Strategy in tournaments with beginners

I am curious to know how other people play their tournaments when there are very inexperienced players at their table during a tournament.

I'll give you a couple of examples. And of the people at this table, 4 are beginner players and at any time any or all of these 4 players would do this:

Position and big blind and small blind didn't seem to matter to one of these players at the table.

Blinds are at 50/100

Poket hand: me 10/10 (SB) Raise to 600
opponent J/7 Calls $600 raise

Flop: 8s9s10s

I bet $600 (half pot) and opponent calls. With her pre-flop call, I'm thinking shes holding maybe a pair of 9s or 8s or something higher?

Anyways she goes on to win this hand, at a showdown. (I didnt lose anymore money as we both checked around the table.)

Another hand in the tourney I am in late position and I have ac10c blinds 50/100 and I raise $400 as others have limped in. I get 2 callers pre-flop. I flop rags and others are betting so I get out of the hand. At the showdown, my ac10c were called with a k7o and 89o, the k7o ended up with 2 pair.

My last hand in the tourney, we are down to five. I have the button, and blinds are 200/400. 2 plrs after bb fold and I push all in with an as/ks (2400 raise) small blind quickly folds and big blind calls with a Qs/Js. He hits a J on the flop and I am sent packing. What a bad beat.

The bottom line is that I don't think this is poker. It's hard to raise preflop with beginning players who just don't know when they should be in and when they should be out. Can't bet them out because as shown in some of the examples above, they play unreal draws and such. In the end, in a tourney like this it really came down to who got the cards, I found it very difficult to play my opponents and was left to play the cards.

Sorry to blabber on, but does anyone have any suggestions? I'm thinking it would probably be better to just steer clear of games like these.

[RLilley]

I find that with about 80% of beginners, they will NEVER reraise unless they have a GREAT hand.

So, I always bet small if I want to know their hand.

IMHO in these kind of games preflop raise is only a good thing if you want to build the pot. They will not fold their hand because of a raise. If you want to put out the players defending your hand, raise the minimum. My experience shows that they will not give you 2 BB or will call almost anything. If they are limped in earlier position, it is hard to make them fold.

Instead you should play them on the flop. They more easily fold a hand when they see they didn't hit it. You should judge your bets by the flop and their reactions to it.

thanks for the idea. by playing this way, the pots are smaller then but at least i'm not going broke on a bad beat.

[jsmith5]

[ QUOTE ]
Sorry to blabber on, but does anyone have any suggestions? I'm thinking it would probably be better to just steer clear of games like these.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unfortunately, it's just not possible anymore to do that. Think about the WSOP around and how many beginners are there...I remember seeing a hand from the first day where an opponent reraised Ferguson with K9, then ended up calling his all-in. Ferguson held AA.

Generally I think it comes down to post-flop play. I am amazed at how many continuation bets will win on the flop. So I think toning down your pre-flop bet size with marginal hans is usally the best idea.

I think the bigger your hand, the bigger the raise should be preflop. While this may sound crazy, any beginner will call with any pocket pair. Doesn't matter. If you are holding KK and blinds are 100-200, make it 1600 to go. Then you force out the hands that can beat you after the flop (10-J suited for example) and will only get called by hands you have dominated. With a standard raise against a small pocket pair, any flop will usually scare them off unless they hit their set. And when they do hit their set if you have an overpair, chances are you are going to pay them off anyway. So it's generally better to extract as much money from them preflop as possible.

[woodguy]

They will call with 3rd pair, they will call with the nut straight.

Do not bluff.

Value bet like hell.

Don't be fancy.

ABC=$$$ in these games.

Regards,
Woodguy

[yabastid]

[ QUOTE ]
They will call with 3rd pair, they will call with the nut straight.

Do not bluff.

Value bet like hell.

Don't be fancy.

ABC=$$$ in these games.

Regards,
Woodguy

[/ QUOTE ]

Woodguy, you post goot!

[davidross]

QUote "The bottom line is that I don't think this is poker"

Of course it is, poker is about playing your opponent.

Quote "I'm thinking it would probably be better to just steer clear of games like these"

Are you kidding? I go out of my way to find games like this. Stop thinking about your bad beats for a second and think about it like this. They will call your raises no matter what size. They won't fold if they have any part of the flop.

You don't have to get cute in games like this. No need to limp or mini raise with big hands, just bet big with your premium hands, play a lot of flops cheaply and wait for the nuts. Sure you'll run into some bad beats, but more often than not you'll double up early, then you can survive a bad beat.

[HeroInBlack]

[ QUOTE ]
In the end, in a tourney like this it really came down to who got the cards, I found it very difficult to play my opponents and was left to play the cards.


[/ QUOTE ]

It couldn't be further from this. As always, your strategy should be defined by your opponents.

The adjustment you must make begins here: in poker, you make your money when other players make mistakes. Beginning players are MUCH MORE likely to make the mistake of calling when they should fold than folding when they should call. So all you have to do is keep betting when you have the best hand, and they will keep calling. Sure, they're going to suck out every once in a while, but wouldn't you rather play against players that have to suck out on you to beat you rather than players that YOU have to suck out on to beat?

[ QUOTE ]
I'm thinking it would probably be better to just steer clear of games like these.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're unwilling to adjust your strategy to these players, then yes, steer clear of these guys.