Copyright 2006 Full
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July 17, 2006
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Poker Lessons)
Poker Lesson: Playing Pot-Limit
Tournaments
Author: Rafe Furst
I had the good fortune of winning my first World
Series of Poker bracelet earlier this month in a $1,500 buy-in
Pot-Limit Hold 'em event. It was an incredible thrill. For this
tip, I thought I'd share some points of strategy that are specific
to Pot-Limit
Hold 'em tournaments. If you're looking to play any Pot-Limit
events, either at the WSOP or elsewhere, you'll want to keep these
things in mind. Note that my advice is specific to tournaments.
In Pot-Limit
Hold 'em ring games, there are other adjustments you'll want
to make, but there isn't enough room to cover them here.
There are two major differences between Pot-Limit
and No-Limit Hold 'em tournaments. The first is that simply declaring
"all-in" usually isn't an option. You can only bet the
amount that's in the pot. (For an open-raise, the pot size is
seven times the small blind.) In No-Limit tournaments, when a
player is on a short stack, he will often move all-in. This puts
pressure on the other players; in order to call, someone has to
find a strong hand. However, in Pot-Limit tournaments, unless
you're on an extremely short stack, after you open-raise, you'll
still have chips in front of you. This gives other players a chance
to re-raise and move you off your hand.
In Pot-Limit tournaments, I prefer to be the player
re-raising the open-raise. Usually, this is enough to put anyone
all-in, so it's the point where you can apply the maximum pressure
to your opponents.
The second major difference between Pot-Limit and
No-Limit Hold 'em tournaments is that, in Pot-Limit, there are
never antes whereas, in No-Limit, antes are added to the pot pretty
early on (Level 5 of the WSOP structure).
To understand why this is so important, consider
the math. In Level 12 of the WSOP No-Limit Hold 'em structure,
the blinds are $600 and $1,200 and the ante is $200, making a
total pot of $3,800 prior to any action (assuming a 10-handed
table). If a player can steal a pot by open-raising to three times
the big blind, he'll be getting some nice value; the $3,600 bet
can win him $3,800. Stealing blinds and antes is so important
in No-Limit that a player like Phil Hellmuth, Jr. can attribute
much of his success to his ability to steal pots once the antes
kick in.
In Pot-Limit, however, when the blinds are $600
and $1,200, the same open-raise to $3,600 can claim only $1,800
in profit. The risk-reward ratio isn't nearly as favorable. For
this reason, I believe it's proper to play tighter in Pot-Limit
events than in No-Limit events. It also provides another reason
why you want to be the player re-raising rather than open-raising.
The pot that you'd win by open raising and stealing the blinds
isn't nearly as valuable as the one you can pick up by re-raising
the open-raise.
In the WSOP event that I won, a few of my opponents
didn't adjust to the Pot-Limit structure especially well and opened
too many pots. My strategy was to let my opponents have many of
these small pots. I was waiting for occasions where I could come
over the top of an open raise with a big re-raise. I had crafted
such a tight image that when I did re-raise, my opponents had
to give me credit for a pretty big hand. When I took down these
pots, I gathered a significant number of chips. This worked especially
well late in the tournament, when each decision could cost a player
his tournament life.
So, if you're heading to the WSOP, your favorite
card room or online in order to play a Pot-Limit event, remember
to play tighter pre-flop and look for spots to re-raise - that's
where the best opportunities lie.
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