poker school
lesson 17: limit hold'em tournament strategy
Alright guys, at our last class we introduced the types of tournaments you can play as well as strategies pertaining to the position you are in, this lesson is going to focus strictly on the style of limit hold'em. This is the style of poker that the majority of you will be playing in the casinos or online. This lesson is going to focus on a couple of strategies that you can use to improve not only your poker game but hopefully improving your bankroll. Let's get going.
When playing Limit Hold'em it is important to be a patient player, but is extremely aggressive when the time comes. For instance, when you decide to play pots you need to play them aggressively and take control. It is your goal to simply try and win every pot that you decide to enter. It is not necessary to always call one of your opponents' raises before the flop. If your pocket cards don't get you excited you should just throw them away and avoid the risk of decreasing your chip stack. On the other hand, if you like what you see or have a gut feeling that you can steal a hand you should three-bet-it (this means making it three bets to go; raising when it's already two bets to go). If you develop a strategy where you three-bet before the flop with cards that you feel you can win with and you proceed to play the remainder of the hand aggressively you will win more pots than you will lose. The consensus on this particular strategy (three-betting) is that it will generally cause your opponents to cringe a little bit and lay their hand down before the flop. In turn, this will increase your chip stack and increase your chances of winning. As far as playing aggressively in Limit, remember once you commit to a pot play it as aggressive as possible. If you don't like your cards do not feel forced to play them and get rid of them.
As important as it is to be aggressive in Limit tournaments, remember we pointed out above the importance of playing tight at the right times. Tight play is an important component of player's success in tournaments. The players that tend to play really tight in tournament play will generally stick around late in the events. If a player continues to play tight without ever changing their strategy these players usually do not win tournaments (and remember everyone's goal is too win tournaments). It is a good idea to play tight in order to remain in the tournament. Remember your opponents will catch on too you're playing style real fast so by throwing them a few curveballs you will throw them off guard and you will start to improve your position in the tournament and hopefully end up winning the event.
Now that we have looked at aggressive and tight play with regards to Limit Tournaments, we are now going to look at the strategy of stealing your opponents blinds (stealing blinds is defined as: in hold'em on the first round of betting, to make a raise trying to make the blind hands fold, thus winning the pot immediately). This strategy is generally successful when you have been at the table for awhile and you have a pretty good read on your opponents. Once you have located the real tight players at your table, you want to start to steal their blinds. Because they are real tight they won't like to see a raise before the flop and they will get intimidated into folding if their hand is not real strong. On the other hand, you want to be careful of stealing the blinds from those players that have a real loose style of play, because they will figure out what you are up to and they will defend their blinds with skill. This could hurt your chances of moving on in the tournament. So, just be aware of who your opponents are and don't be afraid to take their blinds. This is a good way to keep your chip stack at a good level as the blinds continue to rise as the tournament progresses.
Another important point in the tournament for you to pay attention to is when you are approaching the money cut-off stage (for example, there are 26 players remaining in the tournament and only 25 players will earn money), make sure you keep your focus on what is in front of you at the table right now. Your finish in a tournament will take care of itself with how well you play. If you notice that your opponents are starting to play real tight to make sure that they get into the money, you now are presented with the opportunity to start stealing as many blinds as you possibly can. Remember, your goal is not to finish in the money you want to win the tournament. So that is why you stay aggressive here and you will continue to accumulate chips which will help you when you are trying to advance into the final rounds of competition in this tournament. Again, it is important to know your opponents when you start attempting to steal the blinds because the good players know about this strategy and they will defend their blinds with an offence of their own.
Once you have put yourself in a position where you are guaranteed money your game play should not vary too far from how you played to get into this position. You should still be waiting for those high calibre hands before you get heavily into a pot. At this stage of the game the limits continue to escalate, so you should continue playing a little tight because if you happen to lose a pot at this point where the limits are high it will be a fatal hit to your chip stack. Also, it will be a fatal hit to your chances of winning the tournament. However when you do pick up a strong hand you will now be playing aggressively because you're trying to take firm control over the hand with the end result of you raking in all the chips.
Remember if the players at your table are playing too loose, then you need to play tight to try to survive. On the other hand if the players at your table are playing too tight, then make sure you start stealing a few blinds. This is the best opportunity to make money off of the real tight players. If you have played well throughout the tournament and you find yourself sitting at the final table continue playing your best poker and try to get yourself into the final three spots, as that is where you will reap the rewards. Good luck in your tournament play and remember you want to take as much experience with you when you leave the tournament. So make sure you learn something while you're playing. We'll see you guys at the next lesson.
good luck and enjoy your experiences at the poker tables
