Poker: Cashout Tournament Strategies

New at FullTilt PokerNew Cashout Tournaments provide players the option to leave the online poker tournament at any time before the final table and get the cash value of what their stack is worth. With the options of cashing out part of your chip stack or your entire stack and exiting a tournament, we players are presented with a whole new variety of options to consider.

In Cashout Tournaments, half of the buy-in goes into the Cashout prize pool, and the other half into the tournament prize pool. The ability to cash out in 10% increments of the starting stack (for example, if you start with 3,000 chips, you can cash out as little as 300 chips and keep cashing out in increments of 300) can drastically alter the way you approach these tournaments. With most pros, the goal in a tournament is first place. Cashing in a tournament or lowering variance is not a major concern the vast majority of the time. If that’s your only goal, removing chips from your stack is not going to be an option you employ very often. For most players, however, while first place is certainly always going to be the number one goal, there are other factors involved.

Often times, the best opportunity to cash out is going to be early in the tournament. You can get back some of the money you put up in the buy-in and navigate a slightly shorter stack while the blinds are still small and chip away to get back to where you started and beyond. The real key to knowing when to implement the Cashout option is how much the money means to you. There’s certainly a real advantage in a poker tournament when you triple up very early and have that bigger stack, but for a lot of players, securing that automatic Freeroll in a tournament is going to be even more advantageous (remember that with the 3,000 chip starting stack, should you increase your stack to 9,000, each 300 chips will allow you to cash out for 10% of what you put into the Cashout pool – 6,000 chips will get your full buy-in back and still leave you with a starting stack!). The ability to give peace of mind, guaranteeing that you can’t lose any money in the tournament, might allow you to play a stronger game as you go on.

The Cashout Tournaments also provide a few other opportunities poker players have never seen before. There isn’t a player out there who hasn’t been playing their tournament and just had something “come up” or something they absolutely had to do. Maybe you were already on a time crunch with just a few free hours to spare and were looking to play a little poker. I would advise any player in this position to join a Cashout Tournament rather than risk running out of time in another MTT. The full Cashout option allows you to play and still get money out of the work you did, even if you can’t complete the whole thing!

My strategy going into Cashout Tournaments would be to cash out little by little. I might take a little off the top here and there, while trying to retain a relatively decent stack. I always like to have the biggest stack at the table so I can get maximum value out of my hands, but in the cases where I have quite a bit more chips than anyone else, getting a little bit of money for my chips becomes quite appealing. Later on in the tournament, I would consider cashing out a little bit here and there, while still trying to keep my stack above 15 big blinds, and preferably above 20 big blinds. Maintaining this stack size makes sure that I’m not so short that my hand is forced while still having enough chips to re-raise all-in and have enough chips that someone can fold.

The full Cashout option is one I would reserve for mostly emergencies and other such events that come up unexpectedly. Tournament life is such a valuable thing that I would never give up my last chip in a Cashout Tournament unless I had to leave, but cashing down to a shorter stack and trying to double up can be highly effective and fun as well. Many people like to start with short stacks in cash games and take away a lot of the decision work. Cashing out to 10 big blinds or less and beginning to play shove or fold poker is something many people hate, but many others love.

One final tip to keep in mind is that you will also have the ability to practice valuable tournament skills by utilizing the Cashout option. If you need more experience playing a shorter stack effectively, you can cash out a portion of your stack. This allows you to make additional money without having to actually dump off chips, and you can work on improving that portion of your poker game, as well.

ABOUT ERIC:

Nicknamed “EFro”, Eric Froehlich has won two WSOP bracelets and more than $1.3 in Career Tournament Earnings. A native of New Jersey, Eric is an accomplished “Magic: the Gathering” card game player.

a5_wFor more about Cash Out Poker Tournaments or to give one a go check out BetVictor Poker or bet365Poker (sorry, no USA  based players at either site)

Pro Poker Tip: Making the Second All-In Call

Jon Pearljammed Turner professional poker playerWhen a short-stack moves all in and you have him comfortably out-chipped, your decision is usually straight-forward. You consider what range of hands he could have, gauge the likelihood that your hand is best, do some quick pot-odds math, and either call or fold.

However, when another player who is not quite so short-stacked calls in front of you, your decision becomes infinitely more complicated. Suddenly a hand you were dying to call the original all-in bet with becomes marginal at best. And with the pot having swollen substantially, your decision becomes even more pivotal.

I recently played in a No-Limit Hold ’em tournament where I found myself in this extremely tricky position. The blinds were 150/300 with a 25 ante, and I had one of the larger stacks at the table, about 25,000 in chips. I was in second position with pocket Kings and raised it up to 750.

A player in middle position, the button and the big blind called my raise. So we went four-way to the flop, and it came J-8-2 with two hearts. I felt good about my hand, especially considering I had the King of hearts. The big blind checked, and even though I figured my hand was best, I checked for several reasons. The stack behind me was very deep, and I didn’t want to play a big pot against him out of position. Also, I had recently been seen checking flops and giving up on pots after raising pre-flop, so I chose to mix my play up here to add deception to my game. After the player to my left and I both checked, the button moved all in for 6,300.

It was a great spot for me because I highly doubted that he had my Kings beat. But it stopped being such a great spot for me when the big blind called the 6,300, leaving himself with about 9,000 chips behind his call.

The big blind was a tight player who generally thought through every decision carefully and rationally. I thought about the hands he might have, and I figured A-J was possible, as was a set. I doubted he would make that call with the nut flush draw. So I studied him for about two minutes, doing my best to try to get a read on him. I don’t study someone like that very often, but this was a case where I desperately wanted to look for signs of whether he did or did not want me to re-shove and put him all in. I tried to determine if he was comfortable enough with his hand to play for his whole stack. And finally I reached the conclusion that I didn’t believe he was. Rather, I believed he made the call knowing that he would fold if either of the two players behind him shoved.

So I shoved, the player behind me folded, and then the big blind showed me the A-J as he folded it. The button turned over Q-J, and my Kings held up.

I had a difficult decision, trying to determine if the big blind flat-called because he was hoping someone else would push all in, or if he flat-called because he wasn’t willing to put all of his chips at risk. In the end, I made the correct read and the correct decision. But I only made that decision after thinking the situation through extremely carefully, which is how you have to handle spots like that if you’re going to succeed in No-Limit Hold ’em tournaments.

ABOUT JON:

Jon is one of the most successful online tournament players in the world, he has made more than $1.6 Million in online winnings.
a5_wIf you’re after a great cash game or you’re into tournament poker – and rate your skills – bet365 Poker is THE site to play as a pro or semi-pro.

bet365 accepts players from most countries around the world – except the USA – so if you’re US based check out US player-friendly poker rooms here at GoonersGuide.com.

Phil Gordon: Poker Hands You Want To Play … But Shouldn’t

Phil Gordon Professional Poker PlayerEven the best poker players in the world make mistakes, and when these mistakes are not corrected, they can develop into “leaks” that can easily sink your game. There are two leaks in particular that I see all the time with regard to Hold ’em starting hands that people play but would be better off folding.

The first of these two leaks involves playing easily dominated hands. Domination in Texas Hold ’em is death, so you must make an effort to fold potentially dominated hands pre-flop if another player has voluntarily entered the pot.

This concept spins off of David Sklansky’s “Gap Principle”, which essentially says that the range of hands you’re willing to raise with should be wider than the range of hands you’re willing to call with.

For instance, if everyone folds to me and I have K-Q off-suit on the button, I’m going to raise. It’s likely the best hand, and I give myself a chance to steal the blinds. However, if a middle position player raises before the flop, I’m going to throw that K-Q away quickly. That K-Q is very easily dominated by the hands my opponent is likely to raise with in middle position, such as A-K, pocket Kings, pocket Aces, pocket Queens, and A-Q. These are hands that K-Q will have a very difficult time beating, and if we both flop a pair, I could be in severe trouble and lose my entire stack.

To further illustrate this point, here’s a mathematical look at why a theoretically powerful hand, if dominated, is worse than playing random rags. Say my opponent raises in first position with A-K and it folds around to me on the button with 7-2 off-suit, the worst hand in poker. If I call there, I’m about a 65-35 underdog.

Now let’s say I have A-Q on the button facing that same raise from A-K. Now my hand is about a 75-25 underdog, which is significantly worse than if I had 7-2.

It’s not easy to fold A-Q to a single raise pre-flop, but if the raise is coming from early position and you have reason to believe your opponent has a premium hand, A-Q could easily be dominated. More to the point, that next tier of starting hands—K-Q, Q-J, Q-10, K-10, K-J—those are hands you should just throw away if your opponent opens the pot for a raise.

The other leak involving starting hands that I see frequently is overvaluing suited hands. I see players with A-5 suited or 8-7 suited and they play the hands because they think they might flop a flush. In reality, when you’re suited you will only flop a flush about one out of 121 times. That’s about 0.84 percent of the time. It does not happen very often. And even when it does happen, you’re not likely to win a big pot.

If you take a hand like A-5 suited and compare it to A-5 off-suit, in reality, against the range of hands your opponent might be playing, it only adds about two to three percent to your expectation of making the best hand.

So don’t be fooled by being suited. Just because the hand is suited does not mean that it is playable. The ranks of the cards are much more important than whether or not your hand is suited.

When making your pre-flop decisions, if you can resist the urge to play hands that are likely dominated and resist the urge to play mediocre suited cards, I think you’ll find yourself playing a more profitable brand of poker in the long run.

ABOUT PHIL:

American players are also welcome at Full Tilt PokerPhil Gordon won the 2003 World Poker Tour (WPT) and has made five WSOP final tables. He has banked over $2.1 million in career tournament earnings and is the author of 3 popular poker books.  Phil Gordon, like many of the top pros, plays poker online at BetOnline Poker and Bookmaker Poker. Join him at a table sometime!

POKER REVIEWS:

>>Review and Rating of BetOnline
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The Difference Between Aces And Kings In Texas Holdem Poker

Free Poker tips and adviceIn hold ’em, you hear a lot of talk about aces and kings being the ultimate hands. That’s true, but don’t be too quick to put them in the same category, as many players do. A pair of aces before the flop logically belongs in a category all to itself.

Here’s how often each hand wins against nine opponents holding random hands when everyone stays to the river…

A-A = 31% (21 percentage points higher than a fair share)

K-K = 26% (16 percentage points higher than a fair share)

What really makes the difference is that, when you consider actual betting strategy, A-A is much more likely to gain extra bets and to stay out of trouble. For this reason, in the hands of a professional, A-A can be almost twice as profitable as K-K overall in a full-handed game. That’s something to keep in mind.

Mike Caro

bet365_90x60UK Check out the poker at bet365 for more free tips, video tutorials and for some great poker play. (Sorry, USA not OK)

Texas Holdem Poker: Four Suited Cards On The Board

Play poker online You should, of course, exercise caution when there are four cards of one suit on the board and you don’t have a flush. But sometimes you should bet right into that board without a flush.

The best time to bet is when you have two pair, three-of-a-kind, or a straight against a lone sophisticated player who has checked into you. If there were raises before the flop and parts of the four-flush on the board are high cards, especially an ace, figure it’s more likely that your opponent does NOT have a flush.

He is more apt than usual to hold high cards, and those high cards are likely to MATCH the suited cards on the board. There are fewer likely ranks that will provide your opponent with a flush, and it’s more likely than usual that he has a pair. So, sometimes bet two pair. Not only can this be a profitable decision, the play will enhance your image.

Mike Caro

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Poker Tip: You Do Not Need An Edge To Have An Edge

Mike Caro professional poker tutorSome say you shouldn’t ever gamble unless you have the best of it. But most of the really successful gamblers I’ve ever met sometimes are willing to wager when they’re not sure they have an edge.

Why? It’s simple. Suppose someone challenges you to tennis. You know the challenger is no athlete, but neither are you. Fine. You might turn out to have the worst of this bet. But here’s the big secret. It’s often worth finding out! If the challenger is not a sophisticated gambler and seems to have a lot of funds to lose, you should risk taking the worst of it. Ideally, if you find out you’re the poorer tennis player, you’ll back off or just make small sociable bets for an hour to be polite. If you find out you’re the favorite, you’ll keep playing and try to increase the stakes.

This tactic is used by most all-around successful gamblers worldwide, whether they have reasoned it out or just do it instinctively. The point is that you don’t always need to have the best of it. If it turns out that you don’t, you might lose a little. If it turns out that you do, you’ll probably win a lot.

a5_wMore poker tips and advice, including video tutorials can be found online – free – at bet365 Poker (Sorry, no USA Players – check out Compare Best Poker sites for US Players).

Poker: The Squeeze Play

Lee Markholt professional poker player

In tournaments, you should always be looking for ways to pick up chips. You can’t just sit around waiting for Aces or Kings and hope to double up when you do. One of the best and most popular ways for adding chips to your stack is by implementing what’s known as the squeeze play.

A typical squeeze play works like this: an active and aggressive player raises in late position, and he’s called by another player on the button. You’re in the blinds and you have to decide what to do.

There’s no real indication yet that anyone has a particularly strong hand. The aggressive player could be raising with a wide range of hands, and the call from the button could mean a lot of things. He may have a medium strength hand, or he may be pretty weak and just looking to play post-flop with favorable position.

At this point, a big re-raise from the blinds effectively squeezes the original raiser who is between you and the player on the button. Your aggressive re-raise gives you a great chance of taking down the pot right there.

It used to be that good players used the squeeze play occasionally. It was just one of the many tools they used from time to time. But recently, the squeeze play has become extremely popular. Sometimes it seems that pretty much any time there’s a raise and a call, there’s a player in the blinds looking to squeeze.

I prefer to be a little more selective when initiating a squeeze. I like to have a hand that can hit a flop if I run into a decent hand and get called. In my experience, suited connectors are good hands to squeeze with.

I think the squeeze is most effective when you have a tight table image. When you’ve been playing actively and aggressively the other players at the table are less likely to give you credit for a big hand and will call you down.

You can try the squeeze in ring games, but it’s really most effective in tournaments. When players have to fear for their tournament lives, they’re far more likely to fold in marginal situations.

If you haven’t been using the squeeze play, you should try working it into your tournament game. Start out by squeezing selectively and wait for opportunities where the players, cards and your table image give you the best chance of winning the pot.

a5_wABOUT LEE MARKHOLT:
Lee Markholt of Eatonville, Washington, learned how to play poker by accompanying his father to watch him play games in local cardrooms. He built his bankroll by playing live small-stakes ring games and tournaments. As his skills in Pot-Limit and No-Limit Hold ‘em improved, he moved up the levels and realized he could make a living from poker.

Lee has made 10 World Series of Poker cashes, 20 WPT cashes and amassed over $2.8 million in career tournament earnings.

Lee Markholt plays online at both BetOnline and Bookmaker Poker

Pro Poker: Managing Your Poker Bankroll

Steve Zolotow professional poker playerPeople always ask, “How much do I need to play in a certain stake game?” The usual answer to all poker questions is, “It depends.” But in this case, it is the wrong question. The question really should be, “Given my temperament and current financial situation, how much can I risk in a game?”

Let’s examine these components. First is your temperament. Years ago, Mike Caro distinguished between two types of players – plodders and adventurers. I like to put poker players into three categories. First are the plodders. They are extremely risk adverse and would rather play for pennies than take a chance of going broke. Next are the normal players. The normal players are willing to take moderate risk if they think they have a reasonable advantage. Lastly there are the plungers. They love to take extreme risk. They are the poker equivalents of mountaineers who want to reach the top of Mount Everest. The risk in question is, of course, losing a large percentage of your bankroll or, in the worst case, going broke.

There are many gradations of each of these types, and many players may go from plodders when winning to plungers when losing. Likewise, external circumstances may change a player. Losing a job, getting married, having a kid, etc. make some players eager to avoid risk and others desperate to win a fortune.

The second component to examine is your financial situation, specifically your bankroll. Some people have jobs, businesses or other outside sources of income. Some do not. I am going to divide bankroll types into three categories – small, medium and large. A small bankroll is an amount you could get in a month or less from working, from your business or from your investments. For some people this may be a few hundred and for others a few hundred thousand. A medium bankroll should take about six months to accumulate. A large bankroll takes at least a year. If you have no outside sources of income, treat your bankroll as large. Losing a small bankroll is distracting, losing a medium one is disturbing and losing a big one is disastrous.

Your temperament should not change from session to session. It is possible that you might want to adjust your risk threshold a little higher for great games and a little lower for bad ones. Before starting any session of any game, determine what your bankroll is and then refer to the chart below. This chart gives my opinion of the correct percentage of your bankroll to risk in any game. Use the appropriate percentage to calculate the amount you can risk.
Poker tips and play advice from the professionals

If you lose that amount, I’d advise you to quit for the day. If you don’t want to quit, make sure you re-calculate the amount you can lose starting from your diminished bankroll. As long as you continually recalculate the amount you can risk, you will never go broke. If you are playing in games where you have the worst of it, you will eventually end up with such a small bankroll that it is meaningless. But in general, you will be able to risk larger amounts (not larger percentages) as your winnings accumulate, and you will be forced to play smaller when you are losing.

Why can you take more risk with a small bankroll? Because it is easier to get it back. As your bankroll gets larger, it becomes harder to replace it and going broke becomes more disastrous. It is much easier to rebuild a bankroll of five thousand then to rebuild one of five million. (Yes, there are players who have built up a bankroll of five million or more, and then gone broke or even into debt.) While these guidelines are customized to provide bankroll management strategies for a variety of temperaments and bankroll sizes, they will enable a winning player to avoid disasters and steadily increase his bankroll.

American players are also welcome and safe at FullTiltPoker.comABOUT STEVE ZOLOTOW:
Steve is Nicknamed “Z” and “The Bald Eagle”, he has 2 WSOP Bracelets and is a renowned game theorist. Steve Zolotow plays online at both BetOnline and Bookmaker Poker.  Initially, he concentrated on cash games, but lately, he’s been focusing more on tournaments.  (Join him at a table sometime soon)

Poker Strategy: Do not Waste Money on Advertising

Steve Zolotow poker theorist and professional poker playerTable image can be a very powerful tool at the poker table, especially in ring games where you can expect to play a long session against the same opponents. But when it comes to tournament play, trying to project a certain table image can often times prove to be a futile endeavor. Your attempt might end up costing you precious chips now without gaining a later advantage, since you may be at a different table against different opponents a few minutes later.

Many players try to project a table image that is exactly the opposite of how they actually play. Tight players might try to project a loose table image by showing a bluff early on, while loose players trying to project a tight image aim to showdown a hand with the nuts so other players think they only play premium hands.

While doing this might result in winning a big pot somewhere down the line, it can also cost you chips to “sell” this specific table image. You really have to ask yourself if losing this equity early in a tournament is worth the potential equity that may or may not be gained later. It is usually not worth making a suspect early bluff to convince your opponents that you’re a maniac. Even if they believe you, you might move tables. Are you really willing to invest more chips to sell that image again?

My advice, especially for novice players, is to let your cards determine your table image. If you’re running hot to start a tournament and winning a lot of pots without going to a showdown, you’ll develop an aggressive table image. This can lead to winning a few big pots down the line, especially if you run into a situation where you pick up a monster hand but your opponent puts you on a bluff. But be cautious about trying to steal pots, since your opponents are more likely to suspect your bets and raises.

Likewise, if you start a tournament by getting bad hands and folding a lot, you’ll develop a tight table image. If you pick your spots right, this tight image will enable you to pull off a few nice bluffs and pad your chip stack with some extra ammunition. You might also pick up a good hand that doesn’t get called. If you show it, it will reinforce their perception of you as a tight player, and create more bluffing opportunities.

I am by no means advocating playing poker strictly based on what hands you’re dealt. You always need to be aware of the other factors in play at your table. But letting the cards do the work for you is a risk-free and effective way to establish a table image. Otherwise, you’re essentially paying for a billboard above your head that either says, “Loose Player: I will bluff you,” or, “Tight Player: I’m waiting for Aces.” Image creating plays work best against moderate opponents who don’t know your game very well. Superior players will quickly work out your style – loose, tight, or a combination (gear-shifter). Playing well is a lot more important than creating an erroneous image.

Or, to put it another way, don’t waste your money on advertising. You are not a salesman, you’re a poker player.

a5_wSteve is a renowned game theorist who has been around poker, like, forever. His nicknames are “Z” and “The Bald Eagle” and he has 2 WSOP Bracelets.

2h_wCheck out the latest online poker room reviews here at Gooners Guide to Gambling

Poker Best Practice Tips: Stack Size Limbo

Jeff Madsen professional poker playerWhen you’re playing a tournament and sitting on around 15 big blinds, you can face some seriously tough pre-flop decisions. Welcome to stack size limbo. It feels likes you have too many chips to push all-in, but a standard pre-flop raise can prove disastrous if an aggressive player comes over the top and puts you to the test.

So, is it best to push or to raise in this kind of situation? First of all, it depends on what type of table you’re playing at. If it’s a table full of aggressive players who are likely to make a move if you come with a standard pre-flop raise, then pushing all-in is probably your best bet.

If you’re at a table that is playing tight, you might be able to get away with making a standard raise. Keep in mind, though, that if you do get re-raised at a tight table, it’s time to let that hand go.

I recently played in a tournament at the Bellagio where I found myself in stack size limbo. I was sitting on approximately 15 big blinds and, unfortunately, at a table full of aggressive players.

The action was folded around to me in late position, and I looked down to see pocket 4s. Not a bad hand, but also no reason to jump for joy, especially at a table full of players who have no problem re-popping you with something like 5-6 suited.

So, it was decision time. If I put in the standard pre-flop raise, there was a pretty good chance that someone would re-raise me and I’d have to make a decision for all of my chips. On the other hand, pushing all-in would pressure the other players and force them to make the tough decisions. Basically, going all-in takes the play away, which is to my advantage.

I decided to push and, although I wouldn’t have hated a call too much, wound up winning the pot when the rest of the players passed. If I’d had 20 big blinds in that situation, I would’ve felt more comfortable putting in a standard raise, since I’d still have enough chips left if I was forced to fold.

So, 20 big blinds for me is definitely too much to just push all-in. There are plenty of online players out there who’ll push with stacks as deep as 20 or even 25 big blinds, but I still feel like you have enough chips left at that point not to get trigger happy and ever have to make that decision.

If you read your table correctly and play your cards right, you should be able to move out of stack size limbo and into deep stack comfort.

a5_wJeff was born in Santa Monica, CA. He won 2 WSOP Bracelets in 2006 and has over $2.2 Million in Career Tournament Earnings.

2h_wCompare poker sites that provide a great safe poker environment for American players.