JP Kelly

	You have to learn to know when to fire at the pot on the turn

GETTING STARTED

I started off on free money tables and the freeroll tournaments are now even better than when I started. I don’t play them now but there’s a lot of value in some of them. You can even win through to the WSOP Main Event! When moving onto the cash tables, don’t overstretch yourself, and don’t play with money you can’t afford to lose. I started with $25, which is an affordable amount for most people. As I became a more successful player I started putting more money in.

KNOW YOUR PLACE

I started off as a tight player and would make a couple of moves, but after a couple of wins it’s easy to get cocky and play too many hands. Play hands in position and lay down the hands that will get you into trouble. I’m not saying that you have to play by the book but you should play sensibly. Don’t give your chips away in bad situations. I wouldn’t advise anyone new to the game to play the same way that I do now. I put myself in a lot of tricky positions where you need to have a certain level of fi nesse to play that way and know when to get away from the hand.

BUILDING A STACK

To get a good start in a tournament you have to put yourself into situations where you can take someone’s entire stack. To do that you have to play the right kind of hand, not things like K-Q and K-J. You don’t want to play those. Play hands like small pairs and suited connectors and then try to get into a good spot where you can grab a lot of chips. I’ll play connected cards with a couple of gaps as well – and not necessarily suited.

BUILDING A POT

I’ll raise with suited connectors to build a pot and then slow down on the fl op if I don’t hit it – early on anyway. Later in the tournament I’m more likely to bet the fl op to pick up the pot. The pots may be small but they can make a big difference. If the big blind is 400 and you make it 1,200 the pot will be around 2,600 if it’s called. You really want to pick that up so make more continuation bets in the later stages. Early on I’m less likely to do that.

GOING DEEP

When you start with 10,000 chips you’ve got a lot of leeway, so you shouldn’t lose your chips in the fi rst level. I’ve laid down pocket Kings at the start of a deep stack tournament before (his opponent showed Aces) but at the same time all the bad players have still got chips at that point and you want to get them before someone else does.

MAKING MOVES?

I like to make my moves on the turn. I’ll often call on the fl op with a speculative hand like a gutshot straight with over-cards – something like J-9 on a 7-8-2 board – and then see what my opponent does on the turn. I’d look to hit, and if they make a big bet I might let it go, but otherwise I’d be inclined to make a move. And if the board pairs I might represent trips. In tourneys I look to take the pot earlier, but in cash games I take a few more chances.

FLOP VS TURN?

Some people will routinely call continuation bets on the fl op so you have to learn to know when to fi re at the pot on the turn. There’s no rule of thumb but you need to be capable of bluffi ng at the pot up to three times in a tournament because that one pot could be the difference between dribbling out and cashing in. It’s different in cash games where you shouldn’t get too attached to any one hand. There’s no point fi ring in good money after bad.