Head Games -- Early Tournament Strategy

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Sometimes it’s hard to get a straight answer from a professional poker player. Ask three players a question, and you’re liable to get three different answers. Why? Because it depends on the situation, opponent, stack sizes, table image, and many other variables.

Head Games will peer deep inside the twisted minds of today’s top players. We’ll reveal why they do what they do in sticky situations. Let the games begin.

The Pros: Phil Laak, Alex Kamberis and Corwin Cole

Craig Tapscott: How do you approach the early stages of a deep stacked multitable tournament, live or online?

Phil Laak: Tight is right. In the early stages, the only time that I’m going to put my whole stack in is when I pretty much have the nuts. Usually, it’s the funny nuts, like when I have 8-5 and the flop comes 8-8-5 or 7-6-4. Also, when the antes kick in, you want people to perceive you as a nut peddler; that’s pretty much your dream scenario. Also, never advertise; never show your bluffs, ever. It’s 2010, and no one is folding anymore. So, your bluff ratio should be smaller. If you don’t play a hand in the early stages, your chip stack will barely change. You will not bust out. I look at the early stages as an opportunity to trick my opponents into thinking I’m a super-nit.

Alex Kamberis: How I play early in an average online tournament is very player-dependent. Typically, I play very tight-solid against random players, and a lot more aggressively against regulars. This is because regulars usually expect me to be playing straightforwardly early on, and are typically playing straightforwardly themselves, especially those who are mass multi-tabling [playing several tables simultaneously], so it’s a dynamic that can definitely be taken advantage of.

I also think that, in general, I have a pretty tight image against regulars, so I try to work with that, as well. Random players tend to overreact to the deeper stacks early on, and play a bit too loosely. So, the best way to counter that is usually by playing a tighter, more ABC game. In general, you will see me playing a pretty patient, solid game in the early stages.

Corwin Cole: In the early levels of live tournaments, I am one of the most aggressive players. But there is a certain finesse to early-game aggression: It must be controlled and selective. My goal is never to play big pots or get all in early; I don’t live by the motto, “Go big or go home.” Think of a sword fight. I want to thrust and swing my blade frequently and relentlessly, seeing how my opponents parry and counter, but I’m not going out of my way to get any kills. This will create the rapport that I want by the time the antes kick in and the pots become significant near the end of the day.

If I have executed well, some of my opponents will be clamoring for a way to fight back from losing momentum, while others will be disheartened and unwilling to put any chips in without real hands. Both of these dynamics are alright with me; on one end of the spectrum, I’m able to play against people who are acting out of desperation and are running terrible bluffs, while on the other end, I am steamrolling people who feel that they can’t bluff at all. For me, the first few levels of a live tournament provide the opportunity to set the stage for inflated profits later in the day.

Craig Tapscott: How do you play big pairs in the early stages? Do you ever pot-control, proceed with caution on scary flops, and so on? If so, when and why?

Phil Laak: If I open preflop with A-A or K-K and an opponent reraises, I think it’s incorrect to then reraise. The reason is, if your opponent is anybody who knows how to play poker, and he reraised you with the 85 or Q-Q and then you reraise him, you’re not going to get any action. Savvy players will fold Q-Q or worse, I believe. If your opponent is a clueless player and never folds, keep raising. But if he’s a decent player, just call. Guess what? On the flop, no matter what comes down, he’s going to continuation-bet. If he has a big hand, a lot of flops are favorable for him when holding Q-Q or K-K, and he will keep betting when you have A-A, giving your hand more value.

Corwin Cole: Chips currently accumulated are great, but future chips earned from current plays that you make are almost always more valuable. If I play a hand at the 50-100 level (before there are any antes) that makes somebody play poorly in a later hand at the 300-600 (75 ante) level, I’m reaping massive rewards overall. For that reason, I’m not a fan of the “small-ball” early-stage style. I don’t generally pot-control with big pairs; I try to maximize value from them. I’m erring on the side of optimism, not caution.

When I need to make a crucial check or fold with a big pair, I do it. But if I don’t have a good read that I’m beat, I am likely to be playing a big pot. My consistent aggression, whether I have a hand or not, will enable me to continue playing aggressively throughout the day. Displaying a tendency to pot-control excessively with one-pair hands will dramatically decrease the number of aggressive lines that I can take to bluff later on. And if I leave myself unable to bluff late in the day, I might as well just sit out.

Alex Kamberis: Most people overplay big pairs in the early levels of a tournament. Unless it’s a very late position battle (button vs. blinds or blind vs. blind), it’s usually a mistake to be three-betting with hands like J-J and Q-Q, and sometimes even K-K. If you reraise, you need to consider what kind of hands the other player is actually going to continue with, let alone four-bet. For example, if a good player raises from early position in the first level of a tournament, and you choose to three-bet with Q-Q from middle position, what are you going to do against a four-bet? Since the kind of hands that he will four-bet tend to be almost always K-K or better, it’s obviously a pretty big mistake to be three-betting here.

Also, by just calling, you add a lot more value to your hand post-flop with that extra deception, since a lot of people tend to mistakenly rule out big pairs (Q-Q, K-K) when you don’t three-bet. Once I just call with a hand like Q-Q, I tend to just call down on most “good” low boards, and raise only if I hit a set or if the other player is clearly weak (betting especially small, and so on). On most boards, this will be the best way to get value with an overpair. Typically, early in a tournament, I will find myself three-betting more often with hands like 10-9 suited or A-A, and less often with hands like A-K, K-K, or Q-Q.

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