Whether I am playing a single table Sit n Go or a Multi-Table Sit n Go tournament there are three principles that I always adhere to and you should too.

1. Patience – You cannot win the tournament on the first hand. Wait for good cards and you will be rewarded accordingly. Do not take unnecessary draws for your entire stack early in tournaments. Get in with the BEST hand and make your opponent draw to make there hand.
2. Persistence – If you bet out before the flop be prepared to make a continuation bet after the flop. Especially if the board has all low cards and you raised pre-flop heads-up.
3. Position – Position is your friend so use it accordingly. You’d be amazed at how many hands you win uncontested when you raise or re-raise weak players in position.

If you are able to incorporate these three principles into your game you will be cashing and winning more than your share of Sit N Go’s.

Here is a Poker Hand Rankings chart. Just click on the thumbnail and print it out in your browser for a reference.

Good luck at the tables!

If there is one thing you need to know when playing poker it is your outs. How many outs do you have and what are your percentages of hitting your out(s)? An out, put simply, is the number of cards in the deck that can make your hand. For instance: If you are on a flush draw you have 9 outs. You have the 2 flush cards in your hand and there are 2 flush cards on the board. That leaves 9 cards that can make your hand remaining. Of course this does not take into account how many of those nine have been dealt to other players. You may now want to calculate your chances of hitting one of those nine outs. That is fairly easy to do. Simply multiply your number of outs, in this case 9, times 4. You will then have the percentages of hitting your hand. In this case it’s 36%.

Let’s calculate an open ended straight draw. In this case you have 8 outs that can make your straight if you hold JT and the board is KQ. That makes for any Ace or Nine in the deck knowing that there are 4 Aces and 4 Nines in the deck you have 8 outs. Now we can multiply our 8 outs X’s 4 to get our percentages of making the hand which is 32%.

It is critical that you know your outs and be able to perform these calculations on the fly. To a good player they are second nature. You wanna be a really good poker player? Always know your way out.

You just doubled up for the second time and your still only midway through the second level. How do you play with the big stack early in a poker tournament?

You call, call, call and call. That’s how. Suited connectors and small pairs become your very close friends and you will call any small raises with them when in position. You will also raise with them when in position as well. The concept of playing your stack early in the tourney is simple. You want to see as many flops as is humanly possible so that you give yourself an opportunity to get “lucky” and win a big pot.

No, you cannot win the tournament in the first hour but you sure can put yourself in position to make a run at the money. You can shoot for the Final Table from there. So, if you have chips early in a tournament put them to good use. Raise and re-raise with the nut flush draw after the flop. Raise and re-raise with that open ended straight draw. Raise when you see the table limping to your button with any two cards if you know your opponents are weak and likely to fold. You’d be surprised how many hands you win uncontested. You also enhance your table image as an aggressive player which makes it easier to steal blinds later in the tournament.

The key to seeing a lot of flops when you’re the chip bully is POSITION. Folding a hand out of position is perfectly acceptable whether you have a stack or not but you want to take advantage of your position as much as possible and your having a stack makes for an intimidating proposition to your opponents when they see you raise and re-raise there mediocre holdings.

So, if you have big chips don’t be afraid to raise it up. It’s sound poker strategy for a big stack. You will be glad you did.

I know we have all been confronted with the big stack or an aggressive player early in a poker tournament that will not stop raising your blinds. It can be unnerving and extremely annoying. Here is a well known play that you can use to put a bully in-check and keep them in line when you are in the blinds.

The Stop and Go play is a great poker strategy to use to stop players from raising your blinds. Typically this play is used when you are short stacked in the later parts of a tournament. However, I like to use this play at any point in the tournament when I feel that someone is trying to push me around and steal my blinds on a regular basis.

Usually, I will not make this play early in a poker tournament with anything less than pocket TT’s. However, in reality, any pocket pair will do. The object is to simply call the raise and then push the rest of your chips in no matter what hits on the flop. Yes, it is a ballsy play and requires nerves of steal when you are not short stacked. However, if you have a good read on your opponent you can take advantage of the situation and send a very clear message to your opponent “My blinds are NOT FOR SALE! BACK OFF!”

Usually one good shot will do it and you have re-established your image at the table as far as your blinds anyway. Use it at your discretion and be sure you know who you are playing against and what they are capable of.

The other way of handling these kinds of players is to simply push pre-flop with any pocket pair of TT’s or better along with hands like AQ, AJ, AT. The same message is sent and most likely you still have the best hand pre-flop.

Now go punch that bully in the eye the next time he trys to steal your blinds!

We have all been there in poker tournaments at one time or the other. You took a bad beat and now your monster stack got chopped down to one-third of what it was one hand ago. The blinds are crashing down on you and you need to double up quickly.

Now what?

Well, being short stacked is familiar to anyone that has ever played a poker tournament. It is particularly familiar if you play Sit N Go tournaments where the levels are fast and the starting chips are low relative to the blinds. Here are 3 things you can do when you get short on chips and the blinds are coming your way:

1. The basic rule of thumb is if you have less than 10 Big Blinds you are in major trouble. That is true but I will go a step further and allow for 8 Big Blinds instead. This allows me one more orbit in an attempt to pick up a hand just in case I am absolutely cold decked. Sure it may cost me an extra few bucks when I do double up but at least I have a better hand and don’t have to push with just any two cards.
2. Any pocket pair, Ace Suited, King Suited, Queen Suited or Jack Ten will do. Some will say you should at least have pocket Fives or better. To me when you are short it really doesn’t matter how small the pair is. You need to double up NOW! Take a shot and hope for the best because it’s very likely you will have the best hand pre-flop.
3. Try to be the first in the pot. It gives you just a little bit of an edge. Even with only 8 Big Blinds left you can still do a little damage to the mediocre stack and most likely they will need a decent hand to call.

So, the next time you get short stacked don’t be afraid to get your chips in the middle. You’d be amazed at how quickly you are back in the game after a couple of double ups.

Lately I have noticed an influx of pre-flop All-In plays in the early levels of my Sit N Go tourney. This poker tournament has 180 players maximum with a $4.40 buy-in. These players are making these kinds of moves from the first card usually until the first break. I take very careful mental notes of what hands are being shown by these players and most times they are turning up middle pairs and lower. So how do you deal with this kind of aggression?

You trap that’s how!

Laying down pocket tens or worse is one thing but if I pick up pocket Jacks or better there is a good chance that I will be calling against this kind of player. It takes a bit of heart to do that early in an online tournament but if you have a good read / profile on a player you are likely to be well ahead pre-flop and that is exactly where you want to be. So, once you have flagged a player as being “over the top” with his All-In pushes don’t be afraid to call him down with Jacks or better. Somebody’s got to do it and it might as well be you.

Yes! Your pocket sevens just flopped a set with a rainbow board. Now what? You bet that’s what! Bet your set! One of the most common poker tournament mistakes players make is not betting there hand when they flop a set. Why should you bet? Because it can become very obvious when you call a large bet by your opponent post flop when he has an over pair. He may then slow down on the turn and you may not see a dime on the river.

Not good!

If you bet out your set, especially with a raised pot pre-flop, it is likely your opponent will not put you on a set, particularly with low cards on the board, and ultimately pay off your value bet on the river. This allows you to maximize your profit on a well played hand and that is what poker is all about. Maximum profits! Bet your set and you will be glad you did.

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Still looking for a poker tools that makes sense? Well look no further. Poker Academy Pro has all the bells and whistles you want and more! I’ve tried them all from Hoyle Casino to WIN Texas Hold’em and none of the others compare to Poker Academy Pro. Poker Academy Pro is the best poker simulator on the market. With Poker Academy Pro you can simulate any tournament or cash game structure. Poker Academy’s AI is modeled after the world renowned “Vex Bot” created by the University of Alberta’s Poker Research Team. Poker Academy also allows you to choose from several different bots of varying degrees of aggression to customize your poker tournament or cash game table for the maximum poker challenge. Poker Academy also comes with an “advisor” that will tell you what your best play is at that time against your opponents based on there history and tendencies at your table.

How many programs can do that?

The software is easily down loadable via the Poker Academy site.

System Requirements: Windows ME, XP, 2000, NT or MAC OS 10.2.8 (Jaguar) or higher. 128MB RAM, 200MB Hard Drive, and 800mhz CPU or better.

Once you are done installing the software you will then be able to enter your registration code and you are ready to go. Poker Academy automatically downloads any updates necessary and will continue to do so as updates become available.

Another feature that makes Poker Academy a very useful tool is it’s endless ability to analyze your play. The more you play Poker Academy the more it learns about your game. It actually will adjust it’s AI to maximize it’s strategy against you. Those other programs can’t quite make that claim.

Still want more?

How about importing your cash game hand history so you can really see where your tendencies are taking your game? That’s right. You can import hand histories from the most popular poker hosts directly into Poker Academy and get instant feedback in a matter of minutes. Poker Academy breaks down every hand for every player at your table giving you useable information to maximize your profits every session. If your having a few guy over for a home game it even has a built in tournament clock to help manage your game. You setup the structure and Poker Academy will do the rest!

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Well, Poker Academy only run you $129 (US) and is well worth the price. Consider the money you spend entering tournaments and playing the typical session at a ring game and it is a nominal fee compared to what you will earn and learn with this product. I highly recommend Poker Academy Pro. It has improved my game and it will help improve your game too. I give this product an 9 out of 10 overall. Excellent buy for those looking for quality poker analysis software.

Phil Ivey is up over 800k in winnings online. Most of his winnings have been won playing No Limit and Pot Limit Omaha.

No surprise to this writer as Phil Ivey is one of the best High Stakes cash game players in the world.

Deuces,

CIII

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I got back to the “promised land” with a mediocre stack around 13k. I was able to double up immediately when my AQs sucked out against AK. A much needed chip boost and it allowed me to stay in contention. I busted out 5th when my AKs ran into KK. A bit unfortunate but I was short stacked with only 19k in chips and the blinds coming down on me. Buy-In: $4.00/$0.40
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $720.00
Tournament started – 2007/12/09 – 11:42:06 (ET)

Dear Curtom,

You finished the tournament in 5th place.
A $46.80 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 97.70 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at

http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html

PokerStars now has a real money version of it’s host software available to Mac users. Previously they only had a play money version available. This gives the Mac users the ability to play real money tables.

Here are the Mac minimum system requirements:

• PowerPC G4 or G5 or Intel Mac
• 512MB RAM
• 1024×768 screen resolution or higher
• 60MB free disk space
• 56k dial-up Internet connection

Here are the Mac recommended system requirements:

• PowerPC G4 1Ghz or faster, PowerPC G5 or Intel Mac
• 1024MB RAM
• 1024×768 screen resolution or higher
• 100MB free disk space
• 128kbps or faster DSL or Cable Internet connection

Complete installation procedures are available at:

http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/download/mac/

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The womens only event at the WSOP Orleans – Circuit had 170 entrants all vying for the $10,686 first prize. Here is how they finished:

1. Wendy Michel (Harvey, LA) $ 10,686
2. Nancy Decuers (New Orleans, LA) $ 5,607
3. Abbe Garfinkel (Mandeville, LA) $ 3,298
4. BJ Orsack (Katy, TX) $ 2,638
5. Theresa Gex (Baton Rouge, LA) $ 1,979
6. Perra Perumean (Leander, TX) $ 1,649
7. Lynn Howard (Bogue Chitto, MS) $ 1,319
8. Sheila Semander (Pembroke Pines, FL) $ 989
9. Elizabeth Bishop (Katy, TX) $ 660

Deuces,

CIII

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