Staying focused

	Betting at unfilled drawing hands becomes a test of nerve, as does following a called continuation with another stab at the pot

As I write this piece I’m in Vegas playing in the WSOP main event. I’ve already had a couple of cashes, along with a thirdplace finish in the $2,000 NL event, so I feel I’m running well. A key element to success in these big-field events is your strategy away from the table, so I’ve developed a routine aimed at keeping me sharp and playing my best game.

Generally I like to get up around ten, have a bit of breakfast and go for a sauna before the day starts. That way I’m feeling fresh by the time play begins. Getting to sleep after playing for 12-14 hours straight is also something that a lot of people struggle with – you’re usually so wired that it takes a couple of hours to switch off. I like to have a couple of drinks during the last hour’s play, so I’m starting to wind down before I finish. Then, once play is over, I’ll have a couple more drinks and hopefully manage to get some sleep. Regardless of how good your poker is, being well rested can give you a real edge in big tournaments when play can go on until 3am.

The WSOP is also the perfect place to watch differing strategies for playing multi-table tournaments. I advocate a solid, tight approach in early stages. However, many of the newer generation of aggressive Internet players here in Vegas are playing much looser when the blinds are small, in the hope of gathering a chip lead early on that will allow them to dominate their tables. This is certainly a valid strategy, but the key thing is that you have to be able to gear down, otherwise you’ll dump off your chips as quickly as you won them. Also, unless you’re a very good player it’s difficult to know when to get out of a hand – if you’re playing with marginal starting hands and you don’t flop the nuts, you have to be able to read your opponent well to know whether you’re second best. I often find these small-pot players present good opportunities for a solid player like me to double up.

For example, aggressive players tend to push top pair too hard in tournaments. When I can tempt these players to overbet or push in on their top pair, I’ll often be holding an overpair (thanks to my better starting hand requirements) and a lot of my early double ups come from these overpair versus top pair confrontations.

Whatever your personal style, the key skills are to pay attention to what your opponent may hold, to change your playing style (moving up or down the gears) at the right time to put your opponents off guard and your ability to pick good spots to play against weak players. As you’ll see from the rest of this article, I believe that reading both your opposition and your situation is essential in tournaments and this is something that is especially important when making decisions on the turn and the river…

If, as I discussed in previous articles in InsideEdge, the flop is the most important part of the hand in terms of information, the turn could be said to be the defining point of the hand in terms of winning chips. On the turn, betting at unfilled drawing hands becomes a test of nerve, as does following a called continuation with another stab at the pot. With only one card left to come, the turn is often the key decision time as to whether you’re committing yourself to taking this pot down.

Conversely, if you hit your draw and hold the nuts on the turn, it’s time to decide how to extract the most money from the pot. This is where knowing your opponent is key and why spending time watching the game when you are out of the hand is so important. Are they aggressive enough that you can check to them? Will they bet again on the river? Can you afford to give them a free card? As usual, there are no hard-and-fast rules, but you can learn the thought processes. You should review how you have seen them play in past hands, then consider your table image: would a call from you be more suspicious than a check-raise?

Turning point

As always in tournaments, your stack size is important. If you have chips, you can afford to get tricky and try and milk them; if not, just look to get your chips in while you’re ahead – don’t risk being rivered unnecessarily. I generally like to bet for value, and I think most pros are the same. If you normally bet your good hands, you build equity for bluffs when you really need them. Plus, if you are changing gears properly, your opponents will have difficulty putting you on a starting hand, so your value bet with top two pair may look like a bluff.

Betting on the turn usually continues action from the flop, but in the case of continuation bets that were called on the flop, the bettor may check the turn if he failed to hit his cards. This is a common play, and most players won’t fire another bet on the turn when their (bluff) continuation bet is called on flop. This is something that I like to take advantage of with a slightly risky play that can be really useful in getting extra money into the pot when you have a big hand.

In a tournament I played before the World Series at the Bellagio, I raised pre-flop from late position with a pair of 9s. Both blinds called my bet and the flop came down J-9- 3 rainbow, which made me the second-best set. Both players checked to me and I bet just under two-thirds of the pot, designed to look like the continuation-type bet that I had made in previous hands. The small blind folded but the big blind called. When the turn came a 6 the big blind checked to me and I checked in behind him. With no pair, flush or straight on the board, I knew I had a very strong hand, but I also knew my opponent had something.

He probably didn’t have a great hand, but possibly enough to try to steal the pot on the river if he thought I was weak. My pre-flop raise, continuation bet and check made it look like I had two high cards, missed my flop, fired out a bet and then gave up.

When the river finally came down an Ace my opponent bet and I re-raised him, hoping he’d hit two pair with the Ace. Sure enough, he called and showed A-9. My deceptive play by checking the turn won me a far bigger pot than I would have won normally and I actually finished fifth in the event.

Reviewing the river

By the time you reach the river, you have as much information as the board is going to tell you; all you can do now is judge the players you’re playing against. I base my play on my read of an opponent, his past actions and the likelihood that he will fold. But perhaps the most important thing to remember when betting the river (assuming you don’t have the nuts) is that you must review the betting before you fire out a bet. If you’ve missed your draw or have a weak holding or if the hand has been checked down to the river, before you bluff at the pot, you must be sure that making a play here fits in with the way you have played in the hand so far.

Checking or check-calling a hand down to the river then firing out a big bet in a blind attempt to win the pot is something I never do; it’s a rookie mistake. Even if a big scare card falls on the river, if I’m going to represent that it’s made my hand, I have to be sure that my opponent could possibly have put me on such a hand, otherwise you’re just giving your chips away.

The river is also the point where you cash in on your earlier aggressive play. Let’s say you’ve been betting aggressively at a flush draw as a semi-bluff that hasn’t come off. If you reach the river and have not improved, it’s no bad play to keep firing unless you’re sure you’ll get a call. If your opponent’s been calling on the come as well, there’s every chance you can get them to fold and win the hand. Similarly, if you have been aggressively betting from late position and missed your hand, your opponent may check the river to you looking for a check raise… and you can disappoint them.

In tournament play, people often focus too much on pre-flop and flop action, and this is understandable in that as the blinds and antes rise in the later stages of tournaments, most hands don’t go past the flop. But to be a successful tournament player, you must be able to play fourth and fifth street. If you can accurately read the situation, the strength of your opponent’s hands and – most importantly of all – how bets on the turn and river fit in with the betting pre- and post-flop, you’ll find that you’ll hoover up chips… whether you have a hand or not.