Guide to NLHE tournament play: fifth edition

Hmm, I wasn't sure until I read his advice on how to play AA. "Limp in, check the flop and go allin on the turn regardless". I wish all my opponents did that with AA, esp when I hit a sneaky two pair from BB. Thiss is a total piss-take

While I thoroughly enjoyed your strategies I would like to see you touch on more advanced strategies in your further articles. I would like to add some advanced concepts that can be used after you have mastered some of the basics described here...

Suited Cards-Any suited ace or king is preferable but really any two suited cards can and should be played full throttle. Do you realize the odds of being dealt two of the same suit? With that in mind these are hands that derive their best value through preflop aggression. You want to get in all in before the flop to trap players who are holding high pocket pairs.

Gapped unsuited cards- While this may be counter to my previous statement about suited cards, gapped unsuited cards can amount to monster hands and should again be played with maximum aggression preflop. Take the ever popular 2,7 offsuit. Many poker theorist have claimed this to be the worst hand in poker. Hogwash. Do you realize the possibilities with this hand? I find these to be the ideal hands to crack high pocket pairs and I will show you why. With 2,7 offsuit do you see all the straight and flush possibilities? You have the opportunity to hit two different flushes as well as 2 different straights. Couple that with the opportunity to hit top pair on a low carded board and you can see its power.

The All in Bluff Call- Okay, this move is really to set up your image for future tournaments. Say its late in a tournament and you get involved in a hand down to the river and have no pair and no draw. Other player reraises you all in. What do you do? I think you must call here to show this person that you will not be pushed around. This will create an image for you that you can bring to the next online tournament you play in with this person. This especially applies to the lower buy in tournaments where you will often be at the table with the same players time and again.

I would like to state that these moves should only be done with adult supervision and many hours of tournament play under your belt. When used properly they can be a powerful tool in your no limit arsenal.

[mikeymer]

Whats even funnier about this is whole long it must have taken to actually type out... What a waste of time.

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I love that people are replying to this like it was real- it's obviously a joke. The strategies here are all almost exactly the opposite of correct play. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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It's good that you weren't fooled. Congratulations.

[Koss]

I find another good strategy is to min-raise from the SB or BB with hands like KT or A7 after 3 or more people have limped in. This way you announce to the whole table how big a hand you have, and if you make top pair on the flop you'll win a bigger pot than you would have if you had just limped in or checked. If you make top pair or better you will act first after the flop which is always a good thing. You can win a lot more money after the flop by betting the minimum and trapping people in the hand. Then they will be pot committed on the turn and you can bet the size of the pot and force people to pay you off.

Another good idea is when you hold top pair, and have been trapping your opponents the whole way with min-bets, and then the turn or river card completes several possible draws, now is a good time to go all-in, because if you don't you might not win the pot.

[twang]

Unlimited Texas Hold Them - the Audi of Poker. Nice breakdown of a complicated subject.

Hi all Im new to the site here and obviously theres a huge wealth of information at our fingertips here [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

I was basically looking for a guide to help me with large MTT as I haven't really studyed tournament tactics & would like to finish better that I currently do.

As I read through your guide I must admit that it seemed to go against what the smaller guides and tips in other online sites & books (not specifically for tournament stratagy) suggest...i.e play tight in the early stages loosen up and change gears throughout the tournament.....

Not one to shun an idea just because it seems wrong I gave your guide a whirl in a 1000 entrant freeroll (top 50 payed)
normally I struggle to get in the top 500 normally get my aces busted or something like that....however I finished 83 due to my own failings and not looking after my big stack that I accumalated....not being used to having a big stack I might add [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]...if I had used more caution after accumalting this stack I feel I would of easily placed in the money . but I'll know for next time.

I found your guide to a very successful way to extract chips with marginal hands that most players would throw away...I was taking down pots with 45o and pocket 3's which I would normally throw away early in a tournament...and I also found it easier to throw the AK when the flop didnt help..as I didnt put a huge raise in then get flat called all the way to the river and losing to a pair of 4's...I was the pair of 4's and it felt good...

I was comfortable throughout the tournament always above the average and was comfortably in the top 20 for most of the tournament until I got careless near the end.....

So I will be trying this statagy again..I will print it out so I dont have to flip in and out mid tourament lol [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

And Thank you for sharing this wisdom I will let you know how well I Get On

Tom [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[CardSharpCook]

Tek had some very good suggestions. You may consider a rewrite incorporating some of his ideas.

Ok..maybe Im thinking I had a lucky night the other night [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Or maybe Im playing in the wrong tournaments (freerolls & playmoney) or maybe being unlucky...but after rereading the guide a few times I do think that some points contraddict themselves and some are just a bit vague...maybe you could delve a bit deeper into your ideas.. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Also I get a bit stuck on the turn and river...if someones still half betting do I keep calling I have also found people half betting the pot with good hands which I end up paying them out with ...I dont know Im a little confused at this point [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Harrington on Hold em is on the way in the mail anyway after several of you recommended it in another post of mine...I will keep trying different ideas until I find 1 or some that I am happy with and will incorpate tem into my game [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

You feed back would be apprechiated

Thanks Tom [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

I already knew all of that