Hold Em Authority - Texas Hold Em Strategy and advice for all levels of players

There have been multiple times in poker where I have a perfect read on what someone is holding and I end up losing. No, I’m not talking about a bad beat here - I’m talking about not knowing your opponent as well as you need to. Let me give you an example:

You think you have an opponent pegged as being a reckless poker player. He’s in every hand preflop and ultimately just loves seeing flops. You decide that on one hand you’re going to blow him off his hand, because what are the chances he’s going to have anything worth calling a good chunk of his stack with? The cards are dealt and you have a measley J3. Of course your opponent calls preflop, and the flop comes A62. Chances are this guy isn’t going to have an ace, so this flop is gorgeous for you - you bet, and your opponent calls. The turn is a 3. You bet bigger this time, and your opponent calls. The river is a 9. He wouldn’t call you three times would he? You bet the remainder of your stack and get called fairly quickly. He flips over Q6 and sends you to the rail.

Your intuition was right - he didn’t have a strong hand. What you may have forgotten to take into consideration though was what this guy is willing to call with. He risked almost his whole stack with middle pair which is ridiculous (most of the time), but because you didn’t know he was willing to do that, he took you for all your chips. You can blame your misfortune on him being an idiot if it makes you feel better, but whose fault is it really?

Getting a read on your opponents is important, but taking your read a step further can keep you in a tournament that much longer.

I’m gonna give you a rundown of a hand I played at a cash table.

I was dealt 10s in late position, and I believe there were 4 callers before it got to me. Mistake number one I made in the hand was not raising. I just called, 2 more callers, so it’s about a 7 way pot. The flop comes 456 rainbow. Someone bets a quarter in early position, and I raise about 1.50. I think I should’ve raised more to drive out any draws, but anyway, chalk up mistake #2. Three callers. The turn comes, 8. This is where I’m unsure of what to do. When my opponent called, I figured he was on a draw, I was right, but not exactly right. He checked, and then I checked. The river came, blank, he checked, I checked. He had A3, so I took down the pot.

One of my friends was screaming at me to bet on the turn. I don’t like that play though. I’ll figure out what he’s got, but I’ll lose money in the process if he raises me. Here’s what I mean:

1. If I bet small, I’m representing weakness, and I might get raised because he senses that, so I lose money.

2. If I bet big and get raised, well, I’ve lost a lot of money.

3. If I bet and he calls, well, then I’ve still got a chance of winning, but who knows what he might be slowplaying, or what he already had, such as two pair, or a set.

It’s an interesting thought to bet on the turn, but I can’t justify it because I feel that I could lose so much more than I could win. It’s a tough situation, and I don’t know if there is a true right answer for it. Again, knowing your opponent and the way he/she plays might be the only edge you can gain with your decision making in this sort of situation.

Do you bet with the nuts? You’ve got an unbeatable hand, so obvioulsy you’re fixing to win some sort of money, but should you let your opponent hang his/herself instead? This is the topic of discussion for today’s article, and while there may not be one correct way to play this type of situation, there may be a more proper way to extract money from your opponent in the long haul.

A prime example of this situation was a hand I got involved in today, and it’s a hand that I really don’t feel I could have played any better. Towards the end of the first hour of a tournament, I was dealt QJ in middle position and limped with it (ok, that may’ve been a bit of a weak play). Three other players entered the pot including the big blind who was already in. The flop came out QJ4. The SB and BB checked, and I checked as well, hoping the last player may take a stab at the pot with a position bet. He/she did not, however, so we saw another card. The turn was an A, and it put two of one suit on the board. The SB immediately bet the pot, so I instantaneously eliminated the one hand I thought could beat me, 10 K, because why would you bet the nuts in early position here?

That being said, I decided to raise anyway because I wanted to punish my opponent for drawing (I thought he was on a flush draw at this point). Even if he wasn’t drawing and had a made hand, I figured it must be a rag two pair, in which case I had a hammerlock on the hand. Long story short, we ended up all in on the turn, and he flipped 10 K. Nuts. Fantastic. No help came on the river and I was eliminated from the tournament.

Two things to take away from this example are:

1. Notice the fact that he was first to act. If you have an unbeatable hand with multiple players in the pot, especially more than three, you have an excellent probability that someone else involved in the hand got a piece of that turn. Many players like to play A X, in which case, they just hit their top pair. Why not let them bet out instead, in other words, let them do all the work for you. Let them commit themselves and their chips to the hand, and then raise them on the river when they are too deep in the hand to get out.

If you are worried about a flush drawer in this case, chances are that player will bet, and then you can pop him/her back with a check raise. Not only does this force the player to commit even more chips to the pot in order to hit a draw, it shows that player that your hand is really strong.

2. Knowing your opponent could be a huge help in this situation. I’ve made a note on this opponent so if I ever face the same situation again, I will know what to do. I had never seen this player’s betting pattern while in possession of the nuts, so I just assumed that he was like the majority of poker players who liked to be sneaky with the nuts. In other words, I was playing the percentages. If you are lucky enough to see what this player does when in possession of the nuts early in the tournament, you could very possibly save your tournament life by making a correct read and laying a big hand down later on in the tournament.

In this case, I overthought and his move paid huge dividends for him. Maybe I’m just blowing a bunch of smoke up your butt after all! In all honesty though, I do feel that while there might not be one correct way to play this type of situation, you tend to maximize your profits going the route of the slowplay.

The first true article on advanced strategy is coming to the forefront right now, and the topic is defending against the oh so common blind steal. I’ll run through a simple example that should bring light to the situation that may be muddy, or perhaps even unheard of to some of you new players. Here we go….

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Let’s say you’re in the big blind and you are dealt:

Everyone folds around to the button who doubles the blinds. This appears to be a classic blind steal, and to be honest, this player could be making a move like this with any two cards.

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If we assume (or know) that the small blind is a solid player, we can put ourselves in his/her shoes. If the small blind knows what we just stated, that the button could have any two cards, he/she might be more inclined to reraise with a weaker holding than normal. Let’s say in this case, the small blind reraises a healthy amount.

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Now, we know that the button is very possibly weak, and although less likely, it’s possible that the small blind could be weak as well. This move isn’t for the faint of heart, or for the short on chips; a massive stack isn’t needed, but a solid stack is. Why don’t we just try to re-re-pop it and represent some real strength, even though we only hold a pair of walking sticks? This bet looks like we have something like AA, KK, or QQ, but because we’ve thought it out and determined that both of these players are weak, we can really take down the pot with a less than premium hand most of the time.

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Now, we don’t really want to try this move with a horrid hand, because in the off chance that we get called, it’d be nice to have at least something that has a legitimate chance of winning.

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It’s very possible that we could make this move and be forced to call an all in because we are pot committed. Hopefully we can think that out before making this type of move so we can get away from the hand if someone does indeed come back over the top.

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So, there’s lots to think about when making a move like this, and you have to know the types of players you’re dealing with when attempting to execute this move. Make sure you have a healthy stack and a reason to get away from the hand if someone comes back over the top of you. Best of luck at the tables.

At one point in my poker playing career, I became obsessed with heads up sit and gos. I played and played and played, and as with anything that you do enough, patterns started to develop. There are a few things I can tell you that have worked for me. There are also a few things that worked for others against me, and I would like to learn how to incorporate these things into my game.1. Pay attention - Quick quiz: how many opponents do you have to pay attention to in a heads up sit and go? Answer? one. I’ll put a little disclaimer on this quiz, because you should be paying attention to yourself as well, but I don’t think you can consider yourself an opponent of, well, yourself. If you can focus on one person throughout a tournament, everyone but the best players will begin to fall into a pattern. If you care at all about the game of poker and your success in the game, you are more than capable of paying attention to your opponent for the half hour or so that the sit and go will last. Be aware, though, that if your opponent is capable of falling into patterns that can be caught, you are just as capable. This leads me to point number 2.

2. Mix it up - Giving your opponent an advantage in heads up play is the first step to losing. If you decide to bet the min every time you have top pair and bet twice the size of the pot when you have bottom pair, eventually your opponent will catch on and exploit your betting weakness. However, if you bet half the pot when you have top pair and half the pot when you have bottom pair, your opponent has to respect the fact that you could have any range of hands.

3. Loosen Up - You have to play more hands in heads up play, period. You have to play hands you would normally never dream of playing at a full table (or even a shorthanded table, for that matter). Suck it up and do it, or be prepared to watch your stack continuously dwindle throughout the match.
4. Be Aggressive (Later) - When the blinds are 10/20 and you have 1500 chips, folding some less than average hands isn’t going to kill you. However, when the blinds are 75/150 and you have 1500 chips, folding these hands can deal a large blow to your stack. If you are dealt 9 3 in the small blind, have the courage to raise it, or if you’re a real pussy, at least call. If you raise it the way you raised a real strong hand earlier, you might just get away with it.
5. Reraise - A raise doesn’t mean too much in heads up play - but a reraise still shows some serious strength. Any two cards can be raised with preflop because only one person is being forced to fold - not a whole table. Preflop reraising with a strong Ace is something I find myself doing quite often. It shows that you won’t be pushed around, and it also shows that you have a good hand, and your opponent will have to pay to play. Postflop reraising is an extremely powerful move, and when used correctly, can be a potent weapon in a poker player’s arsenal.