Chillin Chillin...

Monday, February 27, 2006

On-Line Poker Strategy II

When it gets down to 4 - 6 players my game is still about positioning. I don't like going into a hand without being the raiser. I don't always stick to this with suited connectors or A rag suited, but for the most part I will fold unless I'm coming in for a re-raise.

Early position play:

I try to be very tight in early position (keyword being try). I want to make sure I don't find myself in pots with the chip leaders. I start to consider whether or not I want to call certain bets based on the people who I am playing against (who are the blinds). I open my hands up a bit and play almost all pocket pairs depending on the table's aggressiveness. If a lot of re-raising is going on I will avoid playing low pocket pairs.

I will pretty much call any hand on the small blind unless I'm the short stack. I like to see what the big blind does when I just call. If he raises all the time, I will wait for a monster and just call to then re-raise him. If he checks, I will raise to see if I can steal the blinds. At this point the game because a mind game. You just have to mix up your play, and hope to catch the guy to your left (big blind) on a bad hand.

Middle position play:

In middle position I try and steal the button with mediocre hands (AT, AJ, KQ, KJ, etc.). This gives me the ability to represent the flop when someone checks in to me. I like to take advantage of players' tight play in this stage of the game. Players tighten up when the table gets to four to six people so they can sneak into the top 3. This is the best time to build your stack with little to no action. Just make sure you pick your battles. If you raise every time the big blind is the same person, eventually the table figures out what you are doing.

Late position play:

I stick to my tight game in late position. If I am the chip leader, I will pick on the short stacks in this position. Other than that, I will typically raise 3 to 4 times the blind if I have a strong hand.

Note: If the action is down to me and one other player and I have AK or AQ I will re-raise the player if he is the short stack, where I will only call if the player has the same amount or more chips than me. Don't want to risk a big portion of my chips on AK or AQ without seeing a flop. Don't like to gamble at this stage unless I have a big chip advantage. Not worth all the time you spent in the tourney to risk it on one hand.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home