Texas Hold’em Tournament – Playing Heads-Up Takes Nerve, Skill And Bluff

Playing heads-up is the closest you’ll ever get to feeling like you’re playing Russian roulette with Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter. There might not be a gun to your head, but going toe to toe at the poker table is a high pressure situation.

And if you can’t conquer this aspect of the game then there’s no chance that you’ll be able to pull off your dream win, like American Chris Moneymaker.

Moneymaker busted opposition out through a number of online satellite tournaments on his way to winning the Las Vegas summer series Main Event in Vegas in 2003, scooping $3.6 million when he knocked out his last opponent on the final table. Neither Moneymaker nor this year’s winner, Australian Joe Hachem, had played in major US tournaments before but both proved that as well as playing the cards they were skilled at bullying an opponent in single combat.

Heads-up is much like a game of chicken – you don’t need the fastest car or, in this case, the best hand. The nerves to stay on target and not deviate from the line once the pedal has hit the metal are far more important qualities. This kamikaze attitude could get you into trouble if you crash your Route 66 racer into a King Kong pick-up truck, but without it you may as well walk away from the poker table before you see the reels spin.

The most important thing to remember is that you don’t need the best hand to win; it doesn’t matter what cards you get dealt if the other person folds. If they toss in their 10-8 and you’re sitting there with an 8-6 you still pick up the chips in the middle of the table. If they’ve picked up a pair and you’re sitting there with an 8-6 you still pick up the chips in the middle of the table. And if they’ve picked up a full house and you’re sitting there with a 6-4 you still pick up the chips in the middle of the table.

There are all kinds of tempting opportunities to try and bluff your way to the middle of the table, or to hang on to it for a couple more rounds of betting, but remember; it’s just a game. If they’re holding pocket 2’s or 3’s they’re probably going to fold unless you’ve pushed them too hard. And if you’re pushing them too hard you probably need to tighten up, so you can wheel them into staying in until the end.

Keep your patience bankroll in mind when you’re picking your spots

There’s no rush, no point really, to play only a couple of hands in a sitting; you have time to make a judgment about a person’s game and about their hands, you don’t have time for the dealer to deal you a drink, or to take their picture, or to anything; just know that when you’re picking your spots in a poker tournament you’re doing so in accordance with the cards that you have in your hand.

When you’re involved in poker tournaments you need to pace yourself and be just a little bit more careful than you would typically be

Sitting around for the whole tournament is a little different, it’s a little more confrontational, it’s a little more tense, but when you go up against a professional player that’s what they do, they go to the showdown, they don’t wait for cards, they don’t wait for chances – they win or they lose, whenever they feel like it.

A lot of people say ‘just play your cards, why not just play your cards’? Well, you know that you have a bad hand when you don’t have anything, you know that you’re probably not getting anywhere near the hand you’re looking for, but you don’t really want to throw away chips just yet.

When you’re trying to decide whether you should call away more chips to try and get a better hand, consider the situation that the one you’re calling away from is holding, or whether the one calling away from is bluffing. Chances are, your opponent is bluffing more than they’re actually holding the best hand.

Texas Hold Em KartuPoker Tips – How To Play Against A Person Who Doesn’t Know How To Play

The situation is often that a person thinks that they have a really good hand but they really don’t. And even more than that, they will try to tell you that they have, you will probably call them because you, in fact, have the better hand. Sometimes people will say things like “I bet you’ll have to call me with that” or “you’re holding that card, I’m going to bet you on the river” or “you brush out likeability” or “your such a lucky shot”.