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he Guardian Poker Column |
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Victoria
Coren |
Friday May 19, 2006
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How to play poker (How to play has been running from issue 16) |
Last week's advice on tournament stack size has a simple
yet vital corollary. What was the advice? In brief: that with only five big
blinds left in your stack, you might as well go all-in as soon as you have a
chance to be the first person voluntarily entering the pot. With 10 big blinds
you can wait longer for a hand, but you still might as well go all-in because
you can't really afford to raise and pass. With 20 big blinds you can be much
choosier about hands and bet sizes, but you must still play aggressively,
because hopeful calling-and-folding will drain you into one of the weaker
states. With 30 big blinds or more, you are in comfortable shape with plenty of
options.
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And what is the corollary? That the same
applies to everybody else. This is why you must also keep a close eye on your
opponents' stack sizes, because their chip position will affect the way they
play and alter the strength of the hands you can wield against
them.
Here's a simple example: let's say you have A9 or A10. Your chips
are in the healthy bracket, and somebody has raised before you.
If the
raiser has 20 big blinds or more, your hand plays weakly. There will be further
decisions to make after the flop, and you might hit the flop but still be
losing. So you can throw this hand away - or, playing aggressively against a
loose opponent, make a raise, which is essentially a bluff to end the action
then and there.
But what if the raiser has gone all-in for only five big
blinds? Suddenly, A10 is quite a strong hand - because this short-stacked
opponent is forced to make a move with almost anything. It isn't illegal for
him to have AQ, but it isn't likely either; and the hand won't cost you too
much either way.
If the raiser has moved all in for 10 big blinds, you
can ascribe him better cards, but he may well be overplaying something
middling; you should make a decision based on his history at the
table.
Of course, if you choose to confront one of these short-stacked
all-in merchants with your reasonable ace, you must reraise. You certainly
don't want some canny sod behind you to spot a marginal call and raise you out.
So you raise, commanding other players to leave you alone with the desperado.
Ideally, the reraise will be given back to you, and you'll take a cheap shot at
knocking out an impoverished opponent.
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