech demo” that highlights the ability to regulate online poker through programs to verify age and ensure fairness of play, among other things.
PPA also announced MyPokerStory.com, a program to collect and record stories from poker players across the nation on why poker is so important to them and why they believe the government should keep poker legal. People can record their own video and upload it directly to http://www.mypokerstory.com/, or visit the PPA booth at the World Series of Poker and record and submit a video there. Everyone who submits a video will be entered into a drawing to win our special Grand Prize: a two-night Las Vegas vacation (with airfare) for two. Runners up will also be selected for other special PPA prizes.
It's that time of year again: World Series of Poker Main Event time. If that doesn't get your heart pumping, you're either dead or not a poker player.
The Main Event is a two-week-long poker super grind. With the thousands of tables comes millions of hands, storylines, brags, beats and of course a shit-ton of variance.
The Main Event is where names are made and fortunes are won. It's simply the biggest poker spectacle in the world.
If that isn't memorable enough on its own, I took the liberty of searching around and finding my top five most memorable WSOP ME hands.
With 10 left in the 2003 Main Event, Phil Ivey turns a full house with 9 9 on a Q 6 Q 9 board against Chris Moneymaker, who gets it all in with A Q.
The A river bails the accountant out and, as we all know, Moneymaker goes on to ship maybe the most significant bracelet in WSOP history.
Such a sick beat because its F Phil Ivey and he usually just stares bad beats off.
Had the river bricked, Ivey almost certainly would go on to win the Main Event and its $2.5 million first-place prize.
But before you go and start feeling bad for him, give this a thought: The massive pot helps Moneymaker go on to win the whole thing.
Moneymaker winning the Main Event and making the incredible $39 to $2.5 million score initiates the whole "poker boom." Millions of players flock to online poker rooms hoping to be the next Moneymaker.
Ivey has an owner's stake in Full Tilt Poker, and because of the poker boom Moneymaker helped create, Ivey has made the $2.5 million he would have made for shipping the bracelet several times over.
4) "You Call, Gonna Be All Over, Baby"
Heads-up for the bracelet vs. Kevin McBride in 1998, Scotty is in fine form, smoking and drinking Michelobs.
In the final hand, the board runs out 9-9-8-8-8 and Scotty ships it in on the river. McBride's in the tank when Scotty drops the famous bomb, "You call, gonna be all over, baby."
McBride makes the call, says he'll play the board and it's "all over, baby" when Scotty shows the J 9 for the bigger full house.
3) Raymer's Back-to-Back Plans Flushed
Most people don't remember that a year after he won the bracelet in the 2004 Main Event, Greg Raymer was still alive in the final 30 of the 2005 Main Event and was drawing very live for back-to-back Main Event wins.
These weren't pre-boom Main Events either. In 2004, Raymer bested 2,576 players. in 2005, there were 5,619.
To win in 2004 and come in the top 30 the very next year is an incredible feat on its own. But it could have been even better.
With twice the average stack he gets involved in a pot with Aaron Kanter (2005's luckbox). With K K, Raymer bet a six-high flop and again on the turn.
Kanter, who called the flop with overcards, now raises the turn with a queen-high flush draw. Raymer ships it in and Kanter insta-calls with nothing but a flush draw.
The river obv binks the flush and Raymer is left with the small stack.
Had he won the pot, he would have been chip leader and had a stack that was 4x average. From there he could have easily cruised to the final table.
But it wasn't meant to be and he ended up busting out 24th.
2) "He's Going All In and Chan Has Him. Johnny Chan the Master"
Speaking of back to back, in the hand immortalized by the movie Rounders, Johnny Chan check-calls three streets with the nuts vs. Erik Seidel, successfully getting Seidel to shove with top pair.
Winning the hand, Chan takes the second of his back-to-back Main Events in 1987 and 1988. Seidel is similarly immortalized for losing the hand a decade later, and remains stuck answering questions about it to this day.
1) Matusow Gets Matusowed
Mike Matusow is no stranger to going deep in the Main Event. Going on to win it, though, is a different story.
When the big one gets deep, the cards get cold for "The Mouth" and Matusow has had his share of Main Event scars.
In 2005, Matusow find himself at the final table, and it doesn't take long for the card gods to start having some fun. In the very first hand of the televised table, Mike is dealt K K.
The only problem is Scott Lazar is dealt A A. They obviously get it all-in and the flop comes Q 6 K. Matusow binks the two outer!!!
The turn of course comes the 2, and Matusow instantly looks like he lost the hand.
He's right when the river comes J. Scott Lazar makes the runner-runner flush to severely cripple him.
Such a sick hand if only for the incredible range of emotions Matusow must have gone through.
First, the crippling feeling of the disgusting KK vs AA cooler at the Main Event final table. But then you bink the two outer and it's like you just came back from the dead.
Then of course the board runs out a four-flush, and the pot feels like it was snatched right out of your hands.
Its like you go from zero to 100 all the way back to zero in five short minutes. I think it's pretty amazing Matusow didn't have a heart attack.
You can bet even more memories are waiting to happen this year. The 2009 Main Event kicks off Friday, so keep it locked to PokerListings for coverage.
Any hands you think rank as more memorable than these, fire off a comment below.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Between July 1and 15 at DoylesCasino’s slot machines, blackjack tables and video poker games, it’s not about how much you win. It’s about how much fun you’re having. With $15,000 in free cash up for snatching, there’s never been a more exhilarating time to play.
Grab a seat and you’ll automatically join our leaderboard contests for $15,000. Play the most between July 1st and 15th and we’ll rank you on one of three leaderboards worth $5,000 each. There’s one for Video Poker, one for Reel Video Slots, and one for Black Jack, and you’re invited to climb your way up all three for a chance to win triple the cash.
Track your contest rank by entering your login name below. The more you play, the more you can win
TOPS XIII starts on August 5th. Win seats to play for your share of $16 million guaranteed prize money. Satellites start July 1st.
Play in MiniFTOPS for FTOPS action at only 1/10th of the price. Buy your way in directly to MiniFTOPS, starting on September 9th.
Win special bonuses that can earn you over $100,000 in additional prize money by taking part in July's Iron Man Challenge.
Support Ante up for Africa by playing in our FTOPS - Ante Up for Africa charity tournament and take a shot at $100K in guaranteed prize money.
When switching from No-Limit to Limit Hold 'em tournaments, you'll need to make some important adjustments to your game. In this week's tip, Aaron Bartley shows you how you should approach a Limit Hold 'em tournament.
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Adjusting to Limit Hold’em Tournaments
Aaron Bartley
July 1st, 2009
While No-Limit Hold ‘em and Limit Hold ‘em tournaments might look the same to a casual observer, they’re completely different. In a No-Limit Hold ‘em tournament, one big hand can either set you up for a run to the final table or send you home early. That’s not how it works in a Limit Hold ‘em tournament – a single hand is never going to define your entire tournament. You should approach a Limit Hold ‘em tournament more like a cash game by trying to slowly accumulate chips and limiting your mistakes. For players making the transition from No-Limit to Limit Hold ‘em tournaments, a good rule of thumb is to play a little tighter before the flop and a little looser after the flop.
There are several reasons you should play tighter before the flop in a Limit Hold ‘em tournament. One is that you’re rarely, if ever, going to be able to make anyone fold his hand for a single raise before the flop – there’s no point in trying to bully an opponent when you have a weak hand.
You’ll also see a lot more showdowns in Limit than you will in No-Limit. You need to start the hand off right by only playing hands you’re comfortable going all the way with like a big pocket pair, an Ace with a big kicker or maybe even a suited connector.
Another reason for tightening up before the flop is that there are no antes in Limit tournaments. Because the antes come into play so quickly in No-Limit Hold ‘em tournaments, you have to start making moves to steal pots just to prevent your stack from eroding down to nothing. In a Limit Hold ‘em tournament there’s very little incentive to make these moves because of the lack of antes. If you want, you can just sit on your chip stack without having to worry about losing too much ground.
While you’re tightening up before the flop in a Limit tournament, you’re going to want to loosen up after the flop. Again, there are several reasons for this. Because it’s Limit, you know exactly how much it’s going to cost if you call someone down—even if you lose the hand. You’re not going to be charged as much to find out if your opponent’s bluffing or to see if you can catch one of your outs. Unless you’re playing against a really tight player you can be comfortable calling a couple bets.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. Let’s say you raise from the button with A-K, the big blind calls, and the flop comes 9-9-2. Your opponent checks, you bet, and he calls. The turn is a 6, and you both check. The river is another harmless-looking card, but this time your opponent leads out with a bet. Although you only have Ace-high, you shouldn’t be afraid to call. Since you showed weakness on the turn by just checking, he could be betting with any hand. While this might include pairs that beat you, it could also include a weaker Ace or a bluff.
In this situation in No-Limit Hold ‘em, he could bet half or all the pot to make you fold; but in a Limit tournament, you can afford to call because of the odds you’re getting. The pot has four big bets in it and you only have to call one big bet to see his hand, so you’re getting four-to-one on your money. Of course, it really depends on what sort of player you’re up against. If he’s really tight and you’ve never seen him get out of line, you should fold. But if there’s any chance he might be bluffing, this should be a fairly easy call.
By the same token, when you make a hand like top pair you should bet it aggressively because a lot of players will call you down with hands like ace-high and bottom pair or try to push you off your hand. If you’re at a table full of loose players, you can even raise on the river with top pair or make a value bet with middle pair.
Playing a little tighter before the flop and a little looser after the flop is one of the most important adjustments you should make when switching from No-Limit Hold ‘em to Limit Hold ‘em tournaments. Making this one simple alteration to your game will give you a leg up on the competition because many of your opponents will continue to play exactly as they do in No-Limit Hold ‘em tournaments.
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