Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 1 (69 page)

Never give up when you get down to a fairly short stack. I have seen some marvelous comebacks. In a WPT event in Biloxi, Bill Edler came back from one chip to win the tournament. I, on the other hand, went from having half the chips when we got down to 10 people to busting out in seventh place. I lost flips with A-K a few times, and then lost with Q-Q vs. Q-8, but that’s beside the point. Never give up as long as you have chips.

In the 2010 WSOP I saw a player get down to around 5BBs in a $1,500 tournament when he lost with A-A vs. K-K for a 100BB pot. He pushed on the next hand with 9
-3
and doubled up to 10BBs. The very next hand someone raised, someone else re-raised, he called off with 7-3o and doubled to 25BBs or so. The next hand everyone folded to him, he open-pushed with 7-4o and lost to J-J. Clearly this is a huge mistake, as a 10BB stack, and especially a 25BB stack has a lot of equity.

My final comeback story occurred in a WPT event at the Mirage. On the last hand of day 1, I lost a big flip with A-K vs. 10-10. The next day I came back with 6BBs and went on a sick heater to win the tournament. I had considered not showing up, but then realized that 6BBs was worth about $5,000 in equity. So, don’t give up.

Playing against small stacks is fairly simple. When they raise, tend to re-raise small with hands that are probably ahead of their range, which will isolate them, giving you good odds while usually cutting off their huge odds, which will hurt their equity. From the big blind, if everyone folds between you and the small blind, call fairly wide, as most players will be pushing a ton of hands. You will almost get the correct odds to call even against tight players who are willing to blind off until they get A-A, which makes calling a small mistake at worst.

Suppose you are in the cutoff with A
-10
and a short stack pushes for 3BBs. You and everyone behind you have over 50BBs. This is a great spot to re-raise to around 6BBs. You can easily get away from your hand if anyone else calls or re-raises. In fact, you should re-raise to around 6BBs with every hand you are going to play in this spot. You will be very exploitable if you only do it with your weaker hands, so re-raise with A-A, 5-5, K-Q, A-10,
etc.

In the big blind you just have to figure out your odds and decide if you should call. Suppose the button goes all-in for 3BBs and it is folded to you in the big blind. Which hands can you fold? Assuming there are 2BBs dead from the small blind and antes, plus 2 from the push and your 1 big blind, you have to call 2BBs to win 6BBs, meaning you need to win 25 percent of the time. Call with any two cards even if your opponent is pushing tight. Even 3-2 wins 28 percent of the time against 15 percent of hands, which is much tighter than any short stack will shove. Consider calling with 3-2 even if he pushes for 5BBs, meaning you need to call 4BBs to win 8BBs. Most good players will be pushing well over 50 percent of their hands, and 3-2 wins 32 percent of the time against that range, making it only a tiny error to call. So, for 5BBs, I would probably fold 3-2 to 9-2, 7-3 and 8-3, but call with everything else as long as losing would not cost much of my stack.

As everyone’s stack starts to shrink, surviving becomes an issue, especially once you get near or in the money, so call pushes a little tighter. If you wake up with a monster, like J-8, don’t be scared to call off 3BBs every time. Folding is usually too big of an error. Basically, when you are getting huge odds, especially if the pusher is aggressive, be willing to call off with a large range.

Conclusion

As you now know, a lot goes into playing fundamentally sound poker. Factors such as aggression, pot control, ranges and reads should all come to mind when asked about key concepts of tournament poker. Even though this volume has laid out a solid fundamental game plan to win at tournament poker, it will most likely not be enough for you to succeed simply because poker is not only played on the felt.

In Volume II, I will explain everything you have to do away from the felt to be an excellent player. Numerous technically sound poker players have come and gone through the years. The ones that stick around are those that know how to handle life. I will also expand on reads with a full section on tells that most players will find new. I will teach you how a professional poker lives and thinks on a daily basis. I will also help you to become mentally sound, incapable of tilting.

Even after reading this book, realize that poker is an evolving game that you must continually work on if you want to stay at the top. If you become lazy, you will be left in the dust. If you have a solid fundamental understanding of poker, you will be well on your way to becoming a world-class player.