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
This is basically a total bluff that costs less money.
This is basically a total bluff that costs less money. Say someone raises to 3BBs and you call with 5-4. The flop comes A-x-x, he bets 6BBs and you raise to 17BBs. You’ve put in 20BBs. If he calls or re-raises, you lose those 20BBs basically every time. Instead, say he raises to 3BBs, you call and he bets 6BBs on the flop. You call, intending to take the pot later. The turn is a blank, he checks and you bet 11BBs. This costs the same as raising the flop, but now you have a much better idea about whether your opponent has an ace, because he probably would have bet an ace again on the turn. You can fold with confidence if he bets the turn, as he almost certainly has a hand.
Floating a flop does not commit you to making a play on the turn.
Floating a flop does not commit you to making a play on the turn. If your opponent keeps betting, you should usually fold because it is clear he has a hand. Don’t fall victim to the idea that putting money in a pot commits you to doing everything you can to win it. Sometimes you just have to fold.