Well, I want to share something actually. I’ve been playing holdem at home games in tournament format along with some friends. Recently, we started playing the blinds. A friend of mine went short of funds when he was in the big blind as well as in the small.

Now I’m wondering in the event the big blind goes broke, should the next hand be played by the button and the big blind or someone might get in the way? Similarly, in case the small blind goes broke, on the next hand does the button remains on the same person as the former hand and the blinds will go on as usual? Or else, does the button goes to the person who was the big blind beforehand and then get lucky for not paying the small at such round?

Thanks for your time!

Barry
Barry,

In the event the big blind in the current hand is eliminated, the next hand the next player that is supposed to get the big blind will still play the big blind, but there will not be a small blind. If the small blind busts, then the next players that are supposed to post the blinds will post and the button is frozen. In the event both blinds bust, then the button is frozen and the player that is the big blind gets the big blind and the small blind is dead.

Nobody should ever post both blinds at once.

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Assume that you are in a no limit tourney or a sit and go with 800 chips and with blinds 15/30. Then at some point, perhaps in the third hand, you see AQs and so you raise it up to 60. You then have several callers however they’re not the blinds. Consequently, flop came Qxx rainbow and so in early position I placed a bet around 60-90. Behind me, somebody went out and moved all in. Do you think I should call such or just give away the 120-150 chips and then flip the high pair?

Another thing, say you are on a certain money table with some maniacs, would you still play and then have the risk of losing money just to have more? Any thoughts? How about advice?

Thanks!

Knutson
Knutson,

In a tournament with a low amount of chips like you were in, I would call. In a sit n go I would call as well. You are trying to make it to the top three spots. You need to push your advantages when you can. Chances are you are against a weaker queen or a lower pair. If not, there is always next time. With the short stacked nature of the event, you needed to pick up chips.

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I’m a regular player at the 5 dollar sit and go tourneys at Poker Stars. Before, I love to play NL however later on I noticed there were a lot of maniacs at such. Those maniacs just usually blind me to death.

As of the moment, I love playing at limit tables however just recently I’ve been on a slide. I’ve come to realize that when I lose one, I usually get right back in one, and then lose again.

Do you have any advice for me? Please I need your help.

Thanks,
Hansen
Hansen,

Without more information it is tough to analyze your loosing streaks other than to say that you may want to open up your requirements some. While maniacs can be a pain, in a tournament you need to try and take advantage of them when you do get strong hands. Also, you will want to try and see some cheap flops with reasonable holdings and punish them when you do hit.

My only other concern is that you might be playing Limit too much like No Limit Holdem. They are wildly different games. You might want to pick up a copy of Small Stakes Holdem by Ed Miller. It is a great book on Limit Holdem.

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Hand 1:

There were eight players. Player 1 was Rich with 54137. Player 2 was Wesley with 129679. Player 3 was Elija with 197197. Player 4 was Noah with 45939. Player 5 was Mike with 182007. Player 6 was Perry with 222544. Finally, player 8 was Benj with 54593. All figures by the way were in chips.

At certain point, Rich posted the ante 400. This was followed by Wesley, Elija, Noah, Mike, Perry, and Ben who all posted the ante 400. Mike then posted small blind 4000 while Perry the big blind 8000.

Noah then was dealt Jh Ah. Ben raised to 1600. Rich folded and so as Wesley and Elija. Noah raised to 45539 and was all-in actually. Mike and Perry then folded. Ben called 29539. Flop came and was Ts 8c 5d. Turn followed and brought Ts 8c 5d Th. River as expected then also came and brought Ts 8c 5d Th Qs.

At revelation time, Ben flipped over Ks Qh two pair, Queens and Tens while Noah had Jh Ah a pair of Tens. Ben then got the pot.

Hand 2:

There were nine players. Player 1 was Terrence with 11780. Player 2 was Avie with 21364. Player 3 was Sam with 7314. Player 4 was Zeck with 8808. Player 5 was Axel with 6650. Player 6 was Sean with 7405. Player 7 was Dean with 9430. Player 8 was Norman with 8379. Finally, player 9 was Iñaki with 11845. All figures were in chips.

Terrence started the posting. He posted the ante 50. Avie, Sam, Zeck, Axel, Sean, Dean, Norman, and Iñaki all followed and posted the ante 50 as well. Zeck then posted small blind 300 while Axel posted the big blind 600.

Later, Norman was dealt Kc Ac. Sean then folded and so as Dean. Norman called for 600. Iñaki raised to 1200. Terrence, Avie, Sam, Zeck, and Axel all folded. Norman then called for 600 again. Flop then came and was 7c 6c 8h. Norman placed a 600 bet while Iñaki called 600. Turn came and brought 7c 6c 8h Ad. Norman placed 1200 bet while Iñaki again called, at such point 1200. River came and brought 7c 6c 8h Ad Qc. Norman then checked while Iñaki placed 3000 bet. Norman then raised to 5329 and was all-in. Iñaki called 2329.

At showdown, Norman had Kc Ac a flush, Ace high while Iñaki had Jd Ah a pair of Aces. Norman won the pot.

Aside from the two recent hands, I would like to also share to you something and eventually ask a few questions.

In one of your sections, I’ve read that you believe the player has played the second hand perfectly. I’m referring here about the player who had a couple of tournament hands. I’m sorry but I have to disagree. Well, I believe that you must be 100% sure that when you check, your opponent will bet. I also somehow believe that to make more money, do not risk a check raise and place a nice bet just enough and not too huge to invite a call. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Regards,
Deluzio
Deluzio,

You’re right. In order to check there, he needs to be certain that his opponent will bet. I think in the situation above, that checking will make it appear that he is scared of the flush. One of the opponents probably read on this and acted. If that is the case, I think it was a good play.

In either case, you must be sure your opponent is going to be to try that move. Actually, in many tournaments, if you do not bet on the river and are shown to hold the nuts, you can receive a penalty for soft playing.

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I’m just new to poker. I don’t yet have any idea about buy ins. I’m wondering if you can explain to me buy-in for a tournament. If possible, please explain to me with an example so that I could understand it much better. Also, what does $30 + 5 means? Any idea?

Thanks in advance!

Kirkpatrick
Kirkpatrick,

A buy-in for a tournament is the amount you must pay to play. If you are eliminated from the tournament, this is the only money you loose. The buy-in is broken up into two parts, the amount that goes into the prize pool, and the entry fee. In your example, the $30 goes into the prize pool and is part of the money that the players play for. The $5 is the fee the casino collects to run the event. Part of this money goes to paying the tip for the dealers in the event. This is also known as the house juice.

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Recently, I was in a multi table fixed limit tournament. I was seriously troubled then as just about more than an hour after the tournament started, entries were gone, stakes went 50/100. I was in a new table with approximately 700 chips. Well, I was somehow behind in terms of chips but at least I was not the lowest.

If I remember it right, there were nine players at the table. Luckily, I got a number of decent starting hands however flops were empty therefore I bailed. Next thing that happened, I was down to approximately 465 chips then was UTG with the blinds coming and stakes moving up rapidly. My hole cards were Jh, Js. Then I called. Quite to my surprise, no raises followed. I believe there were 5 or 6 players in. Flop came and brought Jc, Qc, Th. Consequently, I either had called or led the betting. Again, no raises followed however at such point there were only 3 or 4 players in. Turn came and was 8h. I then led the betting while two others called. River came into the scene and brought 3h. I then bet while one folded. The other player raised. I then went all in while he called and then won the pot with his Ah and 9h.

Do you think I’ve played well? Another thing, if you were me back then, how would you play when you have just moved in a new table and was actually in a multi tournament?

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Stark
Stark,

You played this hand poorly. You should have raised pre-flop, especially if you were short stacked like you were. In fact, since a standard raise would have been to 350, I would have just moved all in preflop. When you are that short, you need to start picking up pots. Push your advantages. If I didn’t push preflop, I would have definitely done so on the flop.

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I must admit it, I badly want to believe I’m an above-average player. I’ve played well before and I’ve already held a monthly poker game. Not to mention that I was invited several times to play at some local games. I believe the biggest one so far was the one with the biggest cash prize. However, there’s just one thing I don’t like about the game, its house rules are a little different than usual. Blinds move up every after 20 minutes till the final table. The problem I have encountered then was due to the blinds actually. I’m a tight player and when the blinds move such way, I’m headed to an uncomfortable zone, particularly when I have few chips.

Do you have any advice for me? I’m thinking of bluffing next time. What do you think? And what kind of hands should I consider when the blind is 3rd quarter of my chips? Any idea?

Thank you in advance!

I hope to hear from you soon.

Warm regards,
Schoonen
Schoonen,

You need to widen your hand range a bit when playing a tournament with such a high blind structure. You also need to play your position more. As far as bluffing, if you have some players that you think you can run a bluff against, then by all means, give it a try.

As far as a hand to put your chips in when the blind is ¾ of your stack, you need to pick any sort of reasonable hand and go. Any ace, any two big cards, any pair, and even suited connectors or suited cards are decent cards to play in this spot. Another thing I will do sometimes is that if there is a lot of action and I am super short stacked, sometimes I will move in with any two cards. The reason is that if there are several people in the pot already, I have great odds on my money. Yes, I am likely behind, but also I probably have two live cards.

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There were four players left for the pot. Player 1 had 10,000, player 2 had 8,000, player 3 had 5,000 and player 4 has 2,000. All figures were in chips by the way. At some point, all four went all in. In the end, player 1 won the pot. Who will take the titles 2nd and 3rd placer?

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks!

Jim Hatter
Jim,

In a tournament when multiple players are eliminated, the eliminated player that had the most chips at the start of the hand gets the superior placing. In your scenario, player 3 would get third place, and player 2 will get 2nd place. Player 4 is the bubble boy.

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I’ve read a magazine focusing mainly on casino stuff. In one of its articles, it was stated that “If you just call somebody on the river rather than raising them, you hurt all other players in the tournament. It’s not ethical poker, so don’t do it”. I don’t exactly understand what it means. Can you help me?

Thanks!

Regards,
Crocker
Crocker,

The only thing that I can think that this article is talking about is just calling on the river when you have the nuts. In tournament poker, if you do not bet or raise with the nuts on the river, then this is considered soft playing, which is a form of cheating.

Otherwise, there are many times that calling on the river is the appropriate play. Don’t worry about that unless you have the nuts. If you have the nuts, raise.

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I’ll be playing soon in a tournament with a $50 buy in, $1,000 in chips. The tournament will be composed of ten players, will run for five hours and which will be raised every hour. The players I believe are not so really big bettors however are not cheap. Can you give me any advice on how should I be playing?

Last time, I played a tournament with a set up like the one I have just described. Honestly, I don’t know if I played well back then. One player went out at some point however was because of bad betting.

Your help will be much appreciated.

Thanks!

All the best,
Mike Johnson
Mike,

If you are against a bunch of tight players, you will want to be a little more aggressive with your betting. You will want to open up your hand ranges a bit and see more flops. Try and control the betting if you can but do not get silly. If you encounter resistance and you do not have a hand, then get out.

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