|
|
 |
Winning MTT
Tournaments |
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
 The
dreaded “all-in“ |
The basic and most
widely accepted theory
about going all-in in a
poker tournament is that
it’s never a good call.
The facts behind this
reasoning are well
illustrated by the
following example: let’s
suppose you win a
million dollars in a
casino. On your way out,
you walk into a
millionaire who proposes
a bet on a coin-flip:
you win, he gives you
two million dollars
more, he wins, you give
him your million. While
the odds are great for
you (you’d be enjoying
EV+) it’s still not a
good deal.
Betting all your money
on a coin-toss, where
the chances of you
winning are exactly 50%,
is never a good call. If
you lose, you lose a lot
more than the million
you’re risking: you lose
every chance to ever get
back into the game
again. The implied
odds are not in your
favor. This is why it’s
such a bad call to go
all-in in poker
tournaments too. You
bust out, you lose your
buy-in and with it,
every chance to ever
gain it back: it’s the
ultimate failure.
Despite all that, going
all-in can turn out to
be a valuable weapon in
a skilled poker player’s
arsenal. In order to be
able to use it to your
advantage though, you
need to understand the
nature of the game and
of the all-in move
perfectly. It’s kind of
like a stick of
dynamite: in the hands
of a skilled
pyrotechnician, it can
split a mountain. In the
hands of an untrained
person, it becomes
public menace.
Before you begin
investigating ways in
which you can use the
all-in in your favor,
take a look at how you
shouldn’t use it.
In the beginning stages
of tournaments (MTTs
mostly but sometimes
STTs, too) you’ll see a
lot of people go all-in
preflop. In freerolls,
this problem takes up
epic proportions. With
nothing to risk, people
go all-in on hands like
10,10, J,J or Q,Q in the
hopes of doubling up
their stack thus giving
themselves a good
initial thrust to
eventually reach a money
position. In most of
the cases, these guys
give off obvious tells.
Most everyone around the
table knows they’re on
something good, so
they’re not likely to
get called by people
holding weak pocket
cards. Just about the
only players calling
them will be the ones
who probably hold better
hand than theirs.
Now for the situations
when an all-in can
generate value: in later
rounds of tournaments
people will have read
most of the opponents
they’ve been playing
with. That means you too
have probably been read.
If you played it
tight-aggressive (like I
hope you did) this is
the time to take
advantage of that image.
By this stage, the
blinds have probably
gone up significantly
too, so it’ll make
prefect sense for you to
attempt a few steals by
going all-in preflop,
when you feel the
circumstances are right.
The fact that they know
you as a tight
aggressive player will
have people think twice
about calling your
all-in.
You can also use all-ins
to suppress players who
you know are better than
you. As everyone knows,
poker is a post-flop
betting game. That’s
where the difference is
made between good
players and reasonable
ones. If you know you’ll
be at a disadvantage
once that stage is
reached, it makes sense
to prevent hands from
getting that far.
When you’re getting
closer to a money
position, you hit
another critical point
in the tourney. Players
tend to tighten up their
game in the hopes of
outlasting a few more
guys to make it ITM.
Thus, they’re more
likely to fold to your
all-ins at this stage.
By launching a few all
ins at a time when
everyone is out to
protect their stack, and
when the blinds are
pretty high too, you can
secure a great boost to
your stack, just when it
matters the most.
Coming over the top
against a bluffer is
another way to use your
all-in option right.
While it may be a double
edged sword, you can
never adopt a lopsided
attitude towards it.
Sometimes it is your
enemy, but it can easily
turn into a friend of
yours under different
circumstances. The most
important thing is:
recognize the right
circumstances, and take
advantage of them.
Download some of these
poker torrents and
watch some exciting
poker play videos!
|
Posted by
admin on November 12
2007 10:35:02 ?0
Comments ?39 Reads ?
|
|
 Comments |
|
| No
Comments have been Posted.
|
|
Post
Comment |
|
| Please
Login to Post a Comment.
|
|
Ratings |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
