Online Poker Strategy Articles

Jon Eaton

I decided for this column I would write about a recent tournament I played in. I wanted to share a load of hands from the tournament and tell why I was doing specific things, and hopefully I could help some novice tournament players out with their game. When deciding what tournament to play'I ended up winning one!

Early one Sunday morning, after a night out with some friends, I came home'with beer still flowing even at home. After calming down I sat down to a late-night tournament, since I am on such a weird sleeping schedule. I entered a $10 no-limit holdem tournament on Pokerstars, and won about $1,250. Not a bad score for a half-drunk, sleep-hungry guy!

So, for part one, I'll go through my early tournament woes. I was still trying to debate if I wanted to keep playing this tournament or go to bed. I wanted to win the $1,500 or whatever it was for first, but I was really tired as well. As a result, I gambled a lot early on. When I got a big stack, I decided to stay awake and play it out.

In the first hand, I had lost about half of my stack on a gamble in an earlier hand. I was more-or-less messing around, but had managed to lose 800 chips! So I looked down at an A7 of diamonds and my first thought was immediately to move all-in.

I know, you're probably wondering why I am saying this. Well, I was tired, and A7 was greatly above average. I had just moved all-in with ten-high the previous hand in a bluff attempt (but ended up in a situation I wanted to be in and simply lost), so I knew A7 would actually be much better than most people would give me credit for. My loose-image would hopefully pay off and someone would gamble with something.

Unfortunately they gambled with AKo! I was in bad shape, and managed to spike a 7 to stay alive. As you can see, this move isn't at all a' 'good' play. I did it because I had time concerned, but at the same time, this table had proven to gamble with much less than a hand that put A7 in bad shape in the past. My gamble paid off'not because I had a good hand, but because I got lucky!

Now, I was back to an even stack and loosening up a bit. I was ready to slow down when the very next hand, I looked at my screen and blinked five times'yes, they are aces! And, yes Jon, you are seeing this right'there's a raise in front of me!

Here is your lesson, people. When I moved all-in for a huge reraise of the bettor, I wasn't doing it because it's a 'good' move. I guess putting your money in with the nuts is never wrong, but here, why would you make an obscene raise with the best hand'

It's because I had just shown them, in two consecutive hand, I was going to make this move with nothing. This sticks in their minds like honey sticks to your hands. That's why the bettor called with his tens'at least, if he wasn't calling already, he now was putting his chips in no matter what.

Unfortunately for me, he got lucky this time, and didn't double me up. The board read TJAKQ'yes, we flopped sets and he caught a runner-runner straight on the board to chop with me.

I sucked it up and kept playing, later finding myself in yet another compromising situation. With a below-average stack and a table of loose players, I was waiting to get action. In the cut-off seat, I decided to make a huge gamble. A player had moved all-in for about half of my stack in front of me. With his money and the blinds, I would have increased my stack to about average and wouldn't have to be playing quite so tight, if I could win it. So, I pushed all-in over the top with KTo, figuring him for a weak ace. If I was right, I would be in a race situation as about a 37% favorite to win. I was right, and everyone else folded. I spiked a ten to beat his AQ, and I was in decent shape again.

These early gambles are all far from sound-plays. They aren't in the least profitable moves. They are gambles that some players, often times very solid ones, will make when they get a read on a table and a player. If I think I can save myself some time by busting now or building a big stack (which, subsequently gives me great odds to win the tournament), then sometimes I will take the bad end of a 60-40 or worse situation pre-flop.

Next week, I will talk about my next few important pots and move further into the tournament. As this tournament wound down, I was a force at the top of the leader board the whole morning.

note by gank: Jon Eaton has been on a tear since 2006. He won over $136,000 in a Bellagio tournament and now wins multi-table tournaments online regularly. He just won over $13,000 in October 2007 playing online at pokerstars in a no limit holdem mtt. He is a very talented poker writer who brings lively commentary and expert analysis, anything he writes is worth reading.