Be Chair Committed
How many times have you heard that
the key to playing winning poker is all in the starting
hand selection? While it is true that it is a great start,
the real key to playing winning hold'em is recognizing traps
and avoiding them. New players are especially vulnerable
to overly aggressive preflop play with a premium starting
hand. They over-bet the pot preflop to narrow the field,
only to find the flop missed them completely. The next thing
you know, they are bluffing the flop to represent a strong
hand and being called down by an opponent. Feeling pot committed,
the player pushes all in on the river hoping to make their
opponent fold, but instead gets called. They are now busted
out of the tournament because their AKs met up with QQ.
The only thing left for them to do now is to walk away from
the table mumbling about what a bad call QQ made because
they might have had Aces. Aggression is a good thing, when
you have the best of it. It is folly when you are behind.
One of the biggest obstacles for
new players to overcome in hold'em is recognizing trap situations.
This is especially important in tournament play where you
are limited to a certain number of chips. Anyone who has
ever read a book on poker knows what are considered the
best starting hands. But that is all they are, starting
hands. Those pocket aces looked great until you saw the
flop of K6K. Instead of proceeding cautiously, many new
players convince themselves that either A.) Their opponent
doesn’t have a King or B.) Another Ace will come.
After being busted out of the tournament, they complain
about what a bad beat they had. “I can’t believe
my Aces were cracked by KJs!” Personally I don’t
consider this a bad beat. The KJs did not bust you out of
the tournament. You did it to yourself. You were counting
on your 2 cards winning in a 7 card game. The odds were
not in your favor.
Another trap for new
players is the feeling that they are pot committed. I don’t
know about you, but when I am in a tournament, I am chair
committed. There is no such thing as pot committed when you
have the worst hand. When you lead out the betting with your
aces and someone raises you on a scary board, stop and think
about what can beat you. What cards might my opponent be holding
after calling my preflop raise? Is there a flush or straight
possibility out there? Could they have 2 pair? Did they flop
their set? Knowing your opponent and how he plays in these
situations is crucial. However, in a tournament, you rarely
know the person you are up against. Lay your hand down and
wait for a more appropriate opportunity. This is not a weak
play, this is a smart play. Once your chips are gone, so are
you. Tunnel vision in a tournament is suicide. You set yourself
up for disaster when you focus on your great pocket hand and
the board turns it into a poor hand.
-
You get to see your
big blind for free with A6s. You flop four cards to your
nut flush and decide it is worth check calling to catch
your flush. You call a moderate bet and turn your flush.
Unfortunately, the turn also pairs the board. Your bet
on the flop is raised. What do you do now? Although an
Ace high flush is a great hand, on a paired board you
are up against a possible full house or quads. Most new
players find it impossible to lay this hand down. There
is no such thing as a nut flush on a paired board. Proceed
with caution.
-
You raise preflop
with AhQc. The flop is As9dJs. You bet out and get raised.
Where do you stand? Hands like AA, JJ, 99, AK, AJ, A9,
and even J9 have you dominated. Your turn is the Qd. Now
you have top 2 pair. What do you do? Well, you have overtaken
AK, AJ, A9, and J9. Terrific. Way to play. You are a shark.
And after removing these four hands from the danger list,
you have to add QQ, KT and T8 - not much of an improvement.
The river is a Ts. Now you have to worry about any two
spades, any K, any 8, and all the sets that still have
you. I know this is an extreme example, but think about
your board when your flop bet is raised and be prepared
to lay your hand down if you enjoy playing in tournaments
more that telling bad-beat stories - or more accurately
bad-playing stories - on the rail.
Overly aggressive play, pot committing
yourself with the worst hand, and trap hands are the easiest
ways to knock yourself out of a tournament. For new players,
laying down a good hand is one of the hardest things to
do in tournament play. But you can’t win if you don’t
survive. If you commit yourself to keeping your chair, you
will tell better poker stories, like how you won a tournament
by making a very tough fold.
Doc
Editor's Note: Ditch Doc has
been a staff writer with OWPT for over a year now, and recently
played in the WSOP in Las Vegas. She has also recently put
up her own webpage for poker players - http://totalbluff.com/
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