Texas Holdem Tournament Strategy - Winning vs. Aggressive Players

The Texas Hold’em poker phenomenon have taken the state by storm. There are reportedly over 100 million active poker players worldwide. Poker’s popularity is largely the by-product of engineering and respective recent trends: 1) online gaming, where players prosecute and socialise in real-time complete the Internet, and 2) the wide promotion created by high profile television shows like the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour.

With all the poker-mania, there’s Associate in Nursing astonishing deficit of quality information to assist people larn how to play properly and go great players quickly. This is the first in a series of Texas Holdem strategy articles aimed at helping players larn how to win at Texas Hold’em poker. Tournament play is a popular, merriment sport. These articles will assist players understand how to near tournaments, which differ greatly from regular “ring game” play.

This installment trades with the most-asked question: “How make I cover effectively with aggressive players?” Many players battle against "maniacs", the aggressive, wild players who play most every hand, somehow look to draw cards out of thin air, and often pull off to predominate the table.

Here's what actually happened in a recent poker tournament. I entered a tournament at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, about 20 proceedings from my place in South Florida. This weekly $300 entry-fee tournament fill ups the poker room with 220 players every Monday night.

The blinds start at 50/100 and travel up every 15 minutes. I spent the first 30 proceedings just hanging out and occasionally limping in to see a flop. The ground for "treading water" was to analyze my oppositions and their playing forms very closely. There were a figure of solid poker players, but right away I spotted the aggressive ones.

I was sitting in the middle, directly across from the dealer. There were two "wild men" to my right. These two participated in most every hand, and agonized with themselves whenever they had to throw a manus away. This was screaming to me, and it was also very telling. I knew these dandies were doomed from the onset, yet they were extremely unsafe if they caught something with one of their rubbish hands. These types are great targets, but only when you cognize how to play them correctly. If you do, you’ll end up with most or all of their chips in your stack. The cardinal is to acquire to their chips before person else does.

There were some squeaky-tight and solid players, as usual. Finally, there were two other players to my left who knew one another very well and spoke what sounded like Russian. These two played very aggressively. They rarely called or checked. They would wager or raise the pot significantly, so if they played a hand, you knew they were going to wager it large and you’d better be prepared to force a clump of your chips into the middle. As a result, the table became tight overall, except for these four players who controlled the early action and dictated the table pacing for the first hr or so. They gambled with wanton abandon, trading chips with each other as the remainder of us just observed and wished for a existent manus to materialize.

It became evident that our lunatics were playing mostly refuse hands, and using assertive yak in an effort to intimidate everyone. They were enjoying pushing everyone around with their aggressive betting and raising style. Humorously, they got into a figure of showdowns, causing all of their rubbish hands to go openly exposed; e.g., 69 off-suit, Q3 suited, etc. Iodine definitely had these cats pegged now – if lone Iodine could acquire a strong hand…

Later, one of my Russian "friends" came in over the top of a stake I’d placed with a immense raise, then smiled at me as he leaned his caput back as if to state “Go ahead. I make bold you”. My center brace just wasn't strong adequate to prosecute with him, but I remembered this small "lesson" and my mistake. He'd used this maneuver many times against the others and I should’ve expected it. I also realized that we had not seen any of his supposed "big hands", as he always mucked them. Whenever you see an aggressive player dominating, and then mucking all those supposed "great hands", you cognize you've spotted a target.

We played on, with the two lunatics to my right getting busted out by the Russian contingent. It’s been an hr and 15 proceedings - and I still haven’t seen even one nice manus yet! This is, unfortunately, typical poker.

After about an hour-and Forty-Five minutes, I finally pick up a brace of wired 9's (99). Now I was hoping the floating-point operation would give a set (trips). Sure enough, it came: 9, K, 5. I was elated and jumping up and down (inside). I was finally in a place to do my move, and hoped it would be against one of my aggressive Russian friends with their large stacks.

To set up my trap, I delayed and muddled around for about 10 seconds, and then casually "checked" verbally and using my manus in a chopping motion, with a slightly fed up look. Next, the little Russian moves in with a large stake of 3,000 chips. Iodine was certain I had him now. As expected, everyone else quickly folded and got out of his manner – except me. This chap had pushed everyone around and I was finally properly armed and ready to make conflict on my ain terms. Note that this had been my "battle plan" all along. I was deliberately targeting these aggressive characters, knowing that when the time was right, their ill-gotten stacks would go mine!

The action came back around to me, so now it was just the two of us heads-up. The two Russians said something to each other that the remainder of us couldn’t decipher. I delayed and bobbed my caput around as if to be struggling with my decision. Then, I motioned with both hands and uttered “I'm all-in". I knew this series of actions would likely trip an aggressive reaction, since my “check-raise” made it look as if I was trying to steal this pot! A check-raise almost always trips a full-tilt response from an aggressive player.

He immediately called me - he was so aggressive (and pot-committed) that it was like a fish taking the come-on and running for deep Waters - hook line and sinker! I threw my brace of 9's over, revealing the trip 9's. There was a low mutter around the table from the other players. My immature Russian friend reluctantly flipped his five/trash manus over - he had a brace of fives (with a King over-card showing on the board!). He was definitely angling to drive me out of this pot with his ascertive play – 1 too many times…

You see, no one actually acquires that many great hands in poker - nobody. If person plays 30% to 40% Oregon more than of the time, they're just "gambling" and bluffing. This cat believes he have got a "good" hand, because he actually had a existent brace – something he doesn’t often have when pushing everyone around with mostly aggressive betting as his lone existent weapon.

The bend came and it wasn't a five - then person bagpipe up and states "he's drawing dead". Believe me, you never desire to hear that when you're in a showdown! I looked over as he said something in Russian to his brother - another misdemeanor of tournament rules, as everyone is compelled to talk English at the tournament table. It wouldn’t matter, as he stood up, grabbed his jacket and left after receiving some solace from his friend.

His aged friend glared over at me and uttered something derogative in Russian. I had no hint what he said, but I knew from his tone of voice that I didn't like it. I also knew I'd gotten under his tegument by taking down his brother and raking in all of his chips. Iodine responded with "what's that, I don't understand what you're saying since you're not speaking English?” loudly so everyone at the table could hear me.

He mumbled something about his friend...I smiled and said politely with a smiling "I deliberately laid that trap for your friend and he drop right into it!", pushing the knife in deeper, knowing he'd be gunning for me anyway - might as well do certain my adjacent trap was fully set. This also signaled to everyone else at the table that whenever I checked or limped, it could be extremely unsafe if assumptive to be a mark of failing - something I’d purchase later as the blinds and antes rose and the proper time to bluff and steal blinds actually arrived.

After a flimsy pause, my Russian friend noticed that everyone was now looking at him. He looked down at his chips and said "nice play" with a reluctantly polite tone.

Boy, I was elated! My conflict program was definitely becoming field-proven here - and my adjacent mark was clearly sighted. It had taken careful observation, planning and a batch of forbearance to wait for the right hand, and then play it correctly to take this highly-skilled, aggressive player out and profligate in all of his chips.

About 10 proceedings later, it was tournament interruption time, after two hours of play. I counted my chips, which totaled 14,900 (we started with 5,000 each), then grabbed a speedy bite to eat, reflecting on what had just taken place.

Within 10 proceedings of returning from break, I finally picked up a serious starting hand: Cowboys (KK). I knew it was time for my new Russian friend and me to tango, so I fired out a stake of 3 times the large blind: 3,000 chips, come-on that I was certain he couldn’t bend down. Sure enough, he bit - large time. His all-in rise came almost instantaneously, before I could even acquire my stake onto the table. He was totally ready to engage, and had been laying in delay for me - just like I had planned. I had put him up by taking out his friend and then ambitious his poker egotism in presence of everyone. He just had to retaliate against me – it was a totally predictable “full-tilt” response from this sort of player.

This is what the game of poker is really all about – having a well-defined strategy, the forbearance to wait for the right hand, and then executing properly. It’s what do poker a game of strategy instead of a game of opportunity (for some of us).

He raised by going all-in with around 8,000 chips to my roughly 14,000. I quickly called his all-in bet. Everyone else quickly folded and got out of our way.

I flipped my pocket kings over, then looked him straight in the oculus and just smiled. Then person states "Yeah! Now we've got some action!" He sighed and flipped over QQ - he actually had a existent manus for a change. That's one of the jobs with these sorts of "semi-solid, aggressive" players, like my Russian friend here, and other poker greats like Gus Hansen. You never really cognize exactly what to anticipate from them. Of course, my opposition could've held pocket rockets (AA), but I'll play those KK cowpunchers strong each and every time I acquire them, since there’s only one manus that tin beat them heads-up. I also knew this aggressive player on tilt was likely to be overplaying his hand, improving my likelihood significantly.

The flop, bend and river came and went without another Queen and it was done - my cowpunchers stood up and I had all of both Russian’s stacks, which included most of the other two mediocre maniac’s chips (who lost to the Russians earlier). This instantly made me by far the chip leader at our table with well over 22,000 chips!

I went from having an norm chip stack to being the table chip leader, against tough, aggressive opponents, within less than one-half an hr by:

a) Playing solid, sensible tournament poker,

b) Not taking big, not due hazards with weak or "drawing" hands,

c) Studying my aggressive quarry and where the chips were sitting,

d) Formulating and refinement a conflict program while observing the game progress,

e) Remaining patient while waiting for the right manus to do my move, and

f) Executing this program with preciseness against a predetermined opponent, and on footing of my choosing – not the opponent’s.

There was no fortune involved at all – except that my opposition didn’t hold Alcoholics Anonymous or draw some lucky cards with a rubbish manus – which was simply playing the likelihood in my favor.

I started out with a high-level strategy to aim aggressive chip leaders, and travel after them with strong hands from the right position. I planned this before I ever arrived at the casino that day, or knew who these players would be. Then, I refined my program once I knew for certain whom the evening’s marks would be and how I’d arouse them. It certainly helped that I caught two nice hands during those first hours of play.

Unfortunately, I later lost to a legitimate full house, but made it into the top 40 – it happens…

The cardinal to playing against aggressive and lunatic players is having a feasible Texas Holdem strategy you can gain from when you acquire some good hands. If you have got a good plan, you can convert it into a formidable reserve of chips - a stack that you‘ll definitely necessitate as the blinds and antes addition and the tournament field contracts in the latter stages.

This is how I near Texas Holdem strategy for tournaments now - at least when the tables are full with 8 or more than players, some of them aggressive and maniacs. So, the adjacent time you meet wild and aggressive players at your poker table, acquire ready to have got some fun! It's wish Tae Kwon Bash - using the opponent’s ain energy and impulse against them.

In the adjacent installment, we’ll item this Texas Holdem strategy more formally, along with exploring some other tournament tips for playing better Texas Holdem poker.

Until then – good luck!

Rick