Playing Pot-Limit Tournaments
Pro Tournament Poker Tips -
Rafe Furst
I had the good fortune of winning my
first World Series of Poker bracelet earlier this month in a $1,500
buy-in Pot-Limit Hold 'em event. It was an incredible thrill. For this
tip, I thought I'd share some points of strategy that are specific to
Pot-Limit Hold 'em tournaments. If you're looking to play any
Pot-Limit events, either at the WSOP or elsewhere, you'll want to keep
these things in mind. Note that my advice is specific to tournaments.
In Pot-Limit Hold 'em ring games, there are other adjustments you'll
want to make, but there isn't enough room to cover them here.
There are two major differences between Pot-Limit and No-Limit Hold 'em
tournaments. The first is that simply declaring "all-in" usually isn't
an option. You can only bet the amount that's in the pot. (For an
open-raise, the pot size is seven times the small blind.) In No-Limit
tournaments, when a player is on a short stack, he will often move
all-in. This puts pressure on the other players; in order to call,
someone has to find a strong hand. However, in Pot-Limit tournaments,
unless you're on an extremely short stack, after you open-raise,
you'll still have chips in front of you. This gives other players a
chance to re-raise and move you off your hand.
In Pot-Limit tournaments, I prefer to be the player re-raising the
open-raise. Usually, this is enough to put anyone all-in, so it's the
point where you can apply the maximum pressure to your opponents.
The second major difference between Pot-Limit and No-Limit Hold 'em
tournaments is that, in Pot-Limit, there are never antes whereas, in
No-Limit, antes are added to the pot pretty early on (Level 5 of the
WSOP structure).
To understand why this is so important, consider the math. In Level 12
of the WSOP No-Limit Hold 'em structure, the blinds are $600 and
$1,200 and the ante is $200, making a total pot of $3,800 prior to any
action (assuming a 10-handed table). If a player can steal a pot by
open-raising to three times the big blind, he'll be getting some nice
value; the $3,600 bet can win him $3,800. Stealing blinds and antes is
so important in No-Limit that a player like Phil Hellmuth, Jr. can
attribute much of his success to his ability to steal pots once the
antes kick in.
In Pot-Limit, however, when the blinds are $600 and $1,200, the same
open-raise to $3,600 can claim only $1,800 in profit. The risk-reward
ratio isn't nearly as favorable. For this reason, I believe it's
proper to play tighter in Pot-Limit events than in No-Limit events. It
also provides another reason why you want to be the player re-raising
rather than open-raising. The pot that you'd win by open raising and
stealing the blinds isn't nearly as valuable as the one you can pick
up by re-raising the open-raise.
In the WSOP event that I won, a few of my opponents didn't adjust to
the Pot-Limit structure especially well and opened too many pots. My
strategy was to let my opponents have many of these small pots. I was
waiting for occasions where I could come over the top of an open raise
with a big re-raise. I had crafted such a tight image that when I did
re-raise, my opponents had to give me credit for a pretty big hand.
When I took down these pots, I gathered a significant number of chips.
This worked especially well late in the tournament, when each decision
could cost a player his tournament life.
So, if you're heading to the WSOP, your favorite card room or online
in order to play a Pot-Limit event, remember to play tighter pre-flop
and look for spots to re-raise - that's where the best opportunities
lie.
Rafe Furst
These pro poker tips are brought to you
by the professionals at
FullTilt Poker.
More Pro
Tips
|
