Texas Hold ‘em poker tournaments are available 24/7 to play online and you can shoot for big prizes participating in many live poker tournaments once you gain some experience. Unfortunately it is very difficult to play like World Champion Joe Cada and win a massive tournament like the World Series of Poker. Even Joe got very lucky to win. But aside from luck, you must have a solid set of fundamental skills in order to put yourself in a position to benefit from good luck and win possibly life changing prizes.
There are many poker software programs like Pokerstove that calculate your specific equity in a pre-determined spot which is excellent for hand analysis however you must be making good decisions at the table during live poker play. There are a number of common errors that are easily fixable and once addressed they result in an immediate improvement in your poker game.
Three Betting Too Lightly
AA, KK and QQ are good three betting hands. If you start three betting with hands like JJ, TT, 99, 88, AQ and AJ then you are perhaps being a little loose. Often a player’s raise is very legitimate in building the pot because they have a good hand. Re-raising with the second set of weaker premium hands exposes you to a large pot when you are already dominated. In poker tournaments any player with a good starting hand will not fold to your re-raise and most often will shove into you so three betting must be done with care.
Middle pairs are played for value trying to hit the set. Would you rather wait to have your made hand and see what the early action is or speculate with a marginal hand? Most players prefer to get their money in better than a middle pair that is likely to face overcards after the flop. Tighten up your three betting range unless you specifically want to bluff or semi-bluff. Only ever do this on purpose and do not get dragged into an uncomfortable spot because you unwittingly over value certain hands that are good for one raise but vulnerable in a raised pot.
Calling an All-in Bet
Admittedly I have fallen foul of this myself many times. The tough spots are when you have a decent but not great hand like AJ or KQ and you are unsure whether your opponent is bluffing or not. Factors like your opponents stacks sizes in relation to the blinds, your stack in relation to your opponents and how much it is to call are important. You should be particularly careful when calling the all-in shove by your opponent will mean you risk your tournament life.
Not Profiling Players Properly
Failing to have good information when faced with a big decision is a very common fault of many cash game poker players and tournament players. Even in a tournament of 1 million players you only need to capture information about the nine other players at your table, so there is no excuse for failing to do so. Start off with general observations like loose or aggressive and become more specific as you are given more information. Gathering information about a poker player is an ongoing process so always start with the very first hand and go from there.
There are plenty of common mistakes made in poker tournaments, but stay patient and alert and observe opponents from the first hand and you will do well if the poker luck goes your way. Remember if you bust out with bad play you do not get a chance to get lucky.
By Malcolm Clarke