Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 1 by Jonathan Little
Authors: Jonathan Little
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like, “You are going to steal my blinds every time, huh?” This is usually enough to let them know I am going to start playing back at them, whether it is true or not. Getting an extra walk deep in a tournament can be enormously valuable.
When Someone Tries to Outplay You
If you have a loose image, some players will eventually try to outplay you. Figure out who these players are. Some players will sigh, look frustrated, and maybe say something like, “I guess I’ll fold again,” but they will never do anything about it. This chapter addresses the players who get upset that you are running over the table and will try to do something about it.
Players who will go out of their way to try to outplay you generally don’t say anything or act upset, as they know that would blow their plan. But, if you are paying attention, you will see them look at you in an odd way, as if they are out to get you. Once you see this for the first time, you will know what I am talking about. It’s almost as if they want to make you pay for running over everyone. When you see this, realize that you are going to play a decently big pot with this person in the near future.
I like to raise, let the player re-raise, and then go all-in, assuming that makes sense given the stack sizes. He will usually fold. If the stacks are deep, I try to call his raises with hands that flop decent top pairs, and then go into call-down mode, try to act as weak as possible and hope he bluffs off a lot of chips. If I raise before the flop and he calls, I will usually continuation-bet my entire range on the flop, and then go into check-call mode with all pairs or better, again allowing him to bluff. The key is to not be too concerned with getting all-in. He will usually have a weak hand that can’t stand any pressure. Because of this, you generally need to check-call down against these players when you have a decent made hand.
You can trap some of the most aggressive players by being aggressive yourself. Say I raise A-Jand it comes J-J-3. If I suspect my opponent will try to put a play on me, I will bet this flop every time, and assuming we are very deep-stacked, I will even raise again if he re-raises me on the flop. Make sure you both have enough chips so that he can rationalize an all-in bluff, allowing you to win a huge pot.
You have to figure out how to get your opponents to put in a lot of chips when they have nothing and you have something. What you should not do is bet a hand like middle pair and then fold to a raise against a player that you think is going to try to outplay you. Say you raise A-10 and it comes J-10-3. Be content to just check-call down, because your hand can’t stand much pressure.
Don’t become paranoid and think everyone is going to try to outplay you. Once this happens, you will be afraid to raise anyone’s blinds. Raising blinds constantly is the whole reason players will start to play back at you in the first place, so you should usually keep the pressure on because you want them to make –EV bluffs.
To generalize, the people most likely to try to outplay you are older, non-white males and the more aggressive young kids. For some reason, old white men and tight young kids don’t try to outplay people too often. They like to play a tighter style. Also, people that fold a lot in late position when it is folded around to them tend not to try to outplay people. They don’t even try to outplay the random hands of the blinds.
If you can pinpoint when someone is going to put a play on you before it happens, you will usually find yourself with a huge pile of chips.
My Style
There is much discussion over which style of play is better, one where you try to play lots of small pots, called “small ball”, or one where you try to play a few large pots, called “long ball”. You have to play a decent number of pots if you want to make it in poker tournaments. Waiting for A-A, hoping to double up every time you
When Someone Tries to Outplay You
If you have a loose image, some players will eventually try to outplay you. Figure out who these players are. Some players will sigh, look frustrated, and maybe say something like, “I guess I’ll fold again,” but they will never do anything about it. This chapter addresses the players who get upset that you are running over the table and will try to do something about it.
Players who will go out of their way to try to outplay you generally don’t say anything or act upset, as they know that would blow their plan. But, if you are paying attention, you will see them look at you in an odd way, as if they are out to get you. Once you see this for the first time, you will know what I am talking about. It’s almost as if they want to make you pay for running over everyone. When you see this, realize that you are going to play a decently big pot with this person in the near future.
I like to raise, let the player re-raise, and then go all-in, assuming that makes sense given the stack sizes. He will usually fold. If the stacks are deep, I try to call his raises with hands that flop decent top pairs, and then go into call-down mode, try to act as weak as possible and hope he bluffs off a lot of chips. If I raise before the flop and he calls, I will usually continuation-bet my entire range on the flop, and then go into check-call mode with all pairs or better, again allowing him to bluff. The key is to not be too concerned with getting all-in. He will usually have a weak hand that can’t stand any pressure. Because of this, you generally need to check-call down against these players when you have a decent made hand.
You can trap some of the most aggressive players by being aggressive yourself. Say I raise A-Jand it comes J-J-3. If I suspect my opponent will try to put a play on me, I will bet this flop every time, and assuming we are very deep-stacked, I will even raise again if he re-raises me on the flop. Make sure you both have enough chips so that he can rationalize an all-in bluff, allowing you to win a huge pot.
You have to figure out how to get your opponents to put in a lot of chips when they have nothing and you have something. What you should not do is bet a hand like middle pair and then fold to a raise against a player that you think is going to try to outplay you. Say you raise A-10 and it comes J-10-3. Be content to just check-call down, because your hand can’t stand much pressure.
Don’t become paranoid and think everyone is going to try to outplay you. Once this happens, you will be afraid to raise anyone’s blinds. Raising blinds constantly is the whole reason players will start to play back at you in the first place, so you should usually keep the pressure on because you want them to make –EV bluffs.
To generalize, the people most likely to try to outplay you are older, non-white males and the more aggressive young kids. For some reason, old white men and tight young kids don’t try to outplay people too often. They like to play a tighter style. Also, people that fold a lot in late position when it is folded around to them tend not to try to outplay people. They don’t even try to outplay the random hands of the blinds.
If you can pinpoint when someone is going to put a play on you before it happens, you will usually find yourself with a huge pile of chips.
My Style
There is much discussion over which style of play is better, one where you try to play lots of small pots, called “small ball”, or one where you try to play a few large pots, called “long ball”. You have to play a decent number of pots if you want to make it in poker tournaments. Waiting for A-A, hoping to double up every time you
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