Aggression Pays Off

John, sometimes known as J.P., is a poker friend of mine. He plays poker practically every day at Bellagio. His usual game of preference is $8-$16 hold'em, but he sometimes plays in the $15-$30 hold'em game. He is a solid, conservative player who usually gets the money. If you are in the pot with him, you better have a good hand, because he certainly will.

For the past few months, he has been playing in small tournaments and doing fairly well. He has finished in the money a high percentage of the time. This is a good accomplishment for him, considering that he has very limited tournament experience. Recently, he was going to be playing at the final table of a freeroll tournament. There were 10 players remaining, and he was one of the short stacks (No. 8 in chip count). He asked me what type of strategy he should use, considering his short stack in relation to the other players.

His chip count was $7,700, and the chip leader had $15,000. The blinds would start at $100-$200. I advised him that his chip count was still good in relation to the blinds (approximately 39 times the big blind), and that he should start out playing his usual solid, conservative style. He should not worry about the sizes of the larger stacks at this point. However, the blinds would double every 20 minutes, so he would have to adjust his playing style according to the relationship between his stack size and the blinds.

I advised him to change from his conservative style if his stack size got below 20-25 times the big blind. He should become more aggressive, and his starting-hand requirements should loosen up more. However, he should attack the shorter stacks the most. When attacking the larger stacks, it would be better to have the stronger hands. If his stack size got below 10 times the big blind, I advised him to raise and try to steal the blinds with just about any type of decent hand. If you do not take this type of aggressive stance, the blinds will quickly devour your stack. You must pick up the blinds once every round just to stay even. In a tournament with the blinds doubling every 20 minutes, you just cannot afford to wait for premium hands when your stack size is less than 10 times the big blind.

When you utilize aggression and raise, one of two good things may happen. You may pick up the blinds right away, or you may be called and then get lucky and win the pot. There is only one bad thing that can happen when you raise: You may get called and lose the pot. At this stage of a tournament, you do not ever want to limp in when you are the first one to enter a pot. You must raise!

Well, John followed my advice and finished second in the tournament. He advanced from his No. 8 chip position to get the second-place prize of $1,000 – not bad for a freeroll tournament. Congratulations, John! Good luck at your next tournament.