Column 2 - Introductory Tournament Strategy

 

In this week’s column, I want to discuss introductory no limit hold’em tournament strategy.  I’ve played in a lot of “friendly home game” type tournaments lately and I always see the same mistakes.  I have broken it down into three major problems that amateurs seem to have:

 

1.     Playing Too Many Hands

 

This is the biggest problem that new players have.  There are people I’ve played with who will sit down and play every single hand.  In the long run, these players really have no chance.  A lot of the time they will get a hold of some chips early, but always end up giving them away.  The fact is that you can’t win every hand and you need to pick your spots.  It takes time to feel a table out and learn how the other players think and play.  It is very difficult to do that and build your chips at the same time.  Chip building comes from taking advantage of information other players give away through their play.  For example, if you see a player constantly raising with a weak hand, you know that all you have to do is be patient and wait for a big hand and take him down.  If you don’t take the time to figure out what he’s doing, you’ll lose a lot of chips calling, and then, folding to his big bet.  Or if you notice that a player has been playing very tight, (only plays very good hands) you know that it will take a perfect hand to beat him.  In playing too many hands, it’s too easy to give away valuable information rather than receive it.  You will also lose chips in the process.

 

2.        Overplaying Middle Pair

 

Overplaying, or giving too much credit to second or even third top pair is a huge mistake, yet I always see this when playing with inexperienced players.  Especially when playing against new players, when more people call to see the flop than actually should, someone will usually catch top pair.  If you call pre-flop with a hand like 10/J and see a flop of A/10/4, with five other callers in the hand you can pretty much guarantee that your pair of tens is not in the lead.  I’m not saying you couldn’t draw out (improve your hand on the next two cards to come), but the odds are probably against you. 

 

 

This is a spot where I see amateurs regularly lead out with a bet or even raise a previous bet.  Now, there are times when that would be correct, but these players usually just think that they have the best hand.  And when they lose the hand they just say, “Well I just didn’t think you had the ace,” or “Geez, I thought my 10’s were good, oh well!”  I love playing against these people.  They are so busy overvaluing their own hands that they forget you might have a better hand.  Just make sure you see how many people are in the hand and study the pre-flop action to get an idea of what people might have.  Don’t be afraid to lay down a mediocre hand, it’ll save you chips in the long run.

 

3.  Bluffing

 

Bluffing is one of the most important tools a poker player can be equipped with.  The pros will tell “you can’t win if you can’t bluff”, but there is one big problem – you can’t bluff an amateur.  This is especially true at a home game with your buddies. They seem to call with just about anything.  It’s the same point I was trying to get across in the last paragraph.  If a new player has hit the board in any way shape or form, he’s going to call.  Whether he doesn’t know any better, doesn’t believe you, or just doesn’t care, rest assured he will call.  Bluffing is a much better tactic against an experienced player because he won’t be so quick to gamble with a mediocre hand.  Remember, just because you see Phil Hellmuth bluffing on ESPN, doesn’t mean it will work for you.

 

These are just a few starter tips on tournament strategy.  I can’t stress patience enough.  It’s easy to sit there, get bored, and start playing too many hands, but that’s recipe for disaster.  Before you know it, you have no chips left, and watching your friends play from the sidelines is really boring!  Take some time to figure out how your opponents are playing, let them weed themselves out, and then, use that information against them.  I hope these tips are helpful. Again, if you have any questions, comments, or stories feel free to email me at xrokpoker@yahoo.com.  Until next time, take care, and good luck..

By Chris Stuart