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 flop probably hit your opponent’s raising range fairly hard,
This flop probably hit your opponent’s raising range fairly hard, as it consists mostly of aces. If your opponent bets, you should strongly consider raising. If he has an ace, he will be quite willing to put a lot of money in the pot while drawing near dead. If you were out of position in one of the blinds, you could check-raise for value.
You may do better by check-calling the flop
You may do better by check-calling the flop and check-raising the turn if you’re out of position with 9-9 on the A-K-9 board. This may be a slightly better line against players who will fire two barrels any time their opponent shows weakness by just calling the flop. When you’re raised or check-raised on the turn, your opponent will usually show up with an overly strong hand. Watch for these situations and don’t pay him off.