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Advice. Winning pots without showdowns?

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  1. tube1 tube1 is offline

    Evanston, IL
    United States

    Posts: 168
    Joined: Sep 05

    Oct 5th, 2009 (10/5/2009 2:33pm)

    I was reading another thread that asks how the top players win big field tourneys and the subject of winning pots without showdown came up.

    In theory I understand this well, but in practice I am sure I am missing my share of spots to pick up pots without showdowns.

    Any advice you can provide on how you improved this skill?

    On a similar subject, do you feel or have you found it particularly necessary to make 1 or 2 big bluffs to pick up big pots without showdown?
     
  2. MondayWins MondayWins is offline

    Toronto
    Canada

    Posts: 259
    Joined: Mar 07

    Oct 5th, 2009 (10/5/2009 3:02pm) in reply to tube1

    Play a smaller stakes tournament than you're used to with your cards covered.
    Watch for betting patterns, determine which bets mean "strong" and which bets mean "weak". (Larger bets often mean "I don't want a call", weaker bets often mean "I don't have much of a hand")

    Play only "raise or fold" poker and you'll find players will give you a little more respect. You'll also be giving away less information.

    Keep in mind, the higher the stakes, the smarter the players become (bet sizing will give away less information, so you'll have to look for more timing tells/rely on player history more).

    Stop looking for "good cards" and start looking for "good spots". Whose big blind is it? How often do they fold to a steal? Attack average stacks more, don't raise short stacks as often.

    Have a plan. Know whose shoves you'll fold to and whose shoves you'll call even before you raise.

    Make your continuation bets the same size whether you have hit your hand or not. Make your bets look like you want a call when you really want a fold.

    Be the intelligent bully.
  3. MondayWins MondayWins is offline

    Toronto
    Canada

    Posts: 259
    Joined: Mar 07

    Oct 5th, 2009 (10/5/2009 3:13pm) in reply to MondayWins

     
    Originally Posted by MondayWins View Post

    Larger bets often mean "I don't want a call", weaker bets often mean "I don't have much of a hand"

    I'm referring to "pre-flop" betting.
  4. lordxixor101 lordxixor101 is offline

    Westland, MI
    United States

    Posts: 6,364
    Joined: Mar 06

    Oct 5th, 2009 (10/5/2009 4:35pm) in reply to tube1

    I don't know if big bluffs are neccessary to take down a tournament, however, they definitely help. If you aren't getting cards in the right spot and can pull off a big bluff, it makes life a lot easier.

    Every game is different. The classics are the easy bluff, the button raise, reraise bluff a person who's raising often. In lower stakes games, these work really well, often much better than the 'big' bluff where people sometimes hate folding.

    But, picking up pots without showdown is definitely critical. Think of it this way, at a 9 person table, everyone will have the best hand by the end 1/9 times (11%). So, there is only 2 ways to gain an advantage

    1) Win more money on your 11% that you win more than you lose on the other 89% that you don't win

    2) Win hands when you don't have the best hand

    Good players have to be able to do both.
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