For a year or two, I’ve been playing poker. Well, I love playing online. In quite a short span of time, I was able to familiarize myself about position and odds.

Just recently, I introduced some of my friends to poker and as of now we are planning to be into regular events. But there’s a problem. All of them seriously want to call stations, my style which basically works online won’t be effective.

Say in middle position I had ace queen and then for four times the BB I raised. Four callers appeared. To be honest, I knew then that I should tighten up and wait for premium hands however my premium seemed not so strong when the field just can’t be narrowed to one opponent. Any thoughts?

Your help will be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Reilly
Reilly,

When you are against calling stations, you need to push your advantages. There are times that they will draw out against you, but the other times you will just punish them for extra bets.

You can also try and play small ball poker where you see a lot of cheap flops with them and when you connect strong with the flop, punish them with extra bets.

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I was in an online $50 no-limit tourney the other week. At some point, I was dealt Kd Qd while the blinds were 100/200. I remember I had 1800 chips while the BB had 8000, he was the table leader by the way. One caller appeared and so I raised to 400. SB then folded while BB called. Other players folded.

Later, flop came and brought Kh2d4h. Then I placed a 600 bet and BB called. Turn came and brought 4d. At such point, I had 2 pair with a flush draw.

To be honest, I was concerned of the 600 call. I want to ask, how would you play when you feel you have the best hand and your opponent is on a draw? Well, when I was at such instance, I went all in. As expected, I was called. River came however was not a diamond. BB then flipped his cards over, Jc4s, therefore he won the pot.

For several times, such situation happened to me. Most of the time, I don’t want the player to have cheap cards as he might be on a draw however in the event I bet too big and he made hand, big losses are ahead. Please, I need your advice on this.

Thanks,
Dornisch
Dornisch,

You played the hand properly. The fact that your opponent called with such a poor hand speaks about his poor play, not your ability. You had 2 pair and a flush draw. The only draw to beat you is an Ace high draw. I might have bet as a partial value bet and to disguise the fact I had a draw too.

When there is a draw possible, you do not want the players to get a cheap draw. You played well. You just got unlucky.

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Just yesterday, I was in a friendly tourney. At certain point, I mucked my straight flush draw on the river based on pot odds and then later on realized the card I should have. And so I started questioning myself afterwards about pot odds. Are they really significant in tourneys?

Well, I personally believe that in ring games, pot odds are significant in the event you want to play with probabilities and then keep them on your favor. Any thoughts?

By the way, since I’m already hear, I’ll just grab the chance. I’ll share a bad beat story. It’s about me being beaten by a player who called my all-in with a straight draw on the river. I had AAA. Mid part when he knew he needed a 9. Later on the river he got what he needed, a 9.

Any comment about my bad beat story?

Thanks!

Regards,
Donnovan
Donnovan,

When you are at the river, the hand is complete, you either hit your draw or you miss it. I’m assuming based on you saying that you had a draw that you actually was on the turn. If you did not have pot odds to make the call, then you were correct to fold.

Pot odds do play a significant role in tournaments. Sometimes it makes the difference in calling when you have a big draw and sitting back waiting for a better spot.

As far as your bad beat story, unless your all-in bet was less than 8% of the pot, this was a bad call by your opponent. When you have 4 outs on the turn, you have around an 8% chance of hitting your hand.

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For some time now, I’ve been playing 10 player tournaments for about £10-20 entry fee. Well, most of the time I can make it to the last 3, but at times just at the 7th place. I must admit, when I’m already in the last 4 or 5, I’m confident enough. I tend to be a bit more aggressive than usual and then loosen up when I know somebody has the best hand with a bit weaker hands. I usually make money because of this.

But on the flip side, I will tend to break about even in chips until 3 or 4 players have been busted out. And when around 7 players are left, I badly struggle most especially when I don’t have a big stack. At times, I can wait for others to have an error but this rarely happens as players tend to tighten up as the blinds move up to approximately 100-200 chips. Well, things aren’t that bad, I still believe that all hands could win or give me some winnings however there’s a problem. With straights or flushes I just win little large pots. And when the blinds are so high, I become very cautious hoping not to be hurt so badly in case I fold and I’ve placed some money.

Now, I’m wondering if how I should adapt myself and my game considering the stuff I’ve just shared with you. Any idea?

I hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks in advance!

Finnsso
Finnsso,

When you are in the earlier stages, you should tighten up a bit. The middle stage is where you should loosen up a bit and take advantage of the shorter stacks and those trying to squeak into the money. You should only draw to straights and flushes if you have pot odds to do so. Otherwise you need to stay out of the hand.

Taking advantage of short stacks and other bad plays becomes important in the later part of the tournament. If you can see cheap flops, try to do so and punish your opponents when they push with ace high or a bad pair.

When you are short in the middle to mid-late part of the tournament, when you play a hand, push all-in. This puts players to a decision right then and there and makes it easier on you.

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The other day, I joined a $2.00 online tournament with 300 players initially. The average chips was $5000 and I had around $4800. Eventually, the tournament was down to 60 players.

At some point, 9 players were in at my table. I was dealt A J diamonds and blinds were 320/640. By the way, I was the small blind. If I can remember it right, there was just one player who called before me. Then, I raised to 1200 while big blind and other caller decided to call. After the call, it was found out that big blind had about $5000 while the caller had $3300.

Later, flop came and brought Kd Qc 4d. With $3600 I then went all in. Two others called. Big blind had a K 7 not suited, caller had a Q 9 not suited, and I had a top straight draw or nuts flush draw. In the end, Kings busted two of us. So do you think I made the right play? How about the two other players at the table?

Thanks a lot!

Regards,
Porchia
Porchia,

I don’t think that it was a good idea to push there. Yes you had a lot of outs, but you want the pot a little bigger first. I am not saying get out the hand, but I would let someone else be the aggressor so that you do have true pot odds to draw to your monster hand. The player with Q-9 was a little loose in his call but was probably hoping his queen was good. The King was overplaying his top pair, but was in the lead. I think you should have let someone else bet and then called or moved all in for your draw. With 15 outs on the flop and 60% to hit your hand, you were going to probably stay in.

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Recently, I started playing no-limit holdem with friends. We started playing at my home actually. I’m wondering now as four of the last five games I’ve made it to heads-up but ended being 2nd placer. For several times then, I tried various strategies but of no help at all. Do you know any winning tips or guideline perhaps? Another thing, I’m curious if the strategies typically used for a six-person table different from strategies used at other table with lesser or more players. What’s your thoughts on this?

Thanks,
James Casey
James,

When you are heads up, open up your starting hand ranges. Try and see cheap flops with weaker hands and push your hands when you have the advantage. When you see cheap flops, try and push your advantages when you get them. Also, don’t be afraid to play middle and bottom pair when you flop them. Draw to straights and flushes a little more. Also, any ace heads up is playable for a raise.

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