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Section 10
Well now that we know about bankroll management, the how and whys of picking a SnG and the philosophies behind playing, lets talk about making moves or plays. I did not invent these moves, but in a few cases I have created names for them…mostly for descriptive purposes and just to keep track of them. First I would like to list the general moves or actions in poker….of course we all know what these are, but at least it will fill up some space since I am running short on things to talk about.
- Bet – Voluntarily putting money in the pot
- Call - To commit an equal number of chips to another player’s bet
- Fold - Forfeiting you cards and chance at winning pot
- Check - Pass on making an action, provided no one has bet/raised/called before you
- Raise - To increase your opponents bet
- Re-Raise - Increasing your opponents raise
- All-in - Betting or raising all the chips in front of you
Now that we have all the basic moves down, lets discuss the more advanced moves. The first move every poker player learns….and typically over uses is the bluff.
Bluffing:
So, when should you bluff? Well the easy answer is when you think you can get away with it. However the problem arises when the time you think you can get away with it coincides with the most likely circumstance to bluff. Essentially most people bluff in the wrong situation, meaning they bluff often from the button or cutoff, they bluff into large pots, they bluff when there are numerous people contending for the pot. The first rule of pulling off a successful bluff should be; don’t get caught doing it. The most likely way to get caught bluffing is to pull a bluff when it is obvious and people expect you to be bluffing….setting you up for a re-bluff or re-steal. The easies solution to this is NOT to bluff when most people bluff. Essentially do the opposite of what is expected…and what would feel natural. Bluff from early position. Bluff small pots. Bluff in hands where you have shown weakness rather than strength. These are the bluffs that will a higher percentage of working. Do not confuse a bluff with a steal. I think of them as separate techniques and will describe steals a little later. As I said many people will bluff from late position….I prefer to change up the position I bluff from, and occasionally I will bluff from UTG. If there is not rhyme or reason to your bluffs (like always bluffing from late position) then it will be impossible for your opponent to distinguish your bluff from a legitimately strong hand that is being raised. The general reasoning is the earlier the position the stronger the hand must be. Why not take advantage of this common “wisdom” by throwing out a 3 or 4x BB raise from UTG+1…then wait several orbits and throw out a similar bluff from MP. The idea is to make it appear like you have the random legit hand and to bet enough that you can get all the mediocre hands to fold…but no so much that you over commit yourself which leads into opportunity 2 to bluff.
Bluff into small pots, there are several reasons for this…the first of which is that it is much less obvious. Why would someone risk a significant amount of chips to win a somewhat small pot? That is what makes this move very successful; there will be far less resistance because there is very little value for someone to resist you. Will “picking up” these small pots win you the SnG? Of course not, but they do help you keep building your stack (even if by a small amount) when you are having a cold run of cards, and it also helps maintain an image of someone who is not always trying to steal from late position and someone who generally just “bets his hand.” Finally you should try a bluff when you have shown weakness earlier in the hand. Essentially you are trying to send the message that you either hit your draw or you were/are slow playing a monster hand.
Pre-flop Bluffs
The first and often easiest time to bluff is pre-flop. The pre-flop bluff is probably the most common and clearly the most often used bluff in the game. I define pre-flop bluffs into two distinct categories the standard bluff and the steal. The standard bluff is where you raise a poor to mediocre hand 3-4x BB trying to represent a much stronger hand than you hold. As I previously mentioned this type of bluff is often more effective if done from the early to middle position and is used to combat a cold run of cards. The objective is to claim the blinds and possible a single limper’s bet. The danger is that you will run into a very strong hand, but this is where having a read on you opponent comes in handy….will you opponent try to defend his BB with that Q-T or will he let it go and look for a better spot. I recommend waiting to use this type of bluff until at least the 3-4 blind level so that you have a decent idea of what your opponent will do. The second type of pre-flop bluff is the steal. Usually a steal is a positional power play, which is most often performed in late position and late in the tourney when the blinds are very large and antes have taken effect. I recommend using the steal when all your opponents have folded to you and you are sitting on the CO or the button. Occasionally you can pull a steal from the small blind, but you really have to put out a very strong bet to pull the SB steal off simply because it is so much more obvious and the BB may be more likely to call you down with any two cards “to make a point.” The whole objective of the steal is to take the blinds and antes….which by this time have become significant. Stealing late in SnGs is not an optional move, it is a necessity. When you are up against a couple tough opponents and the stacks are relatively even there is not other way to survive…or even win without stealing. The steal is a very obvious move, but its success relies on your opponents’ inability to call the very large bet. You opponent knows you have nothing…but he has nothing either and does not want to risk his tournament life calling with a junk hand against an unknown hand. If you are in a relatively healthy chip position you must be careful about your steals. Do not steal against an extremely short stacked opponent or and overwhelming large stack (in a two table SnG) as they are more than likely going to call you because what they have to lose does not outweigh the potential gain. If you are in a poor chip position try to time the steal as best you can and make it an all in steal…use every bit of folding leverage you can muster and hope the SB and BB do not have a hand they can call with…..or if they do it was a frustration call where you are actually a favorite to win the hand and double up. I will not get into all the situational specifics of stealing….much has been written about it, but more than anything practice will make perfect. I am simply trying to bring this technique to the forefront of your minds as something that should not be ignored in late SnG play. It is a skill that must be developed for you to be a successful SnG player.
Flop Bluffs
Flop bluffs a generally most successful if used against one or two opponents…..and the method is fairly simple. You are sitting in middle position with K-Qo and throw out a standard 3x BB PFR….and are called by the SB and BB, the flop comes A-7-3 rainbow. You have nothing, not even a flush draw, but they may have nothing as well. Go ahead and fire out a follow up bet, you might steal the pot right there. Essentially you are “repping” the ace….with the PFR, there is no way your opponent can know the ace did not hit you and they will not your flop bluff. If one of them happens to call you, you have a decision to make. They may have Ace and a decent kicker or they may have flopped to pair. Most of the time in this situation you want to check/fold and simply move on. However, you don't want them to be able to figure out your bluffing strategy by just smooth calling you on the flop and then seeing what you do on the turn. To combat you opponents picking up on this bluffing strategy, I recommend slow-playing strong hands from time to time in the exact same fashion….essentially play a set or two-pair as if it were a bluff. Instead of K-Q, lets suppose you have A-3 and hit this flop, I'd bet at flop, then check-raise at turn….essentially punishing you opponents for drawing. You should not allow your opponent to get in the habit of calling you down with the second-best hand in the hopes that you are bluffing or trying to draw to two-pair.
Another flop bluff I will occasionally use is the “Rainbow Move.” If the flop comes with no two cards that are suited or connected AND all the cards are under ten, I will bet out. This sort of flop is often the best type of flop to bluff at……instead of repping the ace or top pair you are repping an over pair to the board. Generally I will bet the size of the pot in the hopes that a real over-pair is not out there….therefore position is extremely important with this type of move. If the flop comes rainbow and all low cards you know the opponent with pocket tens is going to bet very strong trying to protect his hand so if there are only limpers…or better yet they all check around to you, I can feel fairly safe in betting strong or raising big, and the only hands you have to truly worry about is the slow-played flopped set.
Turn & River Bluffs
Turn & River Bluffs are not something I generally recommend…there are simply too many ways after four or five cards are out on the board for you to lose against even a single random hand. An exception may be if you have the feeling your opponent has caught onto your Flop bluffing strategy…you may want to carry the charade on to the turn where you check raise or try a post oak bluff. A post oak bluff is a minimal bet made into a large pot by the holder of a marginal hand in the hopes that the bet won't be called or raised. Essentially you are showing weakness in an attempt to deceive your opponent and make him think you are trapping him….trying to induce him into making a call or even better, a raise over the top of your small bet. Occasionally later in a tournament I will call a smallish raise 2-3x BB with the intention of trying to steal it on the turn or river. This typically is a risky move that I reserve for HU play…or at least until I have made it into the money. How it plays out is I will limp with a hand and If my opponent raises from a later position I will smooth call him. The flop comes and I fire out a ½ to ¾ pot sized bet…and generally my opponent will come over the top of me for 2-3x my bet. I will then pause, count to ten and then simply call. Whatever falls on the turn I will check to my opponent…..now he is sitting there wondering what I could possibly have to smooth call him and generally he will be thinking a set. He then bets out…a reasonable bet but not too strong usually ¼ of the pot (if he pushes then you simply have to fold) I then pause again…count to ten and push all in. This works surprisingly often and you can really knock your opponent off his game with this play and steal the momentum. However again….I usually reserve this play for very late in the SnG when were are down to three people and preferably HU. The reason is simple….it is risky and if it does not work you are out of the tournament. I generally avoid bluffing on the turn or river, unless it is a semi-bluff or a very strong draw.
There are so many types of bluffs, and variations on the bluffs I have laid out that it would be impossible to lay them all out for you. Again, my intention is to illustrate a few bluffs to get you thinking about it….and make you aware of the situations you should and should not try a bluff. Even more importantly you will be able to more easily notice when you opponent is bluffing since most opponents will bluff at the most obvious and often the wrong time. There is one thing that rivals the charged feeling you get after pulling off a good bluff…and that is reading you opponent extremely well and catching him in a big bluff and taking all those “free” chips from him. Do not get in the habit of calling down your opponents continually trying to catch them in a bluff, you are not the table policeman….however most people over-use the bluff so pay attention and be aware of what the table is doing and you will be able to pick up on your opponents habits and strategies. Catching him in a single bluff can be very profitable. Use bluffs judiciously and try to bluff when it is NOT expected….in the end, what matters is what your opponent thinks or believes, not what makes logical sense.
Section 10 Summary
• Basic “actions” of poker
• When should you bluff, when should you not bluff
• Pre-flop bluffs and steals
• Flop Bluffs
• Turn & River Bluffs
I had considered going into other moves such as; Inducing a bluff, check raising, slow playing, small steal-small steal-big steal, obtaining a free card….etc. These techniques and moves are talked about in books…the nuances of such plays are endlessly discussed and argued in online poker forums so I really do not see the value of rehashing all the small details. The overall purpose of this project was not to create a recipe for playing SnGs….or a step by step method to follow, but to present an overall strategy for developing you own style of play. My goal was to sort these things out in my head and try to answer the often asked questions regarding SnGs play…to that end I believe I have succeeded. I truly appreciate all of the feedback, encouragement and inspiration that I received along the way….this has been an enlightening process for me and it has actually strengthened my game. I am actually a little sad that this month long project is over…that is not to say I will not add a section or two in the future, but for now I have covered pretty much everything I have set out to, and I am going to leave the writing behind for now and concentrate on my passion of playing poker……here’s to good luck, positive attitudes and good decision making.
-DavSimon
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