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
When a flush or straight card comes,
When a flush or straight card comes, fire whether you have air or actually hit the straight or flush. Suppose you raise with Q-J and the board comes 5-4-2. If you bet the flop and your opponent calls, you should bet every time you hit the flush on the turn and usually when you miss, as the board will change either way. Notice that top pair on the flop will rarely be top pair on the turn. Also, you always have some equity in the hand because you have the flush draw and overcards. If instead of Q-J you have Q-J, you should still bet most turns, again, because the board will drastically change.
There are some spots where aggressive opponents will attempt
There are some spots where aggressive opponents will attempt to take you off your hand when a scare card comes. Most scare cards aren’t actually scare cards against these aggressive opponents. If you raise A-Q and someone calls on the button, you should bet every time the flop comes Q-6-4. Check if the turn is a king, not because you are scared of the king, but because you want to induce your opponent to bluff. He may show up with a king from time to time, but he will most likely see this scary looking card as an opportunity to bluff. If you check-call the turn, you have to check-call the river, as the board cannot change anymore and you still have a really strong hand. Do not fear the king, but neither should you check-raise the turn for value, in which case you are basically turning your hand into a weird bluff.