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
A semi-bluff is when you bet or raise with a hand
A semi-bluff is when you bet or raise with a hand that is usually behind if you’re called but still has a decent amount of equity. Suppose someone raises to 300 from middle position and you call on the button with a 4,000 stack and A-J, creating a 750 pot. If the flop comes 5-4-2 and your opponent bets 500, this is a great spot to go all-in as a semi-bluff, as any spade will give you the best hand and a 4, ace, or jack will almost certainly do the same.
If your opponent calls, you are probably behind,
If your opponent calls, you are probably behind, but on a board like 5-4-2, there isn’t a whole lot he can have besides an overpair. So, he will fold everything except decent overpairs and when he does call, you still have around 40-percent equity. Assume your opponent will fold to your raise 70 percent of the time, and you have 40-percent equity when he does call. The amount you can expect to win by going all-in here is (0.7)(1,250) + (0.3)[(8,150(0.4) – (8,150)(0.6)] = 386.