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July 11, 2005
This partypoker.com advice doesn't mean that you shouldn't use the size of your stack to your advantage. If you detect weakness in your opponent, force him to go all in or get out of the way. Make sure he knows that every pokerparty pot he enters could very well be his last. If you act first you can probably get away with betting when you might not have the best hand. If you show strength before you opponents act they might be less apt to go all in against you. Don't let your opponents see cards for cheap, force them to make a decision before they make their hand. Just make sure that you pick your spots so that it is best for you, and not your opponents. Having the big stack in a tournament gives you a huge advantage, as long as you are patient, and don't try to force anything. Play tight aggressive, and you should be able to carry your stack throughout the partypoker.com tournament.
You need to have patience to be a good partypoker player, and that is especially true when you command most of the chips at table. If you sit back and wait while the rest of the online pokerparty players battle for the few remaining chips, you are much more likely to do well in a texas holdum tournament. Don't take unnecessary risks that will help bail out your opponents. Time is on your side.
The problem with this is that if you call in this manner with marginal partypoker.com hands, you are setting yourself up to have large chunks of your chips taken from you, while at the same time doubling up your partypoker opponent and giving him new life. If you don't have a good enough hand where you think you are likely to win, why call the all in? Let the short stack have whatever is already in the pot. If he is low enough, then the blinds will force him all in again soon, and maybe that time you will have a better hand. When you have the larger stack, time is on your side. You can afford to pay the blinds when they come around, while others are trying to figure out if this hand is their "last best chance" to stay alive.
The other big pitfall is the tendency to call online partypoker players with shorter stacks when they go all in. The rationale is that even if they lose, they still have a considerable chip count, and strong overall position, and if they win, then they can eliminate an opponent and get that much closer to winning the texas holdm tournament.
The first mistake a pokerparty player will make when he finds himself in the chip lead is playing too many partypoker.com hands. The player will spend a few chips to see a flop when he normally would have folded, just because he can afford it now. The thought is that if he makes his party poker hand he'll be able to further increase his lead, and if he doesn't it won't make a big dent in his chip count. The problem with doing this is that he is playing more hands that are less likely to be winners, so his chip count will slowly deteriorate as he goes for long shot after long shot. Another problem with playing weaker hands is that even if you make your hand, you still may not have the best hand.
How many times have you been in a partypoker.com tournament and seen someone win a few huge pots early on, only to see them eliminated shortly afterward? A few people I play with regularly even consider it bad luck to have the big stack early in a texas holdum tournament. So why is this? The answer is simple. The inexperienced, partypoker player with the huge chip lead starts to relax, play looser, and take more risks, opening himself up to more losses. As these losses pile up, he can't get out of that mode, and soon finds himself with no chips.
Another example is when you think no one was helped by the flop. Often lesser partypoker players will simply check around hoping to get a free card to help them out on the turn. In this situation, the person that bets first will often win the pot, because everyone else will fold. Betting post flop from an early position could also be a defensive move. If you have an average, but not great hand, consider betting instead of checking. Weaker pokerparty players that may have bet had you checked will often just call rather than raising you. So by betting a small amount, they become tentative, and don't try to push you. And if they had nothing, they may fold rather than staying in to try to back into a partypoker hand on the turn or the river.
One situation where you would want to consider aggressive play is pre-flop from a late position. If you are going to play a hand, why not raise pre-flop rather then just calling? Force your opponents to pay to see the flop, and build up the pot that you are planning on winning. Betting pre-flop will also represent a strong partypoker.com hand which can be used for bluffing after the flop, if the flop doesn't help you. If there were many callers pre-flop, then raising, will either increase the size of the pot when other pokerparty players have to call your raise, or force them to fold, eliminating the chance for them to back into a hand later on.
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Before I go any further, let me explain what I mean by being aggressive. Aggressive play and loose play are not the same thing. Aggressive does not mean betting every hand, or always staying in a hand to the showdown. In fact if you are going to be aggressive, you should probably not play as many partypoker.com hands as most of your opponents. Being aggressive means that rather than calling, you would raise, rather than checking, you would bet, and when you bet, bet more than the token minimum allowable bet.
While I wouldn't call myself a partypoker.com expert, I think I have played enough to make some helpful observations to the relative pokerparty newcomer. I play in a weekly game with some coworkers, where we usually do a single table no-limit Hold'em tournament, and I have participated in a few low stakes multi-table tournaments online. The following advise is probably best used in low stakes tournament settings, but I think they probably apply elsewhere.
When you play cautiously you allow your opponents to control the partypoker.co hand and capitalize on your weakness. By being the aggressor, it is you who determines how the partypoker hand is played out, and what the ultimate stakes will be. Since this strategy requires you to wager more in the hands that you do play, you have to be more selective in those hands. You don't have to win the most pots to come out ahead; you have to win the biggest pots. I think the single most important approach you can take to a game is to be aggressive. The aggressive player sets the tone, and can usually control the action for a given table.
