It’s a computer game, with an algorithm, not real poker. Beware the enhanced hands, and especially the notorious “replay river” which hits the 2-5% outer 70% of the time.
You have been warned…
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What has helped improve your poker game the most?
There are many rules in poker. Rules are meant to be broken though. I learnt a lot from a few players that were particularly valuable. Some are very simply like the ABC song or days in each month song - very educational.
I have 3 that helped improve my game that are very memorable & easy like ABC or 123.
1.C_______________ (a friend would say this often in ring game)
2.C_______________ (same friend would say this)
3.P_______________ (a diff friend also mentioned this)
These rules were very easy ABC but certainly not the best.
I was really just a decent aggressive noob (or new born baby) whilst i was absorbing this poker wisdom. Despite hearing them it took a while to understand, learn & implement them.
Whats your most memorable, simple or valuable Poker Rules, Tips you can offer?
I have 3 secret memorable & definately valuable basics tips I will reveal if mentioned otherwise daily starting at 3.
- is good
id like to combine drunk or drinking. Doyle Brunson say never drink while playing.
Being tired is said to be a bigger killer than alcohol on the road.
anger, alcohol & drowsy are dangerous on the table too?
Hi,
thanks for your moderation, again, lol.
what is the proper means to converse with you and discuss moderation? Im surprised that my post got merged with this one. this in specific to Tournament Poker Tips. Im not interested in discussing tournament poker play in general. do i need to post in title (not tournament)
We try to incorporate similar topics so that previous tips and ideas can also be read. We ask anyone who wishes to start a topic to please check to see if it can be included in a topic which is already available.
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Thanks for response. i guess ill have to hate on tournamants in title so as not to be included in a tournament thread. Maybe we need to establish some categories to select.
Nicely put. I only limp when others are already in the pot.
Here is my 2 cents. Why should read, listen, apply: Because:
- I have played for 19 years.
- I have been coached.
- I study.
- I play profitably real money.
- in about 6.5,7,7.5 months here, I started with 20k. Now have 33 million.
- I have won the RPOS 12 league of legends tournaments 4 times. Only 2 other players won 4, Snow, O Leary.
Thats not to brag, but I do know how to play, and what I am talking about, etc.
Tips:
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Discipline. The most important attribute of a poker player.
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The Power of Position, LATE POSITION. All money, chips, usually flows to the button, cut off.
Getting to act last, and seeing what other players do is critical. -
Only all in if short stacked, in later position, if semi bluffing in good spot, if have good enough equity, hand strength, combo draws.
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Learn baseline semi GTO starting hand charts, according to situations, position, players, tables, stacks, blinds, etc.
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Learn to read, hand range players.
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Don’t bluff call stations.
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Do bluff NITS.
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Do not be a call station.
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Do not overfold
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Know how to and use the fold button.
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Learn the percents to win, the math, learn how to count outs, how to figure out pot odds, etc.
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Study, use sources like Harrington on Hold Em, Upswing Poker, Jonathan Little, Negreanu and Doug Polk videos, Nathan Blackrain poker, tips, etc.
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Good Bankroll Management. About 50 to 75 to 100 tournament buy ins, if beginner, example: 10k buy in means that should have 500k to 750k to 1 million. If intermediate, advanced, then 35 to 50 to 65 tournament buy ins. The larger number of players in tournament, the more buy ins needed in bankroll.
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Good Chip stack management.
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Get good coaching, mentor, help, etc.
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Be calculated, selective semi aggressive, in good spots. Good amounts of agression in good spots win hands, tournaments.
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Play the players, situations, and play above level one thinking. Level 1 is your starting hand. Level 2 is what cards your opponent has. Level 3 is knowing what your opponent knows about what you know, etc.
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Do not use GTO fancy, smancy stuff at lower stakes.
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Do use GTO, balance out your range, bluff more AT HIGHER STAKES, etc.
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Mix up, balance your game, switch gears, adjust, adapt, etc.
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Do not play fancy smancy GTO, bluffing, etc, UNTIL YOU LEARN HOW, WHEN, GOOD SPOTS, SITUATIONS, etc.
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DO NOT TILT
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If you are tilted, DO NOT PLAY WHILE TILTED.
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Learn to recognize when tilted
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EXPLOIT other players. If they fold too much, bluff more. If they call to much, take them to value town, if they are tilted, take advantage, exploit that, etc.
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Do not limp, unless your limping in the right situations as exceptions.
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Learn proper raise sizing, bet sizing pot control, limiting size of pot, etc. Monster Pot= Monster Hand, unless you really know what your doing, etc, unless exception.
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Gap Concept. You can Raise, shove weaker, wider hands(not saying should, but there are times, exceptions that should, can), then you can, should call. Example: You can shove A8 suited all in, in some spots, but you probably should not call a 4 bet all in with A8 suited. That example is the GAP CONCEPT.
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Starting hand being suited only adds 3% better chance to win. Thus you shouldnt play 72 suited, since dont play 72 off suit.
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Good Poker play is good, and bad poker play is bad, regardless of results. The inherent, intrinsic value of a Poker play does not change based on results.
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Tournaments are high enough variance, volatile as it is, so dont usually want to take extremely high variance volatility actions, except for exceptions.
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Play semi tight to semi moderate, semi aggressive. Semi splash around in late position, with marginal hands to monster hand mine at start, beginner, early tournament stage. Then tighten up just a little tiny bit. Then middle tournament start to gradually, eventually, loosen up a little tiny bit, in late position, be more aggressive. Then late tournament, bubble, play tight aggressive, then open, loosen up. be more aggressive to exploit bubble. Then do same for final table bubble, etc.
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As get less number of players, and deeper in tournament at same time, if there is only 3,4,5 players gradually loosen, widen up ranges.
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If have a mid to big stack, use that bigger stack to semi bully smaller stacks with marginal hands, as semi bluffs, bluffs in good spots.
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Do not slowplay 2 pair, top pair top kicker, trips, limp trapping, etc, on limp happy passive tables, on extremely wet, drawy boards.
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Raise, bet semi bigger, dont give free cards to draws, to protect hands from draws, and to make draws pay to much to try and see if they can hit their draws, and to extract more value.
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Do not chase your draws too much if you have bad percentage chance to win, and if you are not getting good pot odds to call.
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Only slowplay against hyper over aggressive players that will bet for you.
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Only slowplay on dry, rainbow boards, where there is likely no possible straight draw, no possible flush draw.
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Practice, play, and try to correctly apply, execute these tips, make mistakes, correct mistakes, study, identify, plug leaks, post hand histories, use solvers, poker tracker, Huds, Poker stove, Sharkscope, etc, as thats the only way that can get better at poker.
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Don’t overbluff.
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Just because you see a poker player do something once, etc, does not mean thats how that poker player always plays.
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GTO means Game Theory Optimal. Its more valuable at the highest, best stake levels as a baseline, as a way to balance range, to become less predictable, and in theory GTO is supposedly unbeatable if play GTO right over the long term.
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Poker is a game of VARIANCE, luck + Skill, OVER THE LONG TERM, In the short term, statistical anomalies can happen. So if you shove AA all in 10 times in row and get called, and bad beat 10 times in row, its not rigged, etc. If you flip a coin a zillion times, it can come up the same side 100 million times in row. Similarly there have been zillions of hands played, so some unlucky person, is going to have their AA cracked 15 times in row, etc. Either dont get upset, tilt, or if do get upset, tilt, stop playing, take a break, take the time to calm down, etc.
I may have forgotten some tips, others may add tips that I have forgotten. I may add tips to list.
Reading, using these tips, will help you to become a better tournament player.
Please feel free to add tips and to discuss any tips on my list.
These tips and other players tips, etc, can help to play better in tournaments.
Thanks for tips already posted.
If have questions, etc, I can explain, elaborate, clarify, etc.
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@Asuronetorius no one is going to read your 44-item post, and if they did, it would not help them if they didn’t already know the information.
Communication needs to be digestible to be meaningful.
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Doyle Brunson’s book, “Super/System,” has 608 pages. It’s packed with advanced poker strategies and insights from some of the top players in the game.
“Super System 2” has 646 pages of text. It’s an updated version of the original “Super/System” and includes contributions from top poker theorists and players, covering a wide range of poker games.
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Asuronetorius, I think your tips are excellent, most of which I use already.
Like Younguru implies, it may be a bit much for a beginner to grapple.
For me, I believe staying as focused as much as possible at all times, even when you’re not in the hand, is quite important. Probably why I only play one tourney at a time, have tried two at once, but can’t seem to focus well on either, thus I play poorly in both. Some folks have the knack for multi-tables, sure not me.
Keeping notes on a players tendencies is a good idea, even though excellent players will constantly change it up so you’re often not sure what they’re doing, something you want to do yourself.
I didn’t quite understand your bankroll management tip, what I go with is do not buy in for more than 5% of your bankroll, so you need 5 million+ to join a 250k buy in, 20 million+ to join a 0ne million buy in, and so forth. When I see players that seem to be in over their head, I kinda figure they might be easy prey, but try to stay wary since they most certainly can still kick my rear end.
Most certainly do not play with emotion, saying DO NOT TILT is sometimes easier said than done, but certainly for the best! Better off taking a break, see if you can shake it off, maybe take a couple shots lol, and try to realize you’re having a good time with other players that are also doing what you are trying to do.
Happy New Year, best of luck to all.
Stoploss -2 buy-ins
Stopwin +4 buy-ins
This simple formula kept me from losing my bankroll to tilt over many years of live cash poker. Just make sure you’re always forcing yourself to walk before you lose more than you’re accustomed to winning. Takes the thinky guesswork out of it 
Although I admit I blew past the stopwin several times when the game was really good, but even if it was full of fish, I would adhere to the stoploss! When I gave myself more rope with metagame justifications I usually ended up regretting it.
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What’s Stop win? I know what is stop loss, but don’t know what is stop win?
Same thing; even if things are going well, if I’m up 4 buy-ins I cash out. Usually XD
Course you’re talking about the ring, little different with tourney’s.
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My anti-tilt mechanism is hand-to-hand. If I take a bad beat and I feel kinda ‘grrrr’, just fold the next hand (unless it’s prime). If the next hand is closer to the bottom of opening range (like QTo), just fold it. Likewise, if I win a couple of pots back-to-back and start getting that ‘invincible’ feeling, just fold the lower half of my range on the next hand before I do something stupid.
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My Best Tournament Tips**
**—**Respect all raises.
—Dare to go broke when you have a big edge, but don’t be foolish.
—Patience will be rewarded, eventually…maybe…hopefully.
—Think first, and then act. Not the other way around.
—Slow-play your best nuts or near-nuts hands often, but not every time.
—Remember, almost all check-raisers have the goods.
—Bluff now and then, but not for a lot of chips.
—Always figure the odds.
—Almost always, just play the normal, basic strategy.
—If most of your opponents are playing tighter, play a little looser.
—Enter more pots raising.
—Don’t put all your chips at risk calling all-ins without the nuts or near-nuts.
—Don’t push small edges too often unless you are first to act.
—Play very deliberately.
—Fold those fifty-fifty hands to any raise.
—Always be ready to fold.
—Most of the good players will be playing this strategy.
—Build up your chips slowly and cautiously.
—Watch for the small stacks going all in with any high card.
—Push the small stacks around.
—Open up your game later in the tournament.
—You must try to steal pots and blinds occasionally or no one will respect your bets.
—If you are playing tight and haven’t played a hand for a while, put in a small bet or
raise to let them know that you are still at the table.
—Never, give up and just throw your last chips away.
—Always try to put your opponents on a range of hands.
—Selective aggression is the style you want to play.
—Let the loose, poor players thin themselves out.
—Forget your image until later in the tournament when the tables change slower.
—Pick your spots, and then go for it.
—Make more half and pot-size bets with your good hands.
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@VPPappy great list! I’m with you!
See you at the tables Younguru.
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Great tips VPPappy!
I’d like to add don’t join a tourney unless you’ve at least 2 hours to play, 3 is better.
When the bubble is near, don’t tighten up your game just as an attempt to slip into the money, good way to wind up bubble boy, always play to win.
Early in tourneys is often a mess, lotta players playing garbage and try to bluff you out of your socks if they’re in position.
If you’re having trouble deciding on a bet, folding is likely the best move.
Enjoy playing, if you’re having a good time, often things go better.
Have a great day.
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