|
|
|
|
 |
|
How To Win Online Poker Tournaments
|
Author: Marc Weinberg
There are times when laying down a hand is more important than winning a hand, and this is never more true than in multi-table online poker tournaments. The laying down of hands has a spiritual ring to it, as well it should, because it can move you out of harm's way and keep your tournament hopes alive and well.
First of all, let me just say that I know of what I speak. I'm a man of action primarily, as long as we can define "action" loosely as playing poker in my ergonomic chair in the study. Perhaps Nietzche had something else in mind other than clicking a mouse and shouting out heartily at the computer screen, but he would have surely appreciated my Teutonic gusto for joining the poker battle. When poker tournaments get down to the hand-to-hand combat I sound positively Wagnerian at times. So, today I entered a 400 player online poker tournament, and duly emerged victorious. These tournaments are naturally hard to win, require a good deal of luck along the way, and take many hours (this one started at 1:30 and ended over 5 hours later). The buy-in was large enough to keep rank amateurs out of the starting lineup, but there were a lot of shall we say "intermediates" in the field as well.
The key to my success in poker tournaments in general, and today's online poker tournament in particular is my ability to lay down a hand, even though that hand may well be leading at the time. This can be the right play depending on the context of the tournament and your place in it. Let me explain in more detail:
There were 50 players left in the event, which paid out the top 40 places. I was roughly 20th in chips. I was in a hand for a minimal amount of chips and held A-Q of hearts. There were three others in the hand. The flop came 5h-7h-9d. The first speaker went all-in for 22000 chips. It was a huge bet under the circumstances. I had 31000 chips in front of me, but there were still two others to act after me. What to do?
The gambler in me would argue that I had the nut-flush draw and two overcards, and this was a chance to build my stack to nearly 60000 chips. But look at the context of the tournament. To lose those 22000 chips on a draw and leave myself short-stacked would have been a disaster that was not redeemable. Instead I decided to lay down the hand and simply mucked it.
Another player called the all-in and turned over A-9. The first player showed 8h-Jh, for a double gutshot straight draw as well as a flush draw. The turn brought a J and the river was a blank. The Jacks held up, as they would have done against my AQ, still just a drawing hand.
The second hand was even more critical as we were down to 14 players. I was dealt AK suited on the button and had 71000 in chips. The blinds were 2000/4000 (with 50 antes) and there were loose and very aggressive players at my table. One of them promptly went all-in under the gun for 62000 chips. What to do?
I now use the incredible poker wisdom of Dan Harrington's book to guide me here. I estimate that there is a 5% chance he is bluffing, and I'll win that hand 80% of the time if that's the case. There's a 20% chance that he holds AJ or AQ and is making a huge silly move here. I will win that hand 80% of the time as well, on the conservative side. There's a 60% chance he has a pocket pair - anything from 22 to QQ, I've seen it all before. In that case I'll win the hand 45% of the time more-or-less. Finally, there's a 15% chance he holds AA or KK, in which case I will only win the hand 20% of the time. Remember that all these calculations are APPROXIMATE and done in the spur of the moment, but that's how I think through these problems. That means I'll win the hand 4+16+27+3 or 50% of the time. My best case scenario is a coin-flip.
In that case I don't even need to know the pot odds, but they're basically a little better than even money. The pot odds interest me less than the tournament context. If I put everything on the line here I go from a comfortable second to a very comfortable first, but if I lose I go to 14th and all-in on my next hand. I can't argue for anything better than 55% to win this hand. Why risk it all on a drawing hand? I put it down. What did he have? I'd love to know, but it doesn't matter. If he turned over AQ and flopped a Q, I'd feel as good about it as someone who got run over in the pedestrain crosswalk - you know you were in the right, but it seems like cold comfort to me.
I remember those hands as being the most important of the entire event, although the last hand when I went all in with 22 for 320,000 chips and was called by A3 unsuited for his 280,000 stack is also memorable. The flop came A38, the turn brought a T, and the river was a 2. There are times when you just have to love online poker. If the guy who came second has a website I'm sure he's typing a different report, but I think I had enough poker karma points in the tank to spike one win on the river!
Related Poker Articles And News Items:
> Don't Start Out With No-Limit Hold'em - Work Up To It!
> How To Win At Limit Poker - Some Thoughts
> The Difficulty Of Measuring Success As An Online Poker Player
> Online Tournament Poker Meltdown
> Recovering From The Online Poker Satellites
> Poker Odds And Assessing Your Outs
> Harrington On Hold'em Rules!
> Guaranteed Poker Tournaments - Providing An Edge
|
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
Hot Poker Promotions
|
Online Poker Rooms Guide
|
|
|
|
Join Our Newsletter
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
