Tournament Strategies
After receiving pocket cards, you are immediately faced with a choice: play your cards and either raise or call the blinds, or fold.
Practice Matters
A weak player will see an A-K-Q flop with a hand like Q-Q and check,
A weak player will see an A-K-Q flop with a hand like Q-Q and check, or even bet the minimum throughout the hand, hoping his opponent will decide to put a little money in the pot. Bet strongly in spots like this because your opponent probably isn’t going to put much money in the pot if he doesn’t have an ace, and no turn card will make him want to put more money in the pot, except on the rare chance he has an underpair and hits a set. Finally, a jack or 10 could cost you the pot when your opponent would have folded to a standard flop bet with a hand like 10-9 or J-8. Nothing good can come from slow-playing in this spot.
Suppose you have 8-7 in a heads-up sitngo.
Suppose you have 8-7 in a heads-up sitngo. You and your opponent both have 50BBs. You raise to 3BBs pre-flop from the button and your opponent just calls. Say the flop is 7-7-4. You should bet if he checks, because he will call with a significant number of hands. Say you bet 4BBs and your opponent makes it 12BBs. This is a horrible spot to re-raise, as he will only call if he has you beat. He probably would have re-raised a big pair pre-flop, and if he has 6-5, he’ll lose even if he hits an 8. If you just call, it may induce him to bet the turn either as a bluff or for value. If he does bet, just call and then raise or bet on the river, trying to get all the chips in the pot.