Some Strategic New Year's Resolutions

Since this is the beginning of 2008, many of you are probably making New Year's resolutions for your game as well as your life. So, I will suggest some resolutions to correct common flaws I see in my students' games. Perhaps you can apply them to yours, as well.



For Limit Hold'em Players

1. Resolve to raise more: Calling always seems easier than raising. Because it risks fewer chips, it often seems to be the safer and more prudent thing to do. Certainly there are times when calling is correct, such as when you are drawing and hope to complete your draw as inexpensively as possible.



When you have a hand that you believe may be the best, you generally should act aggressively. This forces the players with draws to either pay more or fold. Declaring, "I have a strong hand," improves your reads of the other players as they react to you. Raising has many other benefits, including making opponents more reluctant to bet into you in the future, enabling you to better control the action. Plus, sometimes they even fold and give you the pot. Often, when you have a hand that you believe may be the best, raising is a much better play. Resolve that you will consider raising rather than just calling along, and try to do it more often.



2. Resolve to bluff more: Almost no one bluffs at the proper frequency. Bluffing seldom works, and costs money when it fails. Unsuccessful bluffs also cause some players to feel embarrassed, as if they were caught trying to take something that belonged to someone else. Finally, bluffing has a bad reputation in limit hold'em, where people nod sagely and say, "You can't bluff in limit. Every hand goes to a showdown."



But does every hand go to a showdown in your game? Don't you see bets on the turn or river to which everyone folds? Sure, the bettor probably had what he was representing, but how do you know?



Successful bluffing depends on a lot of things, including your current image, how your opponents play, and what has happened recently at the table. However, when your hand cannot win any other way, bluffing may win. It does not need to work often to show a significant profit, as you win a whole pot when it works and lose only a bet when it fails. Additionally, you often win that bet back that you "wasted" on the unsuccessful bluff when you get extra action from opponents who will pay you off more liberally in the future. Resolve to consider bluffing more often in hopeless situations.



For No-Limit Hold'em Cash-Game Players

1. Resolve to think more about bet sizing: Many no-limit hold'em cash-game players either bet a "standard" amount or "take a hunch and bet a bunch." Often, I will ask someone why he bet a certain amount, and he will tell me, "It was two-thirds of the pot," as if that was actually an answer. In real life, deciding how much to bet requires work. You need to think about what you are trying to accomplish with your bet, plan for future bets, consider your past betting patterns, and compute what the chip stacks will be after the round.



You also need to consider the overall situation. Do you think your opponent is drawing? Will you pay him off if a draw-completing card hits the table? If you bet, will you fold to a raise? Can betting a certain amount commit you to a pot to which you do not wish to commit? Will a small bluff work, or just be suspicious? Will he pay off a big bet on the end, or do you need to sell your hand cheaply?



Careful consideration will lead to better decisions, bigger wins, and smaller losses. Resolve to size your bets more carefully.



2. Resolve to stop overplaying one pair: In most no-limit hold'em cash games, one pair is simply not that good a hand. It may win some pots, but no-limit hands are judged by how they play when all of the money goes in, and it is tough to get an opponent to commit all of his chips when he can't beat a pair. Sure, there are games in which your opponent will play Q-J to the end on a Q-high board and your kings will win the money, but in those games, you will win even if you do not optimize these hands.



Keep the pot small with one-pair hands. Be ready to fold to large moves, whether they may be bluffs or not. It takes only one wrong commitment to burn off your whole stack. Resolve to slow down with one-pair hands, and save your chips for better opportunities.



For No-Limit Hold'em Tournament Players

1. Resolve to see more flops early: Proper hand selection in a no-limit hold'em game is a function of position and the ratio of stack size to bet size. Most tournaments with three-figure or larger buy-ins give you plenty of chips to start. This means you can see many more flops, in hope of hitting a miracle and building a large stack early. Several highly successful tournament pros budget between one-third and one-half of their stacks early in an event for speculation. If they do not hit a flop or win some chips, they slow down and wait for a more traditional opportunity.



Occasionally, gathering an early large stack enables you to continue to speculate, and makes opponents play more predictably against you, as they have to respect your stack size. While certainly no guarantee goes with it, it often helps propel you into a winning position at the final table. Resolve to see more flops early in tournaments in an attempt to accumulate chips.



2. Resolve to try harder to win: If you enter 40 events and eke into the money in 20 of them, you probably will be a losing player. If you lose 39 and finish second once, you will be a big winner. So, why do so many people play as if sliding into the cash is the goal? Yes, I understand that you can't win unless you cash, but winners realize that at some point, they have to get every chip in the room, not just nurse a short stack into the money.



This mindset helps them to play a bit more aggressively, and not fear busting out. Losing is never a great thing, but establishing a goal of winning and striving to achieve it makes losing easier. This does not mean that you have to go nuts and push your stack in every other hand, but making an occasional move, trying to win instead of just trying not to lose, will pay dividends in the long run. Resolve to focus on winning tournaments this year.



Resolutions for Everyone

Resolve to remember that poker is a game, and to have more fun doing the thing we love. Have a great 2008! ♠



Barry Tanenbaum is the author of Advanced Limit Hold'em Strategy, and collaborator on Limit Hold'em: Winning Short-Handed Strategies, both available at www.CardPlayer.com. Barry offers private lessons tailored to the individual student. Please see his website, www.barrytanenbaum.com, or write to him at [email protected].