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
You also have the option to raise less pre-flop,
You also have the option to raise less pre-flop, giving you worse odds to call, or raise more pre-flop, giving you better odds to call. One of my Swedish friends once told me to always raise enough so you have to call. While I don’t think that is quite accurate, it isn’t far from what you should be doing. You do not want to raise to an amount with a weak hand that makes your call or fold close, as you will often make a mistake.
Think about what stack size you will have
Think about what stack size you will have if you call and win, call and lose, or just fold. When considering calling these pushes, you also need to consider who is pushing over you. If a young online kid who has been fairly active is going all-in on top of you, don’t be scared to call off with a weak hand. A hand like A-10 or K-J is usually way ahead of his pushing range, especially if you have been active. It becomes a game of chicken, where he pushes a wide range because he knows you are raising a huge range from late position. But people usually forget that I know they are pushing a wide range, so I can now call with a wide range. Any time I am getting 1.5-to-1 or better against someone I know likes to push a lot, I will call off with a wide range. This is not only because I am usually 40 percent to win, but also because it will hopefully stop that player from pushing so much on me in the future. It also usually changes the stack sizes enough to where your opponent is either out of chips or has too many to just go all-in over your raise, putting you in a spot that is easier to play.