Online Poker
Single Table Texas Holdem Online Poker Strategy
To begin, this strategy is optimized for beginners and for single table tournaments when the buy in is low. On mistake that beginners often make is that they buy into tournaments with bigger stakes than they are use to or that they are comfortable playing. It is best to buy into a tournaments where the stakes does not affect you play. If the stakes are too big, you may not be as comfortable and will generally not bet in way that you should. Also the higher the buy in the more chance there is that you will play more experienced players.
All Texas Holdem Poker tournaments have three stages that you should adjust your play to. Early stage, middle stage and a late stage. These are explained below.
Early stage of a single table tournament
One mistake that beginners generally fall prone to is to dive straight into pots with mediocre hands. Generally you may see a lot of players playing very loose in the early stages of the tournament. As a general rule of thumb, try not to get involved, even if the pot is tempting. In the early stages of the tournaments, you should play very tight poker. This gives you a great opportunity to examine the other players and seek Poker tells that they may give off. It also means that while you only play top hands, those who play loose poker will be eliminated first and also the pots that you play for will 9 times out of 10 have your name written all over them. You should only play hands with a starting value of 34+ on the Hutchison Point Count System and play them aggressively. You can make exceptions to the above depending on your position and amount to call. By saying this I don’t mean play with anything, I mean when your are in a late position and play has been called to you, or even a small bet been placed and called to you, if you hold a decent hand and the call is cheap, you should play and look to make your hand on the flop. This is the only time I would advise loose play in the early stages.
Generally though, tight play in the early stages will see off loose, inexperienced players and help you progress to the next stage with a nice, steady chip stack.
Middle stage of a single table tournament
When do you know when the middle stages of a single table tournament begin? Usually, the time at which the middle stage of a single table tournament begins counts on the amount of players left, or the increasing blinds. When there are fewer players at the table the chances of any player holding a better hand than you when you play a medium to good hand are reduced when compared to when the table is full. So at this point in the game it is time to loosen up your play and play more hands. It is best to play hands that with a starting value of around 30+ on the Hutchison Point Count System. Again player position is crucial here. If you are in a late position and play is passive i.e. called or checked to you, you should play if you hold lower value hands. You should also look to steal the blinds by semi-bluffing when the time is appropriate at this stage. The blinds will have increased a fair amount since the game started so when the time is suited, steal them with a nice raise. Remember though, a cold bluff will see you out of the game if you are called. It’s always wise to semi-bluff i.e. bluff when you have a drawing hand. If you are called at least you have a chance of making your hand and staying in.
The opposite of this situation is you opponent betting or raising with a drawing hand. If you hold a good hand it is wise to play very aggressively, maybe re-raise and force this guy to fold. If he calls, continue with aggressive play, taking into consideration the community cards of course and only if you consider yourself to be ahead still.
Late stage of a single table tournament
The late stage of a single table tournament is usually reached when there are only three players left. The reason for this is because everybody is in the money. Play here tends to turn very aggressive. Here you will see a lot of “all in” play which you too should assume. You should play very loose poker here and play aggressively. Throw all in when you have a nice hand. If you have the biggest chip stack in this late stage it is a good idea to play the bully. Force others below you to bet with hands that they don’t particularly want to. On the other hand if you have a low chip stack, you must try and double up as much as you can by throwing “all in”. In heads up play, if the chip leader is a number of times bigger than the other player, it is safe to assume that they will usually win the game. Why? They can play the bully and force the other player to play when they don’t particularly want to. They also have to win one hand when they put the other guy all in, whereas the other player will have to win a few hands to become chip leader and then eventually win. So when you reach heads up you don’t want you opponent to have this leverage over you. In heads up play, the game tends to get even looser again and even more aggressive. Most of the time in a heads up showdown, it will be a 50/50 showdown as play will tend to be that loose. Most of the time however, sensible aggression will win heads up. Go all in when you have anything at all. Most professionals will go all in with pretty low cards. I suggest throwing all in the moment you get dealt a high card.