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
Suppose someone raises UTG and you have 7-6 on the button.
Suppose someone raises UTG and you have 7-6 on the button. If you all have over 80BBs or so, you should call this raise every time. While you are certainly behind before the flop, your hand can easily beat your opponent’s under-the-gun raising range if you connect well with the flop. Not only can you out-flop your opponent, you will most likely have huge implied odds, as most under-the-gun raising ranges are made up of big pairs and big cards. So, if the flop comes 7-6-2, you can be confident getting in a lot of money, as your opponent will usually show up with an overpair. You have to be careful though, as you don’t want to get all the money in with one pair and a weak kicker.
If you call with the same 7-6 and it comes 7-4-2,
If you call with the same 7-6 and it comes 7-4-2, you should call a flop bet, but if your opponent fires again on the turn, unless you know him to bluff multiple streets, you should fold, as this usually narrows his range to only hands that can beat top pair, bad kicker.