When players first start playing online poker they think that bluffing is one of the most important parts of the game. This couldn’t be more wrong. Though it is important when done at the right time, over-bluffing can cause you to lose a lot of money. Here are some tips on when and how to use bluffing effectively:
Position - Bluffing from early position is very dangerous. You have players that still have to go after you, and you haven’t seen any indication as to whether they have made a hand. If you are going to bluff, wait for a hand that gets checked around to you in later position. Throw in a small bet and see if you can take down a decent pot.
Stakes - Bluffing in low stakes is pretty useless. If you are gonna bluff, do it in a game where it makes it a harder decision for players to call. Players will be more likely to call if its only for a few dollars.
Tight or Loose Table - If the table is very loose, chances are your bluff will get called on a loose table. Tighter tables will be less likely to make calls and are easier to bluff at.
Outs - If you are gonna bluff early in a hand it is good if you have some outs. This is known as a semi-bluff as even if you get called you still have a chance to improve on the turn or the river.
Table Image - If you are known at the table as a player that makes crazy bets, or bluffs a lot, then STOP. Build an image as a tight-passive player and there will be better chances that the other players will respect your bets.
Bluffing shoud only be used once you can consistently win at a table without it. Once you have perfected this, pick your spots, know your opponents and try to take a stab at big pots with a bluff.
Found a video that may be useful for some newer online poker players. The guy doing the video is a bit of a weirdo, but he had these tips sent in by one of his viewers who is a professional poker player. Most of the tips seem pretty valid, but most experienced players will probably already know this stuff. So if you are just entering the online poker player and consider yourself a noobie, or have been playing for a while but just can’t seem to win, check out these tips in this video. Of course, where he mentions joining a poker community, he meant to mention joining the Fuzion Poker Forum:
Many amateur poker players will sit at a table, fold their hands over and over and wait for high cards to come. They rarely play any cards unless they are high. Now this tight strategy is not that bad, however many of new players will fall into the trap of playing mediocre hands with KJ, K10, AJ, and A10, calling raises and playing it out of position.
The problem is that often with KJ and K10 you will be up against either AK or KQ in which both cases you are totally dominated by a better kicker, the ace and the queen. Now surely sometimes you will get lucky and hit two pair on the river or a straight with these hands sometimes but in the long run you will lose too much when you flop top pair kings and lose to a better kicker. The same goes for AJ and A10 offsuit. They are easily dominated by hands like AK and AQ. The same principle stands here, the amount of money you stand to lose with these hands is much greater than what you stand to gain – therefore it is correct to fold most of the time. It is especially important to fold these hands pre-flop to lots of raising, you are almost surely beat even if you hit a pair.
Now there are certain times where you will play hands like these. If it seems that nobody is strong ahead of you, and you are sitting in late position, you should limp in or come in with a raise, depending on how tight the game is. If you don’t think you will be good in a hand where you flop top pair because of your kicker trouble, do not play that hand. One other situation where you would play AJ and A10 is if it was suited. This gives you another chance to win with the flush, increasing your +EV and making it correct to call.
Famous actor James Woods once said on a poker television show that he keeps an elastic band around his wrist that he snaps every time he gets a “garbage hand like KJ”. Even the celebrities are catching on, why aren’t you? Maybe an elastic around your wrist is a good solution for you. Maybe you want to just mentally prepare yourself before every game by telling yourself you will only play these mediocre face card hands in certain situations. Stick by your plan. You will find that in both limit and no limit poker, you will certainly save a lot of money.
Having chip position is another important strategy in tournament play. You need to know how you stack up against your opposition and what controls or lack there of you have. To do this take the number of players divided by the total number of chips in the game. If you are above this number …great you are above the average player in the field….if not than you have some work to do and might need to loosen up your game.
So where do you fall into place in tournaments? The big stacks have a lead and can easily dominate over others at the table. They have the chips to call with a wider range in hands and can take you out with out hesitation, where as small stacks have to wait and hope that the hand they need comes quickly. Your object, when you are the short stack is to sit and wait. Don’t call out war with the chip leader and think they will fold…it is best to avoid them as long as possible.
The only move you are going to be able to make at this point is pushing all in and in all honesty steal some blinds. Think of it this way, it is better to steal a few uncontested pots than lose going after one big one. This perspective all boils down to where you are in the tournament and usually falls into play near the bubble. But if you are able to steal even one pot each round…that gives you one BB and one SB free, leaving you with another round at the table to go before you need to put blinds in again.
Small Stack
A small stack is considered anyone who has less than four times the big blind in limit or six times the big blind in no limit. Small stacks have to really pay attention to everything that goes on around them. You need to watch the clock for blind increases to way out how many blinds you have now and how many more you will have during level increase. You need to watch your opponents and those who have less chips than you or in your range. They will be making the same moves as you.
You have to play position. This isn’t even a need it is a must…making an all in move in early position will increase the odds that you are going to get called. Some hands you want to get called but it would be better to gain a few chips if your on the bubble. Playing position in relation to your chips and the bubble all comes down to what you want. Do you want to advance to the pay spots or do you want to risk your time and money to fall short?
Chip Leader
This is of course what everyone’s goal is. Taking the lead and all control over your opponents while maintaining a top rank in hopes of cashing. Chip leaders are quite frankly bullies. They can be aggressive, domineering and in some cases will call you with poor hands because they can. You need to keep that in the back of your head when fighting with the giants at your table. They will call because they can! Losing to you will by no means diminish or even put a damper on their chips. Now this is not to say that I am advising those who are in this prominent position to do this. Greed is not necessary, but a chip leader will make you think before you act.
So in short, many players use table position for tournament strategy and chip position is just as important to finalizing your place in the payouts if not the final table. Your surroundings are key to your game and can either make it or break it if it’s overlooked.
Rebuy tournaments are well known for crazy, very aggressive and sometimes extremely loose players. Many tournaments require you to be restrictive as to what you will be willing to put your chips on the line for , where as a rebuy is sometimes the exact opposite. This is due to the option of reloading your chips and always getting that second chance to make a run for it. Players looking to win a rebuy have no hesitation to put all of their chips up for grabs in turn of doubling up.
The aggressive plays can make a conservative strategic player at odds with himself. I know many times I would bust out and not quite understand the concept of why people play the way the did, or how they could even make the calls they did. My mind set was that of a regular tournament which ultimately is bound for failure. Rebuy players will and should have a bankrollto sustain quite few buyins. I have seen some players who have lost and bought back in well over a dozen times and continue to keep buying in till the rebuy period is over. They are looking to double up and fast. Doubling up and having chip leader over your opposition means you have more control over the game and the players. This is not to say that you should be calling allins with any two cards against any player. You still need to keep your basic theories in the back of your mind as they do play relevance to this game the same as others. The only difference is the aggressiveness.
In a rebuy tournament play your strong hands hard and only strong hands. Your up against players who only want to double up. How they do this is not important. Maintaining a strong starting hands at least will put you in position to play with odds and the numbers involved leaving you with more wins than losses. You need to be prepared to bust out and buy back in if need be (why bankroll management falls into place) If there is an all in and you have a premium starting hand don’t hesitate for one second on calling. Rebuys are still filled with the samemaniacs as allother games and if the odds are with you than place some trust in those numbers. In a ten handed game the odds of you holding an A and another player at your table being dealt one is a 75% chance. Players are willing to risk it all in a rebuy with any A or better yet low pocket pair and are under the assumption that it will not be beat. If your hand holds an A with a strong kicker than call. Odds are in your favor and yes you may lose and need to buy back in, but rebuys are considered making ballsy moves earlier on to help you progress further when the first hour is up. If you can double or even better triple your stack early on you will than have the leg room to select your hands and your opponents.
After the first hour is up you will be given an opportunity to buy back in. If you are in the top 10%in chip stacks than the option to do so may not be relevant for you. However if you are sitting average or slightly below average it would be to your advantage to do so. Once the rebuy period has ended you will want to go back to basics, don’t let this fool you into believing that the fundamentals of poker have returned for everyone remaining. Those who have played like maniacs and pushing with any tow cards will indeed continue to play the same way. This is where you tighten up your play and let them bust each other out. As the game progresses it will result in a basic tournament with same strategic plays at hand. The maniacs and overly aggressive players will have been knocked out and the solid players will prevail.
In conclusion players who are conservative and play with the basic principals of poker need to adapt to this entirely different style of game. You may think that the majority of these players are idiots and nothing more than a person as skilled as a freeroller but this can in fact be the opposite considering maniac, loose aggressive play is in fact a recipe for success in a rebuy tournament.
