Posts Tagged ‘Uncategorized’

WSOP Deep Stack Mistake #8: Failing to Plan for Pot Commitment

As explained above, deep stacks may call for betting patterns that players who play primarily tournament poker don’t often have cause to use. The key is to look ahead to the last bet and then plan backwards. Check-raising may not be the best way to play a big draw if it won’t enable you to commit your entire stack. When this is the case, you should consider leading out with the intention of 3-betting. Failing that, checking and calling with the intention of trying to get paid off after hitting your draw may be the best option.

Similarly, when stacks are very deep, even pot-sized bets on three streets may not be sufficient to get all of your money in. So when you have a monster, you should look to check-raise or try to induce a raise from your opponent in order to build a larger pot than you could with betting alone.
Next:Slow is a no-go

WSOP Deep Stack Mistake #7: Betting Too Small

There is a critical skill in NLHE that Howard Lederer, in the Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide, calls leverage. Lederer describes leverage as a bet that implies “the potential and threat of more bets on later streets.” A pot-sized all in bet on the flop may be scary, but a pot-sized bet with five times as much left in the remaining stacks is even scarier.

When you are bluffing, you would like to threaten as much of your opponent’s stack as possible. And when you have a very strong hand, you also want to threaten your opponent’s entire stack in order to maximize your winnings.

With shallow stacks, you may be able to get all the money in by betting ¾ or even ½ of the pot on every street. In that case, a ½ pot flop bet carries plenty of leverage. Assuming 100 BB stacks and an 8 BB pot on the flop, a ½ pot flop bet can realistically threaten only about 2/3 of your opponent’s stack (4 BB on the flop, then 16 BB if you pot the turn and 48 BB if you pot the river, for a total of 68 BB). Thus, your standard bets will need to be larger to insure that you get sufficient fold equity for your bluffs and build a pot worthy of your monster holdings.  Read the complete post...

WSOP Deep Stack Mistake #6: Giving Callers Too Much Credit

In the Expanded Edition of his Tournament Poker for Advanced Players, David Sklansky clarifies that, “it is wrong to abide by the Gap Concept… when the players in the pot have a lot of chips compared to the blinds.” That is, players who call bets and raises may be doing so not because they have a very strong hand that is not concerned about fold equity, as would be the case with shallow stacks, but because there is still a lot of money behind and they want to speculate or see what you are going to do on a future street.

Thus, tournament specialists need to re-calibrate their hand reading for deep-stacked situations. You can continuation bet more often and on a wider variety of flops, and you will encounter more situations that call for two- and three-barrel bluffs. Your bluffs will fold out not only marginal made hands like middle pair but also much weaker hands that were calling with the intention of bluffing you on a future street.

Next: Go Big

WSOP Deep Stack Mistake #5: Playing Too Straightforwardly

With shallow stacks, you will quickly run into a mathematical limit on the number of hands that you can profitably play from a given position, at least when there are other competent players at the table. When stacks are deep, the greater danger is in playing too few hands. If other players can put you on a very narrow range based on your pre-flop action, then you will have a difficult time turning a profit.

This means that you must occasionally raise with small suited connectors in early position or re-raise with a hand other than AK or a big pair. Even if only 10% of your re-raises or early position raises are semi-bluffs, this drastically reduces the implied odds your opponents can count on when contemplating a call and makes it easier for you to get value when you do have a legitimate hand.

Next: Be Skeptical

WSOP Deep Mistake #4: Not Defending the Button

The corollary is that you can and should play more hands on the button. This isn’t about blind stealing; it’s about setting yourself up to leverage your position after the flop. So while you can open raise with a very wide range from the button, you can also call and re-raise more raises, especially when there are already multiple players in the pot.

Tournament players are accustomed to calling and re-raising aggressively to defend their blinds, which makes sense when stacks are shallow. Not only are you risking less, but you are sending a message to the table bullies to leave your blinds alone. This is important when the blinds represent 5-10% of your stack.

With deeper stacks, blind defense is less important but button defense is more important. The button is like a gold mine that you have to share with eight other prospectors. When it’s your turn to reap the gold, you can’t let the others beat you to it. An aggressive player on your right who regularly raises the pot ahead of you needs to be discouraged with frequent calls and re-raises. After a while, he will stop trying to steal your button.

Next:Be Tricky

WSOP Deep Stack Mistake #3: Playing Too Many Hands Out of Position

In hold ‘em, position is an advantage that compounds at every decision point. In other words, the player with position can push his advantage on the flop because he knows he will also have position on the river, enabling him to make better decisions when the bets are biggest. Position is still important when stacks are shallow enough for players to get all in on the flop, but it is less important than it is when there will be four or more opportunities for a player to push that advantage.

No matter how much of a skill edge you have over your opponents, it is very difficult to realize that edge from out of position. Bluffing is harder, figuring out where you stand with marginal hands is harder, and even getting paid off when you make a monster is harder. If you do choose to play speculative hands like suited connectors from early position, it should be primarily for deception rather than for the intrinsic value of playing those hands from that position. Hands like AJo, which primarily make marginal one pair hands when they hit the flop at all, are also relatively worthless in early position.

Next: Own the button

WSOP Deep Stack Mistake #2: Overestimating Implied Odds

When you’re used to playing 20-30 BB’s deep, 75 BB’s can feel like a monster stack. The truth, however, is that with 75 BB effective stacks, calling a standard raise of 3-4 BB’s with a small pocket pair for set value alone is a marginal play. Not only do you need to hit your set, which is about 8 ½ to 1 against, but your opponent needs to make a hand that’s big enough to be worth his stack but not big enough to beat your set.

It’s even tougher to play more speculative hands like suited connectors and one-gappers. The perfect flop is not going to come around often enough, so you need to have deeper stacks or a few more tricks up your sleeve before you start calling with these. When you have a very good feel for your opponent such that you’ll be able to bluff, value bet, and even fold with a high degree of accuracy, these become more playable. But many players overestimate how well they can be pull off such plays, especially when out of position. Which brings us to the next point…

Next: Know when to say no

With the World Series of Poker nearly upon us, tournament specialists around the world are salivating at the thought of thousands of amateurs just waiting to give away their $10,000 buy-in. Not so fast, tourney donks! In the main event, players begin with 20,000 in chips, and blinds start at 50-100. You can put away your unexploitable push/fold charts, because with 120 minute levels, you’ll be playing real poker well into Day 2.

To help you make the most of the weaker players and avoid drawing a target on your own chest, I’ve compiled this list of the top ten mistakes that even good tournament players make when stacks are deep:

WSOP Deep Stack Mistake #1: Overvaluing One Pair

You may think this one doesn’t apply to you, but it probably does. There’s more to it than not losing your entire stack with top pair. Even many good players understand “pot control” to mean nothing more than “stop raising and just call down.”

But there’s no iron law that says you have to see the showdown just because you were dealt a big pair. It’s true: a pair of Aces is the nuts… before the flop. When five more cards have come out, even Aces don’t beat many hands that a typical opponent is betting for value. Your more passive opponents won’t often be raising worse hands on the flop, either, and especially not on the turn.  Read the complete post...