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
If you raise and someone re-raises with position on you,
If you raise and someone re-raises with position on you, you are in a much tougher spot because he is going to pick up all the pots you miss. Hence, you should tend to check-raise with semi-bluffs, monsters and occasionally air, and check-call with good made hands and also hands like middle pair. Tend to fold weak made hands to continued pressure.
You are in a much more favorable situation if you raise
You are in a much more favorable situation if you raise and someone re-raises from out of position. Players re-raising out of the blinds tend to have a stronger hand than when re-raising from late position, enabling you to pick up some pots when the board comes with all low cards. If your opponent bets, you should only rarely raise, as he will continue betting a strong hand and will usually check-fold the turn with a weak hand. I suggest floating often, especially if the board is bad for the re-raiser’s range, and only folding when the flop is terrible for you. When your opponent checks to you on the turn, feel free to bet every time. If he continues to bet, you can call down with good made hands and fold weak hands.