As I'm writing this column, we're right in the thick of the
World Series of Poker. First off, let me say that every year, the
World Series always manages to rekindle my flame for tournament poker. There really is nothing quite like the rush of seeing 5,000-plus poker players packed into one place, and the feeling you get when that first bracelet tournament starts and you realize that you're playing for a part of poker history.
In fact, some poker history already has been made. Event No. 3, $1,500 no-limit hold'em, broke the record for largest non-main-event field in
World Series history, and Phil Hellmuth Jr. won his historic 11th bracelet. I'm pretty sure that Phil doesn't read my column, since he had no clue who I was when we played together in event No. 1, but I would like to congratulate him on that amazing achievement. I needled him a little when we were sitting together in that event, but it was all in good fun and I have lots of respect for Phil's game and accomplishments. So, congratulations again, Phil.
As for myself, so far the
Series has been both good and bad to me. I've experienced the amazing highs of making a TV final table - in event No. 4 ($1,500 pot-limit hold'em), which is the same event in which I finished third last year - and the lows of busting out of the $1,500 shorthanded no-limit hold'em event in less than 20 minutes. So far, I've had two cashes, both in pot-limit hold'em, and have yet to make it to a dinner break in any of the no-limit hold'em events, which are usually my strongest.
I thought that since I've had a fair amount of success in pot-limit hold'em the last few years, and since I usually try to keep this column focused on poker strategy, I would discuss a few of the adjustments I make to my game when I go from the no-limit format to the pot-limit format.
First, in the early and middle stages of a tournament, I generally try to keep the pots fairly small preflop and try to use my post-flop skill as my main advantage over my opponents. Since players can't just go all in in pot-limit, and a lot of no-limit players never really hone their post-flop skills since it isn't completely necessary in order to be a good no-limit player, I try to use the fact that I believe that I play better post-flop than most players to my advantage. This means that while I'll definitely raise with hands like A-K and A-Q to open the pot, or to try to manipulate things so that I'm heads up, I don't jam nearly as hard as I would in a no-limit game.
I also believe that except for image reasons, in the early to middle stages of a pot-limit event, there isn't much point to stealing blinds. With no antes involved at any point in a pot-limit tournament, there just isn't enough money in the middle until the very late stages to justify trying to steal very often. That being said, if I have a tight image, sometimes I'll try to pick up a blind or two just to make sure that I get some action on my real hands, and to take advantage of my image. In my opinion, though, the skill that's more important is timely resteals and reraises. The reraise resteal enables you to pick up a lot more chips than just a straight steal, and if you use it to supplement the real hands you're getting, you need to pull off a good resteal only once every few hours to keep your stack growing at a pretty healthy rate. With that in mind, I always try to maintain a stack big enough that I have resteal fold equity, which usually means having at least 10-11 big blinds.
Deeper in a pot-limit tournament, you have to realize that you're never quite as short as you think, since there are no antes constantly eating away at your stack. So, patience and picking timely spots to use your chips are more important than recklessly trying to steal blinds. All in all, if no-limit is a game that rewards constant attacking and aggression, pot-limit is more a game of sitting back and counterpunching.
In that $1,500 pot-limit hold'em event, I busted out seventh to Gavin Smith, who eventually finished second to Michael Spegal. Michael played a solid, patient game, and earned the bracelet by playing some great poker throughout the tournament. I had the pleasure of sitting at his table for most of day two, and of course at the final table, and couldn't be happier for him. Obviously, I would have loved winning the bracelet, but I think I'll get mine eventually, and in the meantime, Michael was very deserving.
Eric "Rizen" Lynch is a professional poker player who is well-known for his impressive online results. Read Eric's analysis on his blog (rizenpoker.blogspot.com), and check out his instructional videos, available at PokerXFactor.com.
