2. A good basic strategy for the single-table tournaments is to play solid, playing only premium hands in the first three rounds. After that, open up and play more hands, becoming more aggressive the higher the blinds get, and the shorter handed the tournament becomes.

3. Be a bettor, not a caller. Remember, the bettor has two chances to win, the first being you might be able to show down the best hand, and secondly, if everyone folds, you win an uncontested pot!

4. When your chip stack gets less than five times the size of the big blind in a no-limit single-table tournament or a multi-table tournament, consider moving all in with any two cards as long as you are the first one in the pot. In these situations you are just betting that no one has a hand that they can call you with. If you do get called and have the worst hand, you might get lucky and draw out on them. If you aren’t the first one in, you are joining a pot with automatic competition.

5. In the late stages when you have a large stack of chips and it’s one or two spots from the money, it’s easy to rob players that are desperately trying to make the money. Play more aggressive in that spot, reduce your starting requirements, and pick up some extra chips!

6. When you have an opponent who is overly aggressive, use it against them. Let them think you have a weak hand when you really have a strong one. Check into them so they will bet. You will then have the option to checkraise and take advantage of their aggressiveness. In the case of a real monster, check it a second time, and then pop it up!

7. Play Real Money games to practice for the early rounds of multi-table tournaments. The play here is very close to the same because you aren’t under pressure from the blinds. So play real money games anytime you have the time to improve your play for the early rounds. Play solid poker.

8. Have a game plan for your tournament. Decide if you are going to start out playing tight in the early rounds, or if are you going to play fast and try to accumulate chips early. Consider adjustments you might make if you get short of chips, if you get a large stack, or how you might adjust to different types of opponents styles. Be prepared for everything!

9. When you are playing, always observe your opponents and pick out who will and who wont, defend the blinds. The higher the blinds get, the more valuable this information becomes. Remember the tight players are easier to rob. Be ready to take advantage of them.

10. Save the best for last. Play your own tournament! That’s right, your own little event that starts and ends when you want. You are the tournament director and can play any form of poker you’d like. Sit in the smallest game you can find. The rounds are 20, 30, 40 minutes, anything you want, so set an alarm clock. When the clock goes off, you must get up and move to the next highest game. Keep going and see how much you can accumulate and how far you can go. Get to the biggest game and you win the trophy. Of course, in this tournament, you can quit at any time and cash in your checkers. Good Luck!

What do I mean by this? Notice that some players who win a few big hands, doubling their cash on the table, start to play a little more loose. They start gambling on more marginal hands as they feel the are playing with ‘winnings’, rather than their own cash. They raise pre-flop, stay in hands longer, basically playing different than they did at the start of their session when they were winning. Before long, they have wasted their good fortune, and are close to their starting cash level.

Conversely, players who have a bit of bad luck and hold a short stack, also have their common behaviors. Often, a short stack will throw their last few dollars at a marginal holding and leave after busting (or worse, buy back in an effort to claw back their losses).

Alternatively, some short stacks start playing more conservatively. Worried about the big guys at the table bullying them, they fold where they would usually call based on the pot odds.

My point is that you should tend to play the same style all the time (yes, even if that means changing up your style for deception). When you change your play based on the session’s ups and downs, you are eating into your long term expected profits.

Not many people, if any, win each and every session of poker. Those times you are winning will compensate for the losses. Guard that ‘earned money’ well.

And those times that you control your urge to tilt when you are losing will save the precious dollars that will see your bankroll increasing over the long term. So, in a way, the way you lose can make you are a long term winner; and win a long term loser.

So what strategies can one apply in order to combat the psychological influences of your stack size? First, just being aware of it will help. Just try and play the same game at all times regardless of the size of your stack.

Another option is to have an exit strategy. You might decide when starting at a table that you will leave when you double your chips, and when you are down ‘x’ amount of dollars. When you reach these thresholds, leave and find another table, or quit if you have played enough for the day.

On a more general note, guard those long term winnings too! Keep a range of money on the game sites. Funnel extra cash over your range to your cash (Neteller, etc) account so you are not induced to play at the higher tables until you, and your overall bankroll, dictate.

By managing your cash well, knowing how much you are up and down at the session, during the week, and overall, will help you to make better decisions at the table. By consciously being aware how cash levels affect you and your play, players can help increase profits over the long term by even marginal improvements each and every session.

The best thing that I have ever read in a book was this: “What is the difference between a professional poker player and a recreational poker player?”

Recreational poker player – Looks at his cards and looks for a reason to play

Professional poker player – Looks at his cards and looks for a reason NOT to play

After reading several thousand pages in too many books to count, this was the most profound thing I ever read. I thought about it for a while, and said “I do that all the time. I actually look for an excuse to play crappy cards.” I might have Q 7, but hey – it’s suited, so I’ll go for the flush. Never mind the fact that I only have a 6% chance of getting it, I’m going for it. The fact is Q 7 suited is a crappy hand, and should only be played if you are on the big blind and it doesn’t get raised. The only other situation is if it’s down to just a few people in a tournament or you are bluffing. Make sure you know the odds of every hand you play.

The next thing I have learned is that you only need to win one or two big hands an hour. The average poker player is there to have fun, and to most people it is more fun being in the hand than actually winning money. Whether it’s a cash game, or tournament, you only need to win one or two big hands an hour. The rest of the hands simply do nothing but cut into your stack. If it’s not there, just fold. Limit the number of hands you are “drawing” for and protect the size of your stick. The best example I can give you is this. Lets say you buy in for $200 in a no-limit cash game. You pick up 8c 9c (suited connector). Not a bad hand to limp in on in a no limit cash game. The flop comes Ac Qc Qh, and you have four cards to your flush now. You are in middle position, but the bet has been raised twice before it gets to you. You have a 35% chance of making that flush, but you have a 65% chance of not making it. Not to mention that there is a full house possibility on the board. Now lets say that bet to you is $20. The chances of you having the best hand at this point is zero taking into account the fact that the lead out better bet, and it was raised. You have a 35% chance of improving your hand at the same time the other two players have an equal or greater chance to improve their hand, depending on what they are holding. If you fold, that is $20 that is still in your stack. If you make this one change, just once per hour, at the end of a 5 hour day of playing poker, you will have $100 more in your pocket. Think about it.

Finally, the last thing I want to share with you is “playing the part.” If you walk into a poker room to make money, then you have to play the part. Every single thing you do from the moment you sit down can be clues for the other players at the table. The way you hold you cards, play with your chips, blink your eyes, anything! The best thing is to a) do the same exact thing every hand, or b) change your style every couple of hands throughout the game. I prefer style b myself because I can’t sit still that long. I’m always thinking about every move I make, and before I look at my cards EACH time, I have a plan in my head no matter what the cards are. If you are going to give tells to other poker players, make sure you are lying! The other day I was playing in a NL hold’em tournament. I was dealt Q 10 spades. I limped in and the flop was Js 9s 5c. I kid you not, I had open end straight flush. The second I saw the flop, I knew I would call an all-in if I had to. The guy bets 200. I sat there and thought about it for a while (or so I made him think), and then motioned to muck my cards. Then I brought them back, motioned one more time to muck, then placed my chip back on top of my cards. “Fine, I call” I said. Fourth street brought the 2s. I just made my flush. Now this time he check, and so did I, with a big sigh. The river was 8s, which made my best hand ever, a straight flush to the queen. Now, this time the other guy bets 300. I though about it for a while and said “I’m all in”. HE CALLED ME with trip 5’s and the 5 of spades. The guy next to him at the table said “why the heck did you call that with just the five?” His response – “I didn’t think he had it because he almost folded.” PLAY THE PART!

This is such an interesting question to me that I felt it was necessary to write a column about it. Like the great majority of players, especially newer players to the game of poker, I used to say “Both”. However, over the past few years I have come to the understanding that I am far from both. I still play tournaments, and even do well occasionally in them, but I am a ring game player.

This is not to say that many players aren’t both. Many professional players are certainly equally good at both tournament and ring game poker. Here is the big difference. I am not a professional poker player. I may be one some day, but until that time, I have stopped answering the question in the title with “Both”.

I can hear it now from many of you. “What’s the difference? A good poker player is a good poker player no matter what they are playing.” While this is true, the point I am making is this: Beyond the basics, the skills necessary to be a consistent winner in tournaments and ring games are different. As you are learning to play poker and improving with experience, you should concentrate on one form or the other.

Poker is easy to play, but so hard to master, that all of your work should be concentrated early in your career on improving a certain area of your game. Once you master one area, then you should expand your selection and try to become a solid overall player.

I firmly believe that my growth as a poker player was stunted to some degree by jumping from format to format. When I started playing online, I would play ring games, sit-n-gos and multi table tournaments, often at the same time. I would even go so far as to play both Texas holdem and Omaha/8 at the same time. Talk about setting yourself up to struggle.

Of course my long-term goal of being a solid well-rounded player eventually was accomplished, it took a long time and was not as profitable as it could have been. By concentrating on one area, you will become more profitable and you will enter the next area with much more confidence in your abilities.

Give yourself an honest evaluation when you think about the above question and decide what type of player you are. Once you can give an honest answer, you will be able to work towards mastering your best area of play and then expanding your game.

However, it is very important to realize that every poker player that appears to be drunk may not actually be, and that some of the best poker players in the world tend to be obnoxious at times. Two that come to mind are Mike “The Mouth” Matusow and Phil Hellmuth. Some players use these appearances to gain an advantage over their opponents.

It is easy to let ourselves play differently against an opponent who we don’t like or against one who appears to be drunk, but to do so makes us do things that aren’t best for our poker game. So how do we deal with obnoxious players? You can either not play in the same game with them, or you can learn to deal with them.

I don’t let them bother me anymore, but when I was younger they did sometimes. This has just come with age and experience, but now I will at times use their obnoxiousness against them, especially when they lose a big hand or get sucked out on. A simple well-timed “Nice hand” in my most sarcastic voice can work wonders for their attitude. They usually start berating me endlessly.

This is made even better if I am the one who beats them in a hand. I have seen players get so worked up at insulting me that they start making terrible decisions, all from two little words. It is a very satisfying experience to turn the person who is trying to put everyone else on tilt, on tilt himself. You must be prepared to create a life-long “fan” if you do this, but I still feel it is worth it at times.

What about the apparent drunk player? The only thing you can do is concentrate on playing your best game, but there are a few clues you can look for when a player may just be acting. Players who act drunk to get action tend to play a large percentage of hands, often betting and raising before the flop, but tend to play exceptionally good strategy after the flop. If you see a player like this that is raking in a large number of pots, start watching their post flop play. You may very well be surprised at how good they really are.

When I informed him that my oldest daughter (10) already played poker with us often, the look on his face made it quite clear that he didn’t approve. I have included parts of my side of the conversation below.

I do not condone children gambling, placing bets with real money, in any way. Like many things I feel are important, I have discussed this with my daughter many times, including the dangers of gambling (I have been placing sporting bets since I was 12). However, I completely separate gambling from poker, as poker can be played without money just as well as it can with it. In addition, poker helps children learn many important skills. Let’s take a look at a few of the simple skills required to play poker.

Memory plays a large part in learning the rules of the game, the ranks and suits of the cards and the order of hands (a flush beats a straight, etc.). The intricate strategy necessary to do well helps develop analytical thinking abilities and playing poker helps develop social skills. Are there other games that can offer the same kind of skill development? Sure there are, but we tend to play variations of poker more than anything else, so why not let her play too?

My colleague and I couldn’t come to much of an agreement about what was right and wrong, but he can put his side of the story in his own column. It all comes down to personal choice. Each person should raise their children in the best way that they see fit. Just don’t overlook anything on the positive side of teaching kids to play poker. Until next week, good luck at the tables.

The first step is to determine how many outs you have. For example, if you have an open-end straight draw, you have eight outs and if you have four to a flush you have nine outs. The next step is to simply multiply the number of outs by two. So our new number for the straight draw is 16 and 18 for the flush draw.

The final steps are to multiply this number by the number of cards yet to be played, one for the river or two for the turn and river, and convert the new number to a percentage. So if there are two cards to come, the percentage for the straight draw is 32% and 36% for the flush draw. These are roughly the chance you have to hit your outs.

To illustrate the accuracy of this simple method, let’s compare the actual percentages with those we came up with. The percentage for the straight draw is just over 31% and for the flush draw is about 34-½ %. So the percentages are very close. They are definitely close enough to make the correct decision in most games.

Start using this simple system and you will find that the correct play will become automatic in no time. Until next week, good luck at the tables!