PokerWorks

It's Not All About The Cards

For this assignment we are going to look at using position post-flop to pick up pots. You are to play three NLHE tournaments (starting stack size irrelevant) at an online site such as Full Tilt or Pokerstars.

Pre-flop:

When you are one before the cutoff, cutoff or button I want you to do the following:

Call any raise with connectors/one and two gappers, pocket pairs, any two suited cards regardless of the gap, any ace, any two cards ten or above. If it is reraised, use your best discretion in proceeding further.

If it is limped, raise 3x the BB total +1x the BB for each limper with any of the above hands. If it is reraised, use your best discretion in proceeding further.

If it is raised and reraised, fold all hands except for AA, KK and QQ. Reraise 2x the pot size with any of those hands.

Post-flop:

If it is checked to you, bet 1/2 the pot UNLESS you have a gutshot straight draw, in which case, check. If you are called, use your best discretion in proceeding further.

If it is bet before it gets to you and the bet was less then 1/2 the pot, raise to make your total bet 3/4 of the pot size, regardless of your cards.

If it is called or reraised, use your best discretion in proceeding further.

If it is bet before it gets to you and the bet was more then 1/2 pot but less than pot, call with any two. On the turn, if it's bet, then proceed only if hand warrants. If it's checked to you, bet 1/2 the pot. If it's called or raised, use your best discretion in proceeding forward.

If it is bet before it gets to you and the bet is pot or more, fold, unless the hand warrants proceeding.

Once you have completed the tournaments, answer the following questions for your own benefit:

1. When you raised the limpers, did you find that more often than not that you were called or that people folded? Would they fold at first and then not after you had done this a couple of times? Using the post-flop portion coupled with this portion, would you say this is a chip accumulator or a chip leak? If it's both - when does it work best and when does it not work?

2. Folding all hands but AA/KK/QQ when it was raised and re-raised before it got to you. What was your general thought on doing this (if it even came up)? Were there any times you did have AA/KK/QQ in this situation - if so, what were the results?

3. Post-flop record the following for the FLOP action:

a) how many times it was checked to you

b) how many times the 1/2 pot bet won the pot outright (everyone folded)

c) how many times the 1/2 pot bet was called

d) how many times the 1/2 pot was raised

e) how many times you won the pot outright despite the 1/2 pot bet being called or raised (either by having the better hand or by getting them to fold on a later street)

f) how many times there was a bet of less than 1/2 the pot size on the flop

g) how many times your raise to 3/4 the pot total won the pot outright

h) how many times your raise to 3/4 the pot total was called

i) how many times your raise to 3/4 the pot total was reraised

j) how many times you won the pot outright despite the 3/4 the pot total bet being called or raised (either by having the better hand or by getting them to fold on a later street)

k) how many times was there a bet between 1/2 the pot and pot on the flop that you called with any two

l) how many times did the initial bettor bet on the turn after you called on the flop

m) how many times did your 1/2 pot bet after calling on the flop with any two, and checked to you on the turn, win the pot outright

n) how many times was your 1/2 pot bet called or raised on the turn

o) how many times did you win the pot outright despite your 1/2 pot bet on the turn being called or raised?

4. Your general summary/thoughts on this assignment. What did you think I was trying to get you to see with this assignment? What worked? What did not work? What will you carry forward with you from this assignment in your game?

Next, I'm going to go over the different stages of a tournament.

*You are reading this article for a reason, the obvious one would be to improve your poker game and gain more knowledge of tournament game play. As you build your poker knowledge, build your bankroll also. For a limited time PokerStars has a free bonus of $25.*