Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 1 (32 page)

In position, if you are not the pre-flop raiser and your opponent bets into you, you should raise with your good draws as a semi-bluff. Also raise with strong made hands, like the nuts, flushes, straights and two pair. You should rarely raise with a total bluff. Consider raising when your hand is weak and you think your opponent is weak as well. Call with hands like top, middle or bottom pair, although raising with your weakest pairs has some merit because you are basically turning them into a semi-bluff. Fold when you miss the flop, especially if it is likely to improve your opponent’s hand. If your opponent is known for continuation-betting often and then playing straightforward on the turn, feel free to float the flop with the intention of taking away the pot on a later street.

In position, if the pre-flop raiser checks, you should bet a wide range, basically any pair or better, along with hands that have some outs if called, such as gutshots with overcards. Also bet all your good draws. Tend to check hands like ace-high because they have a little showdown value and are usually ahead of your opponent’s check-down range. With total air, if you think your opponent plans to check-fold the flop, go ahead and take a stab at it. If you think he’s getting tricky or pot-controlling a decent made hand, simply check behind and plan to give up, or maybe bet the turn, depending on his turn action.

Out of position as the pre-flop raiser, bet with a wide range, including the nuts, flushes, straights, sets, weak top pairs, such as 9-8 on an 8-5-2 board, middle pair, bottom pair, all decent draws and all gutshots with overcards. Also bet whenever the flop is unlikely to have hit your opponent. Check with high top-pair hands, like A-3 on an A-9-5 board, hands that are way ahead or way behind, like Q-Q on an A-x-x board, and when you miss a flop that is very likely to hit your opponent’s calling range. If your opponent knows you continuation-bet often and plays back at you, tend to play a bit more passively on the flop, as betting middle pair and facing a raise or a float is usually a tough spot. Simply plan to check-call down.

Out of position when your opponent is the pre-flop raiser, you check and he continuation-bets, you should raise with very strong hands, like flushes, straights, sets and strong draws. Call with hands like top pair, middle pair, occasionally bottom pair and weaker draws like 8-7 on a 9-6-2 board. Fold whenever you miss.

Again, this is a very general guideline. No guideline can make up for knowing how your opponents play. As you get better at defining each opponent’s range, you will play each hand more optimally.

Multi-way Pot Considerations

When you raise and get two or more callers, you must take care not to put too many chips in the pot post-flop with a small chance to win the hand. While you will always get better odds post-flop, made hands tend to go down in value as the action gets wild, and strong draws tend to go up in value.

One of my students played a hand in which he raised Q-Q to 3BBs from middle position and both blinds called. Everyone had around 60BBs. The flop came J-10-6. The blinds checked to my student, who made a standard continuation bet of 6BBs. The player in the small blind pushed all-in after thinking for around two minutes; the big blind thought for a short while and went all-in as well. My student called, using the logic that he was getting 2.5-to-1 to call, so he didn’t need to win too often to make calling right, plus he could be ahead.

While this is true, at least one of the players has him beat quite often. Had only the first player gone all-in, calling would have been standard with Q-Q, as the first pusher needn’t have that strong a hand. When the second player goes all-in, you can be sure he either has a monster draw or two pair or better. The first pusher had A-J and the second had 6-6, winning him the pot. In order to overcall, which means calling a bet and a call, you need a much stronger hand than normal.

In general, you should continuation-bet less as more players see a flop. If there are three players, counting yourself, you should tend to bet all flops that usually hit your range of hands when you are bluffing. Suppose you raise from early position with J
-10
, the button calls and the big blind calls. The flop comes A-9-3. This flop is pretty good for your early-position raising range, so go ahead and bet. You should usually check if the board comes 7-6-5. If you hit a hand like top pair or better, you should be happy to bet. You can also get away with continuation-betting with weaker hands, like middle or bottom pair, that you would normally check heads-up because if someone plays back at you in a multi-way pot, you can be fairly certain he actually has the hand he’s representing.

You should play more straightforwardly as more opponents see the flop. Once four players see the flop, I only continuation-bet with my made hands. Even if the flop comes A-x-x and I should have a lot of aces in my range, I will still check-fold if I miss.

The idea that people usually play straightforwardly in multi-way pots can be turned upside down from time to time to gain you a lot of chips. Suppose everyone has 150BBs and someone raises from middle position, the cutoff calls and you call from the small blind with 8
-7
. The flop comes K-5-2. You check and the initial raiser bets. The cutoff thinks for a while and calls. This is a spot, especially if you know both players are fairly weak, where you should consider raising.

This type of play should be employed sparingly, but used once every few tournaments, it can win you a decent number of chips.

Your position in multi-way pots is very important, and not just relative to the button, but also in relation to whoever bets. Suppose someone raises and you call on the button with 10
-9
. Both blinds call as well. The flop comes K-10-3.