Copyright 2007 Full
Tilt Poker
June 8th, 2007
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Poker Lessons)
Poker Lesson: Small Pockets and
Big Stacks
Author: Michael Craig
I played the World Series of Poker* Main Event for
the first time in 2006 and like all rookies, I was involved in
endless discussions of "The Hypothetical." You know,
it's the first hand and you're in the big blind. Five players
move all-in. You look down at pocket Aces. What do you do?
Some first-timers insist they will fold, and plenty
more at least entertain the idea. Chances are that no one has
to face The Hypothetical, but what about the more plausible nightmares
at the beginning of a deep-stack tournament? What if you raise
with Aces and get four callers? What if you have Queens in the
big blind after a raise and re-raise? The early stages of a big
tournament can be mortal terror for a neophyte.
Experienced players make fun of the rookies' discomfort,
but they ignore the underlying issue at their peril: with a giant
stack and a lot of action, a premium hand like pocket Aces can
quickly lead to trouble.
This is why I think there are a lot of times when
pocket 5s are better than pocket Aces. In fact, when I get pocket
5s, I may want to be against pocket Aces. This idea synthesizes
advice I received from three of my expert collaborators on The
Full
Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition.
•Andy Bloch "In his
chapter on pre-flop No-Limit
Hold 'em, Andy explains how your goal with A-A is to get all
your chips committed when you're a huge favorite or are playing
against a single opponent. The deeper the stacks, the less likely
you are to accomplish these objectives.
•Chris Ferguson "Chris'
philosophy is to minimize the number of difficult decisions you
have to make during a hand, and maximize the number of difficult
decisions your opponents have to make. With enough chips for betting
throughout the hand, a player with an over-pair faces decisions
that get more difficult on each successive street.
•Richard Brodie "In
his chapter about online
No-Limit Hold 'em tournaments, Richard explains how tournaments
have two phases: the "implied-odds" phase and the "showdown-value"
phase. When stacks are deep, you want to accumulate chips with
hands that offer the best implied odds " hands that can make
the nuts and/or out-flop an opponent willing to double you up
with a "superior" starting
hand.
Playing Aces can be dangerous when you and your opponents have
deep stacks. In contrast, a small pocket pair like 5-5 can't get
you in much trouble. Given that you're going to flop a set approximately
1 time in 8, how do you know when it's worth playing small pairs
if you only have a 12% chance of making a strong hand?
For the answer, you should consider the following
factors:
•Stack size " If it
costs more than 12% of your stack to see the flop, you're not
getting the right implied odds. Adding in the times when you make
a set but don't get a big payoff, you need at least 15 times the
size of the raise (probably 50 times the big blind) to achieve
the risk/reward ratio that lets you call with small pocket pairs.
(In these calculations, the relevant stack size is the smaller
of your stack or your opponent's.)
•Pre-flop position "
The best situation is being in late position, calling the raise
of a tight player in early position. Ol' Tighty probably has the
kind of hand that will pay you off if you hit. In late position,
you can even possibly call a re-raise with a small pocket pair.
You need more than 8 times the cost of the call, but not much
more " the re-raise suggests a hand that will pay you off.
(You have to consider, however, that anyone left to act may push
all-in before the flop.) In early position, there's a temptation
to limp with a small pocket pair so you can call a late-position
raise. That's a mistake for several reasons. You give away information
about how you play (both in this hand and in the hands where you
don't open-limp), create a limper-friendly hand that is unlikely
to win you a big pot, and make it easy for Mr. Aces in late position
to make a giant re-raise to chase you (and other limpers) out.
•Post-flop play " All
streets after the flop are Easy Street. If you miss, you have
an easy decision to fold. If you hit, you have an easy decision
to play fast and get that over-pair or top-pair/top-kicker to
try to push you out (especially if the flop suggests you might
be moving with a drawing hand). With small pocket pairs, post-flop
position isn't that important, and that's rare in No-Limit
Hold 'em. If you join me in taking the advice of these outstanding
poker pros, you can be causing, rather than suffering from, nightmares
in the early stages of a tournament, whether it's online at Full
Tilt Poker or at the WSOP* Main Event.
If you join me in taking the advice of these outstanding
poker pros, you can be causing, rather than suffering from, nightmares
in the early stages of a tournament, whether it's online at Full
Tilt Poker or at the WSOP* Main Event.
*World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of
Harrah's License Company, LLC ("Harrahs"). Harrah's
does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated
with Full
Tilt Poker or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.
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