Chapter VI Playing the game

Playing the game Now that you have the basics of Bar Poker, it’s time to get out and play. There are different phases of bar poker. How fast you get to these phases is based on how many chips you start with and how long the blind levels are. Most bar tournaments break at least once per hour and last about 3-4 hours. Blinds tend to be 15 or 20 minutes Early blind levels- Did you ever wonder why many of the pros don’t show up at the very beginning of a tournament? It is two fold. First, they like to make an entrance and make sure every in the room knows that they have arrived and to beware of them. Mostly it is because they know that all the pots sizes will be small and for what you can win it’s not worth the risk of running into a big hand and get knocked out. You must play careful early. Yes, you can be involved in more pots with lesser hands, because you will most likely not have to risk so many chips to chase draws. You want to create a table image. I like to start very aggressive to say to the table I am a risk taker and I will call you with less then great starting hands. This will help to create callers later when you do tighten up and only play better hands. Have a game plan for this stage of the poker game. How many chips am I willing to lose and still feel comfortable that I can come back from when the blinds get higher? A good goal is to try and double up your chips stack during this level. Remember, you can’t win a tournament in this phase, you can only be eliminated. Middle Blind levels – To me this is the most important part of a tournament. This is where the majority of the players will be taken out. You must play tighter and limit your bluffs to when you have good position and to only players with smaller chip stacks. Do not be afraid to fold a small pocket pair or face cards in early position especially when one of the blinds is short stacked. You do not want to risk getting pot committed on only a 50-50 race situation. At the same time you want to play top ten hands with big raises to try and either take down the blinds or get it to heads up with one of the shorter stacks. You always want to try and avoid hands with stacks that are larger then yours, because they have the ability to knock you out. Sometimes you have to fold even if you think you have the best hand against a larger stack just in case they have a better hand. Remember winning several small pots is better then getting into a big pot and losing it. Live to play another hand is usually my motto at this point of the tournament. If you become short stacked at this point then it is time to pick a hand to go all-in with. It’s better to try and get as few people in the hand as possible. You are hoping to have live cards against one other player and even if you are behind you are still a 38 to 40 percent chance to win pre-flop. Bubble Time – If you made to the point of the bubble for cash, prizes or just points, congratulation you lasted longer then most. This is an important time to not be too conservative. At the bubble people tend to tighten up. This is your chance to gain chips without seeing any flop. You want to be come more aggressive. You still need to take into account your position and others chip stacks. If you know that someone is playing for the points and they are the blinds with fewer chips then you, you should make a raise of 3 to 4 times the big blind into them. They will fold or go all-in. You will be able to call without risking your stack and you are at worst going to be 40 percent underdog. This time frame generally doesn’t last long so it’s important to make as many chips as possible before the bubble bursts. High blind levels – Near the end of every tournament there will come a time when it becomes an all-in fest. Which means that someone will be all-in almost every hand, it is once again time to tighten up and try and play only above average starting hands. With fewer players left you will see more heads up action and less multiple player hands. Hands such as ace-9 or under are better starting hands when only playing heads up. Pick your times to be aggressive. Still try and play against smaller stack if possible. Don’t be afraid to go all-in pre-flop. People will fold to your raise. At some point you will be at risk to be knocked out of the tournament or your stack crippled, just try and get in the best hand and hope that you win your races. Heads Up – You did it you made it to heads up. It doesn’t matter if you are the chip leader or not anything can happen in heads up. In over 80 percent of the cases the more aggressive player will win heads up. You should always raise when opponent limps in. You don’t want to give them free flops. If they are limping then they most likely have a weaker hand, raise! Do not slow play any big hands. It is better to take down the blinds then to give a free flop and lose to two pair. I have seen it happen hundreds of times where hands like 3-5 will beat a big pocket pair in heads up. If you have a big hand then all-in is the right move. In the end it will come down to whoever wins the final race for the win. Chopping – To chop or not to chop that is the question! First you need to know if it is possible to chop in a points league. Some will not allow it. Offer to chop the prize and play for the points. Remember anything can and will happen in heads up. If you have more chips offer a chop of you taking a higher percentage of prize money. Don’t be offended if someone says no. Some people don’t understand the concept of chopping and some just want to win. It is worth taking about before heads up begins.