Erick Lindgren thinks very little of my style of play

If you read the following article by Erick Lindgren you’ll see him disagree with me and my 34% style of seeing the flop.


In tournaments, I play lots of hands. I'll put my money in with all kinds of connected cards, especially when in position. I might limp, I might min-raise or raise a little more than the minimum, depending on the circumstances. I'm looking to keep my table off balance so they don't know where I'm coming from.


My overall goal is to pick up a lot of small pots without a lot of resistance. I might raise in position and hope for a call from one of the blinds. If I raise pre-flop with something like 6-7, I might miss the flop entirely, but the raise puts me in control of the hand. On the flop, I'll likely bet if checked to, even if I miss. That small bet on the flop will usually win me a small, but helpful pot.


Of course, sometimes it won't work out. I'll bet and get check-raised on occasions. But that's okay, because I actually don't lose much in the hands that I have to surrender. Overall, I get to gradually add to my chip stack by chopping at small pot after small pot.


The other major advantage to my style is that, occasionally, I will hit a flop hard. If I do happen to flop a straight, it's difficult for other players to put me on something like 5-7 or 6-8. If one of my opponents also gets a piece of the flop, I'll get paid off in a big way.


By adding to my stack early, I have a real advantage over players who play a cautious, tight game. The extra chips that I accumulate allow me to survive some tough spots. So, if I happen to get involved in a race with A-K or a pair of Tens, I can withstand a loss. An opponent who's playing tight will likely be on the rail after losing a single race.


New players often ask me how they can learn to play more pots. I always suggest that they drop down significantly in stakes and practice. If you're playing $2-$4 no-limit, drop down to $.50-$1 - a level where some losses won't hurt you.


Once you're at that table, try to play eight hands out of 10. Play everything but 2-8 or 3-9 - hands that are entirely unconnected. When you get yourself involved with this kind of frequency, you'll have to concentrate more on your opponents than on your own cards. You'll have to be on the lookout for opportunities to take down pots with well-timed stabs. You'll also learn how to proceed in situations where you flop a good, but dangerous hand.


By dropping down and playing a lot of hands, you're going to learn a lot about poker. You're also going to have a lot of fun. Lord knows, playing 50% of the hands is a whole lot more entertaining than sitting around waiting for Aces.


If you look at the success that Gavin Smith, Daniel Negreanu and myself have had over the last couple of years, you'll see that being active can be an excellent way to score big in tournaments. It takes practice to play this style, but it can lead to great results and be a lot of fun.

NO LIMIT HOLD 'EM POKER THOUGHTS

As we embark on an interesting night of non-league, multi tournament (hopefully) poker this week, I want to share some thoughts I have, as well as some quotes from an article I read last week from Chris Ferguson.

I don’t know if anyone has ever noticed, but I don’t play a lot of hands (in No Limit Hold ‘Em, I rarely see more than 34% of the flops), and when it’s time to play, it’s time to play. Now keep in mind, by no means am I saying what you are about to read is the CORRECT way to play no limit Texas Hold ‘Em. What I’m saying is, it’s the way I feel most comfortable playing.

I watch players limp into pots, and call other people’s bets all night long, hoping to get lucky, catch a card or two and take back some chips. The way I see it, these players are just dying a slow death and eventually they will run into a trap and be gone. Usually this style, unless they just catch a great run of cards, doesn’t yield enough big pots to get them into the final group.

If it’s your turn to act, and no one has raised the pot in a No Limit game, raise. If you’re not willing to raise, you probably should fold. Why give the big blind a free look? Why give other marginal hands the chance to catch cards and take chips away from you? By raising, generally the middle of the pact hands will fold and you reduce the number of players in the hand that you have to beat.

Now I know we all see on TV how sneaky and tricky the pros try to be on TV, setting their traps and looking like they are so slick and so smart, and while I acknowledge that at certain times it’s possible to set someone up, and they never see it coming and you can win a monster pot, that is the exception rather than the rule. You do need to vary your play, and sometimes you can limp in with a pair of Kings, but if that flop comes out A-9-8 suited, and two players bet, you are going to have to have enough discipline to fold and get out of the way.

The question then becomes, how much do I raise. I try to almost always raise the same amount, so as not to give any insight to my hand, but there are other factors that some into play as well. Depending on what type of player still has to act, I may want some action thinking I can out play (or out draw them), and therefore not make a huge raise, or I may simply just want the hand over right there and then and make a larger bet. You need to be aware of the stack sizes still left to act, a large stack may take a flyer on your raise regardless of what he has if there is a chance you can be bullied out of a hand, and also know where the tournament is round wise and blind wise. As we get closer and closer to the final 5 or 6, players generally get more conservative and take fewer risks hoping to just hang on and let other people knock players out and move up on the point list and the money list. Be aware of everything.

Know your opponents, be aware of position, be aware of stack size, and know your odds.

According to Chris Ferguson;


“You always want to make your opponents' decisions as difficult as possible. In choosing the size of your raise, you want to give the big blind a tough decision between calling or folding if the rest of the table folds around to him.

Raising from early position is to advertise a very strong hand - one that can beat the seven or more other players who still have to act. Since you are representing such strength, it doesn't take much of a raise to convince the big blind to fold. Also, since your hand is so strong, you actually don't mind a call from the big blind anyway. The real reason for a small raise is that you have so many players acting after you, any of whom might wake up with a monster and re-raise you.

When you raise in late position, you're representing a hand that can beat the two or three remaining hands. This gives you a lot more freedom to raise with marginal hands, but your raise must be bigger or the big blind can call too easily. Another reason to raise more from late position is that you're trying to put pressure on the big blind to fold, not call and, more importantly, you don't have as many remaining opponents who can re-raise you.

If you're representing a big hand by raising from early position, it stands to reason that you'll only get played with by huge hands. Why risk four, five or more bets to win only one and a half bets in the blinds when you're often going to be running into monsters along the way? If you're holding A-Q rather than A-A and a player comes over the top, you can lay it down without having risked much.

Some beginners raise more with their strongest hands to build a bigger pot or raise less with these monsters to get more action. Instead, I recommend that you play your starting hands the same way no matter what you have. With A-A or A-J, raise the same amount so you're not telegraphing the strength of your hand to watchful opponents. An exception would be if you know your opponents aren't paying attention and you feel sure that you can manipulate them.

Again, I’m no expert, and I know I have plenty of weaknesses, especially when it comes to playing to conservative post flop, and trying to avoid showdowns, and generally not maximizing the value of a pot when I have a winning hand. That’s probably an article better written by Rich or Jay, who have no fear and have had more success than I have. But when it comes to pre-flop play, and making strong reads and strong lay downs, and avoiding potential traps and bad beats, I think myself and Neil do a terrific job at minimizing risk, and accumulating chips.

BROOKTOWN WSOP APRIL EVENT TOMORROW

No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em tomorrow at JMAC’s.

To me, it’s still a very exciting, and a very stressful day. Yes, I know that I’m insane because the thought of playing poker for 6 hours with my friends for $60 is considered stressful for me, but if you haven’t noticed by now, I like to compete. I like to keep score, and I don’t like to lose.

I’ve been thinking about my results the last few weeks, and I’ve been trying to decide what is considered successful in a Brooktown WSOP No Limit Hold ‘Em event. Obviously we all want to win, and no one wants to finish last, but what is considered losing?

Is finishing 2nd really losing? If you finish 3rd, ahead of 11 other players, did you fail?

I mean yea, the 2nd place guy "lost" heads up when it came down to the final two, but as we’ve seen over the years there is so much that you can’t control when the blinds are 4,000 8,000 and you each have 36,000 in chips. It’s pretty much going to be a coin toss.

We’ve had 14 No Limit Hold ‘Em events over the past 3+ seasons. Half of those events have been won by Rich Southard (4) and Neil Martucci (3). And although we have had 28 different players play in at least one of the 14 events, only 9 of the 28 guys have ever made it to heads up, Jay Fern and Rich being the most, each with 6 times in the final 2.

That’s an interesting statistic, although I will say that, while I think it is true that some players had an early advantage over others because of a better understanding of the game, the strategy and the odds, simply by having played and studied the game much more, that disparity has significantly decreased.

Kent Bent has been heads up in 2 out of the last 4 NL Hold Em events (having won 1, and finished 2nd in the championship) and neither Tom Brucato (9 NL cashes) nor Jay Fern (8 NL cashes) have cashed in the last 3 events, so it would appear that the field is getting stronger, and the competition tougher.

So again, what makes a successful finish? I guess that’s all relative to the players expectations, their past finishes, and how the night (bad cards, bad beats etc) actually went.

A player who has won 3 times in 3 years, and finished in the top 4 the last 5 events, would be disappointed with a 5th place finish, whereas a guy who has never won, and in the last 5 months has not finished higher than 9th may consider 5th place a successful night.

Now, as for tomorrow, I am picking Mike Triola to defeat Jay Fern, with a top 4 from Eddie P (provided he shows up on time, doesn’t go out drinking with the ladies, isn’t distracted by texts from females, and gets a good night sleep on Thursday).

BROOKTOWN WSOP NEXT EVENT FEB 8TH

We are less than 2 weeks away from our February event. NL Texas Hold ‘Em.

The event will be held in Jackson, and as usual we’d like to start by 8pm. Please let me know who will be attending. Below is the blind structure and starting chip counts.

Event Overview – NO LIMIT TEXAS HOLD ‘EM

THE GAME

The game is No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Maximum number of players - 16.
Minimum number of players - 3.
Chip Value:
White 25
Red 50
Green 100
Blue 250
Black 500

BUYIN/REBUY/ADD-ON

The initial buy-in is $40. This will purchase 3,500 in tournament chips. These chips have no monetary value.
A player may add-on at any point in the tournament prior to the first hand of round 5. Each player is allowed up to 1 (one) add-on in this tournament.
Add-on are $20 and will purchase 1,750 in tournament chips.



SEATING

Table assignment and seating will be determined prior to the start of the tournament by random drawing. (However, the tournament director reserves the right to redraw the tables).
Button position will be determined by the random assignment of seat #1. Seat #1 will be the first to deal.
If we have in excess of 10 players at the start of this event we will use two tables.
If the tournament began with two tables, as soon as the remaining players equal 8, we will combine the two tables and have one table of 8 players.
When the difference in the number of players at the two tables is greater than 1 then a player must move from the bigger table to the smaller table. When a player is eliminated and a move must be made, the player ‘playing a hand’ in the same position (seat), relative to the left of the button (on the subsequent hand at each table) at the highest populated table must move to the eliminated player’s seat. The move must occur before the next hand is dealt at any table. For the purposes of this rule, a player is ‘playing a hand’ once all the blinds/antes have been posted and the dealer has begun shuffling (riffles the deck).A moved player will be dealt a hand at the start of the next deal and assume any obligation of the new seat including the posting of a blind or dealing.


BLINDS

The two players to the left of the dealer are required to post “blind” bets before seeing their cards. The 1st is the SB and the 2nd is the BB.
If the SB is knocked out, the button essentially goes into his empty seat.
If the BB is knocked out, then the BB moves on to the player who would have had it next and there isn’t a SB on this hand (SB moves into the empty seat). On the following hand, the button would wind up in the empty seat. The player who just had the BB would have SB, and the BB moves on normally to the next player.
When play is down to two players, figure out who would get the BB next if nothing had happened. He will be the BB on the next hand. The SB is always on the button and the other player is the BB.

TIMER USE AND BREAKS

A timer will be used to time the blind progression. When the timer expires, it should be immediately restarted. The next hand will be dealt at the new blind level. For the purposes of this rule, a hand is considered currently in play once the all blinds are posted AND the dealer has begun shuffling (riffles the deck).
The timer is stopped during breaks. No additional hands at any table should be started during such a break although hands already in progress should be completed.


THE DEAL

The player to the right of the dealer may be given the right to cut the deck before the cards are dealt.
The dealer is responsible for making sure that all bets have been called before dealing each round of card(s).
Order of the deal:

Dealer deals two cards (one at a time) face down to each player.
Betting round 1 occurs.
Dealer burns one card and deals 3 cards (flop) in the middle of the table face up.
Betting round 2 occurs.
Dealer burns one card and deals one card (turn/4th Street) in the middle.
Betting round 3 occurs.
Dealer burns one card and deals the final card (river/5th Street).
Betting round 4 occurs.


BETTING

Check and raise is allowed.
The minimum bet is equal to the size of the BB.
The raise must always be at least the size of the previous bet or raise.
Any player can bet all of their chips at anytime (ALL-IN).
Betting round 1 begins with the player to the left of the BB.
Betting rounds 2-4 begin with the player to the left of the button.
When only two players are left sitting at the table, the BB is dealt to first, the button acts first before the flop, and the BB acts first after the flop.
Do not splash the pot. Stack your bets in front of you the dealer will rake the bets into the pot after the betting round is complete.
Do not bet, check, call, fold, or raise out of turn.


WINNING THE TOURNAMENT

The final player remaining, in the championship round, with all the chips will be the first prize winner. The last player eliminated will be the second prize winner; the second last player eliminated will be the third prize winner, etc... If two players get eliminated in the same hand, the person who started the hand with the most chips gets the higher finish and awarded the corresponding prize pool for that placement.

Is Brooktown a "No Limit Hold 'Em League"

As most of you may remember, we considered a couple of possible rule changes to the structure and set up of BROOKTOWN Poker.

One of the suggestions up for consideration, was to have the over all points leader select the final championship game. The votes were a resounding 12-1 against (Stan being the only one that voted for it, with the proposer of the rule even voting against it.) I heard alot of chatter about how we are really a Hold 'Em league above all else.

While is it true that we do have almost half of our events, as well as the two play-off events as NL or PL Hold 'Em, I strongly will argue that this is an all around poker league first, with an emphasis on Hold 'Em. We are modeled after the official WSOP (http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/) with respect to what events they play as well as taking the concept of points and a year end championship from the World Poker Tour (http://www.worldpokertour.com/index.php) but I think we have a much more diverse roster of games then both these formats. These two "leagues" are so over loaded with Hold Em events, it makes us look like a RAZZ league.

It stands to reason, at least to me however, that as long as these two entities have such an emphasis on NL Hold 'Em, so should we, both in number of events, as well as "play-off" events.

If anyone is interested in starting, or running, a league of all Hold 'Em, or all 7 card stud, or even Yahtzee, I would hope you would consider inviting me to join, and you can count on me to be there at every event and support the hell out of it.