SURVIVING IN TOURNAMENTS

BY: Gary Stephen Jr.

A common lament in the Tournament Strategy forum is, "When I don't get the hands I just seem to die by blinds in whatever tourney I play." This was true of me too, until I realized that stealing pots is crucial to one's success in tournament play.

I stopped being "anted to death" when I learned how to steal pots. This not only keeps the blinds from eating you alive, but builds you a healthy stack that makes it easier to steal even more pots later on.

Here are some of the factors I've learned to consider when deciding whether or not to steal a pot. In no particular order:

1. Opponents' stack sizes. In other words, who to steal from based on how many chips they have. A very small stack may call you out of desperation. A very large stack may call you because it doesn't cost him very much to do so.

My ideal bluff situation is to make a pot-sized bet that's about 15-20% of my opponent's stack. More than that, and he might move in; less than that and it's a cheap call.

The book Pot-Limit and No-Limit Poker by Bob Ciaffone and Stewart Reuben makes a great point. In no-limit play, a bet achieves an influence out of proportion to its size. Let's say it's heads-up on the flop, the pot size is 1500, and my opponent has 10000 chips. If I bet 1500, I'm essentially threatening his whole stack. If he calls and doesn't improve, he's facing another pot-sized bet on the turn for half his stack, and then the rest of it on the river. Use this to your advantage.

This stems, of course, from a general knowledge of stack-size dynamics in tournament play. David Sklansky's book on tournament poker has an excellent discussion of this.

2. Understand that chips change value. Mason Malmuth first advanced the idea that in a tournament, the more chips you have, the less each chip is worth. If I have 1000 chips and lose 1000, it hurts me a lot more than if I have 50000 chips and lose 1000.

So if you have a big stack, it doesn't hurt you as much to play a hand and lose. You can use this to your advantage.

Say you have 25000 chips, and you're against two opponents who each have 9000. A pot-sized bet of 2000 is a minimal risk for you; if you lose, you still have 23000. But losing 2000 chips will do a lot of damage to one of the smaller stacks.

And, as above, anyone who calls such a bet faces being set-in on the turn. Between this item and the previous one, you can actually threaten someone else's entire stack with less than ten percent of your stack. That's "using your chips."

A great example of this is the first-season WPT event that had Cal Dykes. He got crap cards all night, and did nothing but move-in pre-flop with his medium-sized stack. But if you watch closely, he only did this when it would have been very expensive for anyone behind him to call. He didn't do this when Ron Rose, who had a gigantic stack, was behind him, since Ron is likely to call. Sometimes Cal had a hand when he moved in pre-flop; most of the time he didn't. But he still turned a sixth-place payoff into a second-place one, and might have done better had Rose not outdrawn him on the first heads-up hand.

3. The Gap Concept, and how to use it. The Gap Concept is explained David Sklansky's book, Tournament Poker For Advanced Players. The "gap" refers to the difference between which hands you can raise with, and which hands you can call with. In general you need a stronger hand to call than you do to raise.

At certain moments of a tournament, the Gap can be huge, resulting in situations where you can win a lot of blinds just by raising first-in preflop. Best time: the middle stages. Even better if you're at a short-handed table. This ties into our next topic:

4. Stage of the tournament. You're not going to steal very much early. Most people will call you, because the antes are low relative to stack size, and because the field is still populated with weak players who have no clue they shouldn't be calling. In fact, early on, your strategy should be the opposite; take a lot of flops for cheap vs. multiple opponents.

In other words, the Gap varies a great deal at different stages of the tournament. At the first stake level, it's pretty much non-existent. Around the third or fourth stake level, the Gap begins to widen; people are less likely to call a raise because the amount of a normal-sized raise threatens their whole stack. When you get close to the money, the Gap can become gigantic, as most of your opponents will be playing super-tight trying to squeak into 50th place.

Yes, survival tactics are important at times. It's wise not to risk ruin with a healthy stack if you're one out of the money and there are two tiny stacks. But most people apply this thinking way too much, and way too early. This is exactly the time when you should be trying to steal. Take advantage of the tightness of others.

5. Free yourself from the limit hold'em approach. I frequently see tournament players raise, call, and fold with the exact hands they would in a limit cash game. Even in a limit tournament, you would want to change things a bit from a limit cash game. Certainly so in a no limit tournament.

Not only does this make you easy to read, but you miss out on steal opportunities if you limit yourself to only raising with the "raising hands" from the Lee Jones playbook. (The Lee Jones playbook is fine for low-limit ring game play; this is tournament play.) And as point #16 below will explain, profitable steal situations are dictated by factors such as who you're up against and how big their stack is. The cards you hold are secondary, if not irrelevant.

6. Don't put the screws to yourself. Bad bluffers actually hurt themselves a couple different ways.

A common mistake is to attempt a "bluff" with a fair hand, one that might actually be good enough to win. Let's say you have pocket sixes heads-up and J-8-2 flops.

The problem is that if you bet this hand and get raised, you're the one facing the tough decision. Your sixes might be good, as the opponent could easily be bluffing, betting a draw, or betting a lesser hand like pocket fives. But it's going to cost you a fortune to find out. And what do you do if you call and don't improve on the turn?

I don't like to bluff when I've got a little something, as in the above example. If it's checked to me, I might check behind him and take another card. I might spike a harmless-looking six on the turn, or induce a bluff I can call fairly inexpensively (since the pot is kept small).

I much prefer to bluff with complete garbage. If J-8-2 flops I'll fire away with K5. If I get raised, I'm not facing a difficult decision. I get away at a minimal loss, and no psychological torture.

Sklansky puts it this way: "Don't raise if you don't want to be reraised." Of course you don't mind being reraised if you've got a monster. But you also don't mind being raised if your hand is so bad you can throw it away with no qualms. What gets you in trouble are those in-between situations. You want to force your opponents, not yourself, to make those tough decisions.

7. Don't make sissy bets. This is another thing bad bluffers do; they make respectable-size bets when they've got a hand, and puny bets when they're bluffing. This makes them easy to read.

Furthermore, when you make a tiny bet you're giving up a primary advantage of betting -- that everyone is going to fold and give you the pot right then. Obviously, this is what you want when you're bluffing.

Here's a memorable tournament hand of mine. Blinds are 100-200, from late position I raise to 1000 in hopes of stealing, and surprisingly I get called by both blinds. I've got a suited ace of spades. Flop comes garbage, with one spade. The small blind bets the minimum, 200, and the big blind calls. For a negligible 200 chips, I can take another card in a pot of 3400, so why not call?

The turn was another spade, giving me a nut four-flush. SB bets 400, and EP calls. Now I'm getting spectacular pot odds, 10.5 to 1, to draw to a nut flush. I call and the river brings spade #5, which unfortunately for SB also made him two pair. He makes a big bet, I set him in and take his stack. He curses my luck and asks how I could be so foolish as to chase a runner-runner flush. Luck had nothing to do with it, and he was the fool, not I. If he'd bet so much as 1000 on the flop, I wouldn't have been around to make my flush.

If you're going to be a good bluffer, you've got to muster up the courage to make a formidable bet when you don't have a hand. Because I'm not going to let you have a 1500-chip pot for a minimum bet of 100. If I've got two cards, I'm going to call such a bet. Or play back at you with nothing.

(Note that some players make tiny bets when they've got a monster, so don't assume that this bet implies weakness. As with all things in poker, consider who you're playing against.)

8. Don't make ridiculously huge bets. I'm sure you've all seen this: the blinds are 15-30, a couple people limp, and somebody goes all in for 1500.

Yes, he's probably going to steal the pot. But at what cost? He's risking 1500 chips to win 100 or so. It's a bad play for several reasons.

First of all, a raise to 300 would probably achieve the same effect. The extra 1200 chips you invested did you no additional good.

Second, when you risk that much to win that little, the odds start working against you. The pot is giving you 1 to 15 odds (not 15 to 1). You'd have to win 15 out of 16 pots for this to be a break-even play. You don't have to run into aces or outdraws that often for this play to hurt you.

Third, such situations arise early on in tournaments. See point #4 above; you're going to be called more liberally. Especially in a very cheap or free tournament, where some players are ecstatic to double-up or go home early.

9. Don't forget to bet when you do have something. Now, some folks will bet aggressively when they don't have a hand, and steal effectively. But when they do have a hand, they want to get cute. They limp with big hands, make small bets, check-raise the flop, and so on.

This approach has some problems. First, this reveals the true strength of their current hand. Second, it makes me more skeptical of the betting they do at other times. Third, they risk being outdrawn, because big hands play better against fewer opponents and calling doesn't thin the field. Fourth, when you pass up opportunities to raise and bet with your big hands, I can get away cheap if I'm beaten.

I never slowplay, unless I flop such a monster that I don't mind giving free cards. If I flop a strong hand, I'm going to bet it, with the same type of bet I would make with a complete bluff. You won't know if I have a hand, or if I'm making my usual stab at a stealable pot.

Yes, everyone might fold. But that's okay. Some people try to parlay every halfway decent flop into a massive pot, risking ruin in the process. I'm perfectly content to pick up another little pot with 0% chance of being outdrawn. And I DON'T reveal my hand. Ever. Let 'em wonder.

And if you do get called down, terrific. The table gets to watch you show down the nuts, and you take somebody's stack in the process. You play aggressively all the time and only show down big hands when called, and no one will want to get involved with you. You'll start winning pots just because you're in them.

Sometimes I can actually feel momentum building. When I do I start playing even more aggressively, stealing more pots. Maybe this is what Doyle Brunson means when he talks about rushes.

10. Use chips effectively. This is more about betting in general and not just bluffing, but it bears mention.

Earlier, we discussed the foolishness of raising 1500 chips into a pot of 100 chips. A raise of 300 would have done just as well; the extra 1200 chips did very little.

Similarly, a lot of players misuse their stacks. They do not get maximum value for the chips they have.

Classic example: Pot is 2000. EP, with a stack of 2800, bets 2000. LP, with a stack of 10000, calls.

EP is now committed to a pot of 6000, with only 800 chips left. He can't bluff -- such a small bet will be called. He can't check, because his opponent is going to set him in on the turn. The extra 800 chips did him no good.

Better to move in for 2800 on the flop. The extra 800 might be enough induce a fold. Furthermore, it charges the opponent more money to see the cards. If you bet 2000 on the flop and 800 on the turn, LP gets to see four cards for 2800. If you bet 2800 on the flop, LP gets to see only the flop for 2800. If you bet all at once, you're charging the same price and giving your opponent less information.

I'm not going to bet or call for more than a third of my stack. If it's that much, I'm going to get all-in or fold. Yes, I may be overbetting the pot a little, for example the pot is 1000 and I move in for 2200. But getting full value for my chips is the greater concern. The overbet might be enough to win me the pot right there. I might get called, but that's the risk you take. Calling the flop for 1000 leaves me with too few chips to do anything after that, and I'm pot-committed anyway.

(Exception: it's a limit or pot-limit tournament, I'm very close to the money or moving up, and calling the flop might leave me some chips so I can outlast another small stack if the flop isn't good to me.)

11. Don't be afraid to back off. Some of your bluffs are going to get called. Depending on the situation and opponent, you might want to back off and let them have it. Don't try to ramrod everything through, especially if you've been called by a predictable player. If you think your opponent might be drawing, or can be bullied on the turn, you might risk firing a second round. But any good poker pro will tell you that "when to fire that second round" is one of the toughest things to learn.

But don't be afraid to give up. It's okay to lose sometimes. If you've stolen enough pots, you can afford for one or two of your bluff attempts to fail. You don't have to be right 100% of the time. You won't lose your edge if you get played-back at once or twice. (I always take time and think before I fold, even if there's no way I'm going to call. Let 'em think I made a big laydown.)

Similarly, you don't have to play EVERY hand. Pick your spots. Besides, you want to make these plays in favorable situations. Not all the time.

12. Understand and use position. Brunson says in Super System that if he could have position all night, he'd win without ever looking at his cards. Imagine that for a second -- favorable position renders the cards irrelevant!

You don't have to go to that extreme, but it is important to understand the value of position. Play tight up front and looser in the back, especially pre-flop. Take advantage of acting last.

At the same time, exploit preconceptions about position that others have. Don't be afraid to bet off the button or even UTG if you think the flop missed everyone. It's riskier, yes, but your bet will get more respect because of where it came from.

There is a concept called "right of first bluff", meaning whoever breathes on the pot first will win it. Sometimes it can be to your advantage to act first.

13. Don't limp first-in. Limping gives you no chance of winning the pot right then. Raising will often steal you the antes. If I'm not comfortable raising first-in with a hand, I don't play it at all. (Exception: early in the event, I'll limp if I think I can see a cheap flop with a hand that can flop big.)

14. Pay attention to online tells. Yes, they exist, and at a key point in a tournament often become very obvious.

As an aside, this point was the most controversial when I first mentioned it in the forums. An equally lengthy article could be written on this subject alone.

But, sometimes people do give things away. My favorite: the guy who takes way too long to make a simple decision. Nobody spends their time bank thinking about whether or not to bet a good hand (well, not at my stake level anyway). Another pearl of poker wisdom I've found to be true: "anyone who's thinking, is thinking about folding." Anyone who takes too long to think on a non-threatening flop can likely be re-raised out of the hand.

Also, look for people who bet less, not more, on the turn and river. As another poster said, "you can just feel their asshole tightening up."

15. Put some thought into how much you bet. Ultimate Bet has these "bet pot", "bet minimum", and "all in" buttons. They're the only amounts anyone ever bets. Not me. I take the time to enter the bet amount I think will apply maximum pressure on my opponents, and make most effective use of my chips. You should too.

Another advantage to doing this is that it gives you plausibility when you take extra time to complete an action. It takes time to type numbers, you know.

By the way, when I'm setting someone all-in, I like to the exact amount of chips they have left. I could just go all-in myself and get the excess back, but I think making my opponent see the exact number has some intimidation value.

16. And finally, Get the courage to bluff irrelevant of your own hand. Profitable bluff situations are dictated by external factors -- who's in the hand, their stack size, the pot size, and what flopped.

Most bad players can't free themselves from thinking in terms of "what hand can I make?" They're focusing only on their own hand, which leads to problems like #6 above.

They might semi-bluff, but if the flop misses them entirely they don't have the courage to make a pure bluff. This costs them a great many profitable steal situations.

I've come to view bluffing as a sort of proposition bet. When I bluff, I'm wagering that you're going to fold, based on table conditions. The issue is YOUR hand, not mine. What I hold is largely irrelevant.

You can even calculate exact pot odds for your bluffs. Let's say the blinds are 100-200, and you're going to raise to 600 to try and win the pot now. You're risking 600 to win 300, meaning that you have to successfully steal two-thirds of the time to break even. But you don't even have to do that well, because sometimes you'll win the pot when you are called, either by bluffing again later or by flopping a good hand.

And here we see the Gap yet again. I can bet with a weaker hand than my opponent needs to call. I can bet with garbage, but you can't call or raise unless you've got a strong hand, or the courage to re-raise me with no hand. And 99% of the people you'll face in small online tournaments don't have that.

Before I applied these principles to my game, I finished in the money in 2 out of 33 multi-table tourneys this year. Since then, I'm cashing about 25% of the time, and making the final table about 10%. And all it really took was learning how to steal pots.

I don't find myself getting anted to death, because stealing pots keeps my stack size up. I don't bust out on bad beats as much, because I pick my spots better and acquire enough chips to survive a loss or two. I don't find myself not getting hands, because I'm learning how to win without a hand.

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