Poker A to Z

Act – Term used to describe the point where it is the turn of a player to either fold, check, bet or raise.

Add On – An add on is used within a poker tournament situation and means that players who are still active within the tournament are able to by a set amount of chips for an addition amount of money.

Advertise - The term advertise is used to describe when a player tries to inform players that they are holding a hand that is stronger than they are really holding. The use of advertising is most commonly used when a player is looking to make a bluff with the idea of scaring their opponents out of the hand.

Advertising Budget – This is a term that is used when giving a name to an amount of chips that a bluffing player is willing to invest in their attempts to bluff their opponents.

All In – A name given to a play made by a player where they stake all of their remaining chips on the hand that they are holding. This is considered to be the strongest indication that you are holding a winning hand but is becoming more and more frequently used to aid a players bluffing play.

Ante – An ante is a name that refers to a forced bid that all players have to place before they will be considered to be active within a hand. The ante is taken from the players account before cards are dealt and before the blinds are placed.

Backdoor – The term backdoor is given when a player requires the turn and the river card to empower their hand into a possible winning hand.

Backer – A backer is a person who sponsors a player to enter into a poker tournament with a view to take a share of the players winnings should they place in the paying final positions.

Bad Beat – A bad beat is a name that is used to describe a hand that you lose after luck goes against you. A number of online poker rooms offer a new jackpot variation where they actually reward players with a large amount of money if they are subject to a bad beat.

Bankroll - This is the name for an amount of funds that a poker player has to their disposal. The ultimate aim of poker playing is to increase this by as much over your initial investment as
possible.

Bellybuster - Bellybuster is another name for an inside straight draw. This means that a player is awaiting a card in order to make up their full strength hand and the value of the card is inside
the cards that they have already possess in their hand.

Bet – A bet is when a player wagers an amount of chips into the central pot to signal their hand strength.

Bicycle – A bicycle is a term that is used to describe a straight that is made up of A-2-3-4-5. This hand makes up the best possible hand in Low Ball games.

Blind – A blind is the name given to a forced bet that 2 players have to place before the dealer commences the game. The players who have to place the blinds are determined by the place of the dealer button and increase in value.

Boxed Card – A card that have been held within the deck during a shuffle by the dealer and becomes exposed as the dealer removes cards from the top of the deck are referred to as boxed cards. These cards are ignored and placed into the dead card pile meaning that the card will
not be active in that game.

Bring In – A bring in bet is a forced bet that is used in the stud variation of poker. The bet is a small bet that the player who has the lowest ranked exposed card has to place. They are given the option of either placing a bring in bet or a complete bet.

Broadway – Name given to an ace high straight. The ace high straight would be made up of A-K-Q-J-T.

Bubble - The bubble is a name given to a player who is eliminated in the last non-paying placing within a poker tournament. The loss of the bubble means that all players who are still
remaining within the tournament will finish with a cash prize.

Burn – The term burn means to kill a card. This means that the card will not remain active within the game. These cards are generally hidden from the view of the players so that no player knows the value of the card otherwise that would influence the game. The only exception to the card not been known by the players is if the card was a boxed card.

Bust – The term bust has a duel meaning. One meaning is used to name a hand that has failed to hit a card that they need to empower the hand. The secondary meaning would be that a player is eliminated from a tournament or poker game.

Button – The button is an indicator for which player is considered to be the phantom dealer. This button is used to signal which players are to be included in the blinds. When a player is on the
button they are considered to be in the best position to play the game from because they get to see the majority of the table act before they have to decided how they want to proceed.

Buy In – A buy in is an amount of money that is charged to enter into a poker tournament or game in order for the player to be considered active in the game. The money collected from the buy in fees are used to create a final prize pool to reward players who reach the paying
positions.

Call – Name given to an amount of chips that are placed that are equal to either the blinds or a bet that has been made by another player. This action signals that you wish to remain active in the hand.

Cap – A cap is a limit to the amount that a poker player may bet, bring to a ring table game or the amount of betting rounds that are allowed within a game.

Catch – Duel meaning term that can either reference to a player who is receiving an influx of strong hands or when a player hits a card to alter the outcome of a game.

Chase - If a player was to chase a card they would be looking to stay within a hand even though the possibility of hitting the card that they require.

Chase Card – A card that a player needs to chase in order to alter their hand. An example of this would be if a player was holding a set of 7’s, they chase card would be the final 7 that is available in the deck.

Check - A signal that a player i happy to proceed with the hand without making any further bet. This play could be used in a number of ways, either to show strength through a check raise or weakness to continue the game without having to stake anymore into the central pot.

Check Raise – A check raise is a play that involves a player checking the action to another player in the hope that there will be a bet placed into the pot. Once the action comes back round to the player they will then place a raise into the pot. This is used to signal great strength.

Cold Call – A name given to a situation where a player decides that they want to call the wager in order to remain within the game but by doing so they are are calling more than one bet. This
could be that the big blind is raised and then the player calls the bet, so in theory the player is calling the big blind plus the further raise.

Come Hand – A hand that needs at least one addition card to become strong enough to win the hand.

Community Cards – The name given to the cards that the dealer places into the center of the poker table for all active players to use to empower their hand into the strongest possible hand.

Complete – The name of a bet that is used in the stud poker variants. The bet is double the amount of the bring in bet and means that the player is willing to offer a full stake rather than the full amount of the bet.

Cracked – Term used to describe when a certain hand is beaten. Use of the term tends to be used only with strong hands such as pocket aces.

Dead Hand – A name given to a hand that fails to present an opportunity to win a hand after having an initial chance. The term tends to be used with hands that have fallen foul to the cards that are placed onto the community board. A great example of this would be a low pocket pair that has seen five over cards placed onto the community board.

Dealer – The name of the person who deals the cards for the game and does not feature within the game in any other way.

Dealing Twice – This is an agreement that has to be made between the active players so that the game alters in its framework. Should this be agreed by all players, the dealer would split the
central pot and deal the turn and river for one half of the pot. Once the winner has been decided and paid out the dealer will then deal a new turn and river card for the second half of the pot.

Door Card – Term used in stud poker games to describe the third card that the dealer gives to a player. This card is dealt exposed face up on the table revealing its value to all at the table.
Named door card as this opens the door to players being able to extract information on possible hand strength. Also the name given to the first card on the flop when playing Texas Hold’em poker.

Draw – Name of a poker variant game where players discard some of the cards that they have within their hand that is initially dealt at the start of the game. The players then draw cards from the deck.

Drawing Dead – A term used to describe when a player is in possession of a hand that can’t win the hand regardless of the cards that are still to be dealt.

Family Pot – A name that is used when describing a pot where all or most of the players seated at the poker table are active.

Fixed Limit – A betting structure that is used across a number of poker variants that are indicated as limit poker. This means that players can only stake the amount that is set by the level of
stakes that they have opted to play.

Flat Call – When a player just calls a bet when a raise would be seen as a more appropriate play.

Flop – The name given to the cards that the dealer reveals after the first round of betting concludes and the cards make up the first three cards that are placed onto the community board.

Fold – Name given to the play that sees a player lay down their cards to signal that they no longer want to participate in the currently active game.

Forced Bet – This is an amount of chips that have to placed into the central pot by a player in order to be part of the game. There are a number of reasons that a player might have to place a forced bet into the pot such as antes or when they are within the blind locations.

Freeroll – A style of poker tournament that offers tournament style game play to players without the need for the players to invest any funds into buy in. These tournaments tend to offer a low level prize pool.

Freeze Out – A style of poker tournament structure that means that once a player is eliminated they are eliminated from the tournament completely so that they can’t buy back into the
tournament. The game will be played until the final player has all of the chips.

Gut Shot – Another name given to a hand that is close to creating a straight where the remaining card needed is a value of the cards that is a number within the values the player already holds within their hand.

Heads Up – Term given to the section of a game where two players go head to head over a hand.

Hi Lo – Another variant of poker that alters the way that the game is played. The highest and lowest hand shares the central pot so there are two winners of the pot in the game.

Hole Cards – The name given to the two cards that are dealt to a player by the dealer and that remain hidden and faced down on the table.

Isolate – A term that refers to a tactic that is used to single out one player.

Jackpot – A prize fund that is offered by either the casino or online poker room that is rewarded once a player successfully completes a challenge that they set. An example of this would be
the Bad Beat Jackpot offered by a number of online poker rooms and casinos where
they reward players who suffer a bad beat above a set hand strength.

Kicker – The name given to the card that a player has in their hand that does accompanies a card that offers value into a hand. This is the card that will determine if the player wins a hand should their strong card be equaled by another player.

Limp – A name given to a bet that is placed that only equals the value of the big blind. This is a tactic that is used to try to see another card at the cheapest possible price.

Loose – A term that is used when trying to describe a players approach to a game. The characteristics of a loose player would be that they play a lot of hands and bet aggressively while playing.

Maniac – A name given to a type of player who seems to play any hand that they are dealt, playing them aggressively and trying to bluff when they are not holding a hand that will place within the winning ranks. These players are hard to play against but are perfect targets for tight/aggressive players.

Misdeal – Name that is used to describe when a dealer makes a mistake while dealing out the hole cards to players at the table. When this happens the dealer will declare a misdeal and the cards will be returned, shuffled and then the hand started again.

Monster – Commonly used in contention with the phrase Monster Hand which means that you have a powerful hand that you are hoping to win a large pot with.

Move in – Another name for an All In play that is made by a player, where the player stakes all of their remaining stack on the current hand.

Muck – Term used to name the process of when a player discards of their hands and fails to reveal them to anyone.

No Limit – Name of a poker game structure where players don’t have any limits on the number of chips that they can wager into the pot. The no limit game of poker is the structure of game that offers some of the biggest central pots in poker history.

Nurse - A player who is protecting and maintaining a small poker chip stack while in a tournament style game in order to try to hold onto their tournament life while other players in the tournament get eliminated, placing them higher within the final standings and hopefully within the paid positions.

Nuts – Term that is used to describe the best possible hand that a player could be holding at that moment in the game. Players who are holding the nuts hand tend to slow play their opponents with a hope that they will come against a player who raises the stakes so that they can counter their play and increase their winnings.

Offsuit – Name given to cards that are not of the same card suit. An example would be that an ace of clubs would be offsuit from king of diamonds.

Opener - The first player to act in a hand is referred to as the opener.

Outs – The number of cards that a player has still within the deck that can empower their hand into a possible winning hand. The number of outs that a player has available within a hand will alter the pot odds that each player carries as they look to decide whether they are willing to continue within a hand.

Over Call – Term used to describe when a player calls after another player has already called.

Over Card – Name given to a card within a players hand that is of higher value then the cards shown on the community board.

Over Pair – Name given to a players pocket pairs that offer a greater value than a pair that features on the community board.

Paint – Name given to the King – Queen – Jack cards. Named because of the design on each of the cards.

Pay Off – Name that refers to when a player makes the decision to make a call on the final round of betting even though they feel that they might be beaten.

Play the Board – Term that means that a player is using the 5 cards that are placed on the community board.

Pocket - Used to name the cards that players are dealt by the dealer at the start of a hand that remain hidden from the view of opponents. Another word for this term would be private.

Position – Name that is used in reference to when a player acts. This is dictated by the rotation of the dealer button. The later the position the better that it is considered for the player
to make an informed decision as to how to approach the hand.

Posting – Term used to replace the term of placing. A player needs to post a blind before the game can become active.

Pot Limit - Betting structure where the players betting stakes are limited to a maximum of the value of the central pot.

Pot Odds – Name given to the percentages that players have to try to work out to ensure that they have a high chance of creating a winning hand.

Protect – Term used to describe when a player alters their play to try to increase or maintain their chip count.

Qualifier – Name given to a set of requirements that need to be met to be able to qualify within a hand or to enter into a tournament.

Rag – Name given to a low card card that partners an ace. An example of this would be a card to the value of 6 or lower that is unsuited.

Rail Bird – Another name for a spectator who is watching from behind the rails.

Rainbow – A term used in the poker variant Texas Hold’em where the flop offers cards of different suits so that there is no possibility of players having a flush.

Raise – A bet that is used to signal hand strength and increase the central pot.

Rake – The amount of money that is taken either by the casino or online poker room from each hand. The amount that the casino or poker room take is dependent on the size of the central pot at the time of the hand coming to an end.

Read – The ability of being able to take information from a player and to create an expectation of what your opponent is holding within their hand. This can help a player to successfully
win a hand either by having a better hand or by being able to play a successful bluff.

Re-buy – A term used when a player enters a tournament and gets eliminated. Certain tournaments offer a re-buy that means that players can buy into the tournament again at the original buy in cost.

Represent - Term used for when a player tries to be deceptive towards their opponents by acting in a way that would give their opponents the impression that they are in possession of a strong hand.

Ring Game – The name given to a game that operates normal casino rules and the chips that are taken to the table symbolize real money rather than when a player is given an amount of chips for a small amount of buy in.

River – Name given to the final card that is dealt by the dealer and placed onto the community board. This card has been known to make or break a huge amount of hands in Texas Hold’em where the term is used.

Rock – A player who plays very tight and tries to maintain their chip stacks as they wait for their power hands that are made up of high pocket pairs and high paint cards.

Rolled Up – Term used within Stud Poker to describe when a player is dealt a set or three of a kind within the first three cards that you are dealt by the dealer.

Runner – Term used to describe when a player managed to get two cards that they need to empower their hand on the final two cards to be dealt onto the community board in a game of Texas Hold’em.

Rush - Name that describes a run of good hands or good luck that a player might experience.

Satellite – A style of tournament that offers a first place prize of entry into a bigger tournament.

Scare Card – A card that is deal into play by the dealer that has the potential to be used to give the impression that you are holding a hand that contains that card. The name is given as this could lead to opponents folding is they feel their hand has now become less superior.

School – A term used to make a player feel smaller as it pays reference to a player having their weaknesses exposed and used to an opponents advantage.

Scoop – Term used to describe when a player wins a full  pot. This is common during Hi Low games where the pot is often split.

Semi Bluffing – A play where a player holds a hand that carries a small amount of strength but is played as if it were a hand that was stronger so that their opponents would believe that their hand is better than it is and so could offer the scare factor. The reason this is a semi bluff is that the player is playing a bluff but their hand does carry some value so they have that strength to fall back on should they get a call.

Set – Name for three of a kind.

Shootout – Tournament structure where players are placed onto tables and maintain to play on that table until there is only one player remaining and they possess all of the active chips on the table. The players are then reseated with other winning players to fight it out for the prize pool.

Side Pot – A pot that is created in case one of the active players can not match the bets of other players. The remaining funds are placed into a side pot that are contested by only players who can have placed into the side pot.

Slow Play – A style of play that means a player plays their hand as if it was of a lesser value that it really is in the hope that an opponent takes the lead to raise the betting stakes.

Streets – Name given to the cards as they are dealt. The cards are named by how they were dealt from the deck so the river card would be called 5th street as it is the 5th card to be dealt onto the community board.

String Raise – A violation of how a player makes a raise, meaning that they act in more than one motion.

Stuck – Used to describe when a player is losing in a frustrating way.

Suck Out – Name given to when a card that has entered into a pot significantly behind in terms of pot odds gets a lucky card that gives the player the stronger hand and they win the pot.

Suited Connectors – Name give to cards that are held within a players hole cards that are of the same suit and one value apart. An example of this would be a 7 and 8 of diamonds.

Table Stakes – The amount that the table has set for the size of the blinds. These set the minimum bets that players can place.

Tell – Name given to signs that players give off to their opponents while they are playing that could offer some form of information into the hand that the player is holding. Skilled players are able to offer fake tells in order to make their opponents think that they are picking up on information that they can use when in fact the player is bluffing with their body language.

Tight – This is a description of how a poker player might approach a game, a player who is tight will be less willing to make bluffs and make plays with hands that they feel are weak. These players tend to wait for power hands before they are willing to engage in a betting war with other players.

Tilt – A term used to describe when a player takes a loss of a hand badly and begins to lose their poker playing mentality causing them to lose focus and so causing them to make poor poker plays that will dent their chip stack.

Tournament – A poker style of game that offers a higher amount of players than a ring game and includes a higher prize pool due to the charge of entry that the hosting company charge for players to enter into them. These are the most publicized poker games in the world to date as they make great television viewing.

Turn – Name given to the 4th card that is dealt onto the community board. Also known as 4th street.

Underdog – Name given to a player who the chances of them winning the poker game are stacked against them. That could be that they are an amateur player who is playing against a professional.

Under the Gun – Term that is used to describe the player who is the first to act in a new game. This is considered to be the worst place to make plays from because all of the other players are to act after this player and so they get no indication of how many players are going to be active within the game.

Value - There are two meanings to this term. The first meaning is the strength of the hand that a player is holding. The higher the value of their hand the higher it is seen in the poker hand rankings. The second meaning for the term is when a player plays a hand that has a slight chance of winning the hand but only slightly higher than the possibility of the hand falling to a higher strength hand.

Variance – Name that describes how a poker player alters their playing strategy. The key to being a successful and profitable poker player is to offer a lot of variance, making you a player who is hard to read and so you are able to keep the mystery factor that players start games with. While you have a sense of mystery surrounding you, players are less likely to make a bluff towards you.

Walk – Name given to when a poker player wins a pot without being contested by any player. An example is that all players fold while you are seated in the big blind.

Poker Tells

Poker is a game that the more you know about what our opponent is doing the easier it is for you to make the correct play. The player who makes the most correct plays wins the most in the long run. Being able to spot the poker tells that your opponents give can help a player very much in their game. There are even some online poker tells that will help you to determine when a fish sits at the table.

Less Than Full Buy-in

When a player sits down at a table with less than a full buy-in you can almost be sure that the player is a fish. When you sit down at a table you want to buy in for the full amount because you expect to win and want to win as much as you can. When a player sits down with less than a full buy-in you can be sure that the players aren’t very confident in themselves and that they are probably going to be playing very badly.

Posting Out of Position

When a player sits down at a table and posts their blind to start playing before the big blind is to them you can be sure that they are a fish as well. You have to pay extra money for the orbit when you do this and there is no point to when all you would have to do to avoid it is wait a few hands. When a player posts their blind out of position you should be trying to steal the pot more often because there is more money in the pot for you to steal.

Instant Minbetting

When a player bets the minimum amount into a pot almost as fast as the action starts you can almost always be sure that their hand is weak. You should make a small raise to this bet when you see it because it will be a completely free pot. Sometimes players do this with big hands for some reason. They lose a lot of value by doing this because they could make more by making a standard bet. This normally means your opponent is weak though.

Check/Fold Button

When a player is in the big blind and they instantly check when it comes to them preflop that normally means that they have the check/fold button selected. If you notice that your opponent is doing this a lot then you can start betting against them when it is folded to you in the small blind more often. The more you steal the blinds in poker the more money you will win overall in your game.

Being able to read an opponent’s online poker tells is a great way to get a better idea of what the correct play is. Knowing the poker tells to look for in your opponents can be very easy and is completely worth the extra focus it requires.

]]> http://winnerpoker.ca/online-poker-tells/feed/ 0 http://winnerpoker.ca/mtt-strategy-on-the-bubble/ http://winnerpoker.ca/mtt-strategy-on-the-bubble/#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:03:51 +0000 admin http://winnerpoker.ca/?p=30 When the poker tournament nears the bubble, the tournament players begin tasting the money.  Because poker players wish to cash by nature, many tournament players tend to go into self-preservation mode.  Instead of playing to win the tournament, the players attempt to last through the bubble, almost pausing their game plan in lieu of cashing.  When play tightens up in this manner, it is time to turn the heat up in the kitchen.

Play the Bubble to Win

The objective of a poker tournament is to win.  If not playing to win, then one should not play in the poker tournament.  Players tend merely to survive when approaching the bubble.  Playing in survival mode will not result in long-term profit.  If you look at the payout structure of a poker tournament, there is good reason that the bulk of the prize money is contained in the winner’s share.  Because the prize structure is top heavy, it is of paramount importance to adopt a strategy designed to get to the winner’s share of the purse.  One such method is to exploit the mistake players make when they engage in survival poker.  The money you will make when taking down a tournament will far exceed the amount you win by treading water until the bubble burst.

Ruthless Aggression on the Bubble

Playing as a contrarian is often the correct approach to a poker table.  When playing the bubble at a table full of newly passive players, one should turn the volume way up on the aggression pot.  Raise preflop.  Raise early, and raise often.  Attack the blinds with seemingly endless raises.  Force players tasting the prize money to fold, fearing the end of their meal.  Notice which players seem proud to lay down pocket jacks to a minimal bet on the flop, and attack them with reckless abandon.  The players who fold hands like pocket jacks before the flop and on the flop are ideal candidates to attack during bubble play.  These players will nearly fold before bet into if an ace occurs.

You will also notice players who seem to take flops, but fold once they are bet into.  Players such as these, as well as the players who fold premium hands proudly are exactly the players you want to attack and sometimes even manipulate into taking flops with you.  If these players get involved in a hand, get right in there with them.  However, be mindful of whether they play back into you.  A player of this type typically does not play back at an opponent near the bubble unless they have the best of it.

Non-Stop Aggression on the Bubble

Bringing non-stop aggression on the bubble is a most effective method of going deep in a poker tournament.  When playing the bubble, we want to exploit the fear of not reaching the money our opposition exhibits to cause them to fold weakly and unreasonably, pushing more and more of their chips our way.

Short Stacks

Short stack players who were previously in survival mode have been given a new lease on life since penetrating the bubble.  These players are now mostly implementing a double up or go home attitude and strategy.  Short stack players will move all-in during post bubble play with pocket pairs of any size, as well as hands containing any ace or two painted or high cards.  Your job, having previously been the table bully – is to isolate these players when the opportunity presents itself, putting in a reraise or all-in when you wish to play for their entire stack.

Other Large Stacks

Most other large stacked poker players will be looking to bully the table.  It is best to avoid the other large stacks at the table when you lack a quality hand.  Marginal plays are meant for play against short stack players, while we will look to put other large stack players to the test with our more quality hands.

Speaking of larger stacks, since large stack players such as you have been seemingly running the table over before the bubble, do not be surprised to see players of all stack sizes take a stand.  Many a player will play back into you, as your relentless raising on the bubble has many a player frustrated.  This time is ideal for sitting back when you are able to and selectively picking your spots while watching the table – noticing the change in tactics beyond the bubble.

Adjusting Play Based on Payouts

The payouts in the poker tournament are graduated, with the prize pool being most top-heavy.  While our goal is to propel ourselves to the top, we are wise to make note of when the tournament steps up in payout.  When approaching the next level of payouts, it is common to notice many opposing players tighten back up.  The sudden tightening of the table is not to suggest everyone suddenly developed superior standards.  These players are looking to get paid more.  As a result, they are playing similar to how they played on the bubble.  Adjust your tactics accordingly, willingly attacking the players who have tightened up just as you would on the bubble.

Observe your Opposition

As the tournament field thins, you are wise to monitor the play of your opposition.  Try to familiarize yourself with betting patterns, tendencies and hand ranges of your opposing players.  Pay attention to the remaining tables, watching showdowns to gather intelligence on hand ranges.

Final Table

When you hit the final table, you are guaranteed big money.  Do not let this affect your game.  Feel out the final table and take the contrarian approach, adopting an overall playing style that is opposite the majority of the table.  If the final table plays mostly weak and tight, you will be best served playing somewhat loose and aggressive – smartly loose, seeing many flops.  If the table is wild and aggressive, you are well served taking a more passive approach before the flop, sitting back and selectively knocking players off with superior starting hands.

When playing beyond the bubble, we are looking to pick off the short stacks, while avoiding the deep stack players without superior hands.  By picking our spots beyond the bubble, we strive to propel ourselves to the final table, and then victory.

During the poker tournament’s middle stages, pots are now worthwhile to attack before the flop.  Additionally, with the cost of playing poker on the rise, players are now more willing to fold hands before the flop which they would have normally played had the price of poker been cheaper.  As a result, we are able to successfully steal, we can effectively isolate players, and most importantly, the pots are now worth the steal efforts prior to the flop.

As the cost of poker has increased for everyone else, it has also increased for us.  As a result, we will tighten up, no longer playing speculative hands like seven – eight suited from early positions.  The value of suited aces, as well as pocket pairs increase and should be realized before the flop.  Our raises are pushed out before the flop to gain isolation, as well as to announce that we have a good hand.  During the tournament’s middle stages, we begin playing less deceptively and more manipulatively by pushing players around with our raises.

Bet Sizing in the Middle Stages of the Poker Tournament

During the tournament’s middle stages, size matters.  We must maintain an acute level of awareness as to how much we are betting, so as to not commit an opposing player to a pot without intending to do so.  Most specifically, we have to be mindful of the short stack players at the table.  It is easy to find ourselves raising, only to see the short stack blow over the top with an all-in, thus putting the tougher decision to us.  Ideally, we should size our raises to make the decision tough for the short stack, as opposed to complicating ourselves with the decision of calling or folding.  By raising an amount that makes calling automatic when and if the short stack moves over the top simplifies the decision making process for us, while making life for other players as challenging as possible.

Stealing Blinds

When playing from later position, specifically when the pot has not been opening, we want to become extremely aggressive in our efforts to steal the pot before the flop.  When folded to on the button or in the cutoff position, a raise is nearly automatic.  We should try to steal from late position during the mid-stages of the poker tournament when in position and the opportunity arises.

Turn up the Aggression

By turning up the aggression before the flop, we establish dominance over the table by manipulating weak players into folding.  Pots become worthwhile to take down before the flop thanks to increasing blinds and the introduction of antes.  By taking pots down before and on the flop with tight, aggressive play; we can watch our chip count rise during the tournament‘s middle stages.

What kind of hands play best in the early stages of a poker tournament?

Premium hands such as pocket rockets play well regardless of the stage of the poker tournament – which goes without saying.  Speculative hands such as middle suited connectors work exceptionally well early in the poker tournament.  Hands such as seven – eight suited hold up well against multiple players, draw well and extract value after the flop.  Because hands of this nature play well post-flop, they can be utilized effectively in early MTT play.

How to play the early stages of a poker tournament

Because the blinds are small in relation to both the starting chip count and the average chip count, raising does nothing more than builds a big pot.  In a poker tournament’s early stages, the majority of the value comes after the flop.  As a result, many hands that are normally “raising hands” are better suited as limping hands before the flop.

Ideally, early in a poker tournament, we want to speculate smartly – as we are looking to see flops cheaply.  When we take a cheap flop, we look to gain maximum value from our opposing players by way of out flopping them, and then either betting heavily to steal the pot, or betting to cause them to draw foolishly.  Even with our stronger hands, we do not wish to discourage play after the flop, as many a player can be tricked into thinking their top pair with a weak kicker is the goods.  These are the players we will look to punish by playing deceptively before the flop.  I characterize our play as deceptive before the flop, as we are limping with the majority of our hand range.  As a result, we are rarely revealing our true hand strength until the flop has come in most instances.

As the flop comes about, we will tighten our play.  If the flop misses us and we stand no chance of muscling the pot smartly, we commit to going away.  If we hit the best of it, we will increase the size of our value bets in order to compensate for the absence of preflop aggression.  Because many people fail to tighten up on the flop, our higher value bets will pay off more often.

In a poker tournament‘s early rounds, the best way to maximize our chip intake is by permitting the tournament opposition to over-value their hands after the flop.  We will play deceptively, yet efficiently before the flop, by not disclosing our hand strength with a raise most of the time.  A strategy of this nature is a rewarding, efficient and effective means of playing in a poker tournament’s early stages.

What to Expect Beyond the Bubble of an SNG

When the bubble bursts, short stacks will look to double through without fear of losing.  The short stack is already assured prize money, thus the fear of missing a payday has been eliminated.  Moreover, standards tend to relax from players across the board, as they too have reached the prize pool.  In the stages beyond the bubble, the blinds typically apply pressure to short and deep stacks alike.  Generally, the chip count places one person above average, while the remaining two players are below average.  Neither the deep stack nor the short stack are generally able to hold off on a superior starting hand during the post-bubble stages of a SNG.

How to Play After the Bubble of an SNG

Because standards drop for the quality of starting hands due to the pressures of the blinds and guaranteed paydays, a player is well served playing hands designed to dominate their opposition.  Short stack players should continue moving all-in when first to act with hands valued about ten-eight offsuit and above, as well as any pocket pair.

Moreover, the big stack should stand willing to call a short-stack’s all-in with marginal holdings when playing out of the blinds.  The deep stack should constantly apply pressure to the table, raising from the button, as well as the big and small blinds whenever in possession of a hand deemed playable.

If you find yourself medium stacked, you will be best served attempting first to isolate the short stack when possible.  However, playing at the big stack in an attempt to get him to back down will serve you well.  When suspecting the deep stack is bullying you, as he will often do from the button as well as from the blinds when heads up – a suitable tactic for counterattacking him is to reraise him before the flop.  Often moving over the top so that you are all-in will serve to knock him off his steal attempt.  Additionally, moving all-in before the flop will relinquish you from any tough post-flop decisions.  In fact, all the tough decision-making will be placed upon the deeper stacked player’s shoulders.

When playing beyond the bubble in a single table tournament, do not fear finishing in third place.  The bump in prize money from third to second is small, when compared to that of second to first.  Implementing an overall tactic geared towards winning the SNG is of importance to one’s long-term win rate when playing single table tournaments.

What to Expect from the Middle Rounds of an SNG

In the middle rounds of a single table tournament, blinds begin to matter or count for something.  Some players will adopt tighter starting hand standards, in an effort to conserve their chips.  Other players, typically the deep stacked players and chip leaders, will begin playing far more aggressively before the flop, as well as on the flop.  Their aggressive play is an attempt to both bully opposing players, as well as to scare their opponents into folding better hands.  Additionally, short stacked players will begin pushing all-in in an attempt to either double up or go home.

How to Play the Middle Rounds of an SNG

During the SNG’s middle rounds, we no longer wish to play under the “usually limp” tactics.  Because the blinds have increased, we wish to begin playing optimally and profitably before the flop.  During the early stages, we are essentially making a “small poker mistake” before the flop by limping, in exchange for the hope that our opponent makes a “big poker mistake” after the flop.

This exchange of mistakes is profitable during the early rounds, as it costs us little.  In the middle rounds of the SNG, however, the blinds ensure that an exchange of mistakes will be costly for us, but potentially more costly for our opponents.  However, the increased blinds make it more profitable to play a more aggressive style of poker before the flop, as opposed to playing a style, which accommodates a swapping of mistakes in such a manner.

With that in mind, we want to raise preflop with the majority of our hands.  Because it will cost us to see the flop, we want to charge our opposing players a premium to do so as well.  We will look to tighten up our hand standards when starting from early position, playing only top twenty hands, and raising them before the flop.  When playing from late position, we will again raise before the flop, but with a bit more relaxed set of standards.  When action is folded to us on the button, we will usually raise preflop with any two cards, in an effort to steal the blinds.

When we raise before the flop, we will almost always make a continuation bet on the flop.  The continuation bet is placed because we have tightened up our starting hand standards and will often have the best hand.  Moreover, players often become afraid of the flop, thus will look for a reason to fold.

When we have a short stack during the tournament’s middle rounds, we will look to play hands that hold up well against one or two opponents.  When playing such hands, we want to get all-in through one to two bets.  This means we will be all-in either preflop, or on the flop in most instances when we have the short stack.

We will not look to play fancy or deceptively during the middle rounds of a single table tournament.  Instead, our raises will allow us to manipulate players into folding.  As a result, we will use our aggression to take down blinds, steal pots, and knock out players possessing weaker starting hand standards than that of our own.

What to Expect from the Opening Rounds of an SNG

During the opening rounds, the blinds are small in relation to the amount of chips with which SNG players begin.  Play often begins with blinds amounting to fifty to one-hundred times the starting stack, which gives plenty of playing room during the opening parts of the SNG.  When blinds are this low in relation to the average stack, it allows players to utilize virtually every tool in the poker player’s bag of tricks.

Because the blinds are at a level accommodating creative play, during the opening rounds of an SNG, play is typically loose and overly aggressive.  Players tend to raise preflop in an attempt to build a bigger, seemingly worthwhile pot.  Because players try to build pots that are worth their time and effort, they often become blinded, overvaluing and overplaying their hands during the early stages, as a result.  Thus, the opposing players will stick around longer than they should with marginal hands, paying off players who have out flopped or out drawn them.

How to Play the Opening Rounds of an SNG

Because of the tendency to play too many hands in the opening rounds of a single table tournament, players should capitalize on this common flaw.  With this in mind, we want to adopt a somewhat loose and passive posture before the flop in the early rounds of our single table tournament.  After the flop, we will look to either catch and bet aggressively, or release our hand.

When playing from early position in these early rounds, we want to limp with our early position hand range.  When we limp from early position, we are counting on a player raising behind us.  Thus, we will be a bit more selective in the early position hands than we are with hands in later position.

When playing from later position, we will again look to limp most of the time.  We will do so with our entire range of playable hands.  When players raise in front of us, providing the raise is reasonable in size, we will call in position most of the time.

Once the flop occurs, we will look to extract maximum value whenever the opportunity allows us to do so.  When we make a hand on the flop, we will over-bet the pot to make up for the absence of a preflop raise.  Often, a player during the early single table tournament stages will call optimistically on the flop.  Because this is the case, we can over-bet and get away with it.  Moreover, players forget they are playing outside their normal hand range.  For this reason, they continue with weaker hands – valuing them higher than they should.  For example, a player may limp with ace-three suited from under the gun.  This player is ripe for the picking by players who have him out kicked.  This player will tend to hand over his entire stack throughout the hand – and we will be there to take them gladly!

When playing the early stages of a single table tournament, play passively before the flop, looking to step up the aggression and extract maximum value post-flop.  Doing so will help propel you to the later stages and money stages of the single table tournament.

What to Expect from the Bubble of an SNG

During bubble play, SNG competitors typically hold a disproportionate amount of chips.  Usually one player is the dominant chip leader, with two players sitting somewhat short-stacked, and a fourth player hanging out around the average stack size.  One can reasonably expect the big stack to bully the table, while either the short stacks will attempt to out-fold one another in survival mode, or they will attempt to aggressively double-up.  The level of blinds makes it difficult to sit back when on the bubble of a SNG.  Blinds are typically at such an amount that sitting back in anticipation of a good hand will kill even the large stack.

How to Play the Bubble of an SNG

When on the bubble of the Single Table Tournament, the objective is to propel yourself through to the top two positions.  This often means the method of sitting back is not a prudent strategy.  A player should adjust his strategy based on chip count.

When playing as the deep stack on the bubble, constant pressure should be placed upon each short stack player.  Most specifically, a player lacking a large chip count should be tested for his entire stack as often as possible.  It is profitable to raise in such a manner that the short stack player will be placed all-in if he or she chooses to call.  Often, this will result in a successful stealing of the blinds – which serves to add to your substantial chip stack.

When playing as the deep stack, another effective technique is putting the average stack to the test.  By doing so, we are raising an amount to commit a significant amount of chips from the middle stacked player.  In his mind, he is proceeding with caution, as he would prefer the shorter stacks to bust out before committing too many chips personally.  Thus, the middle stack typically looks for reasons to fold.

When playing as the short stack, we are looking to simply double up.  When first to act, we will shove all-in with a hand valued at ten-eight offsuit and above.  When a player has raised in front of us, we will often look to call or reraise if possible with any pair, as well as two high cards.  By doing so, we will smartly look to double up to the point where we can effectively compete for top prize.  By pushing all-in preflop, we refuse to allow other players to bully us.  This places the guesswork solely on the shoulders of our opposing players, thus our decisions are easier, while theirs is more difficult in nature.

When playing with an average stack, we will additionally look to pressure the short stacked players, while selectively playing at the deeper stack.  While we do not want to play passively against the deep stack, generally speaking, we should not fear taking the aggression to him by putting him to costly decisions by using the threat of a crippling big bet.

When playing a single tournament on the bubble, our tactics should suggest we are attempting to win the tournament, as opposed to merely surviving.  Adjusting our posture in the SNG is paramount to propelling ourselves deep into the money.