Poker Essays
All-in
at the final table!
By Pokershopping.com
February 2006
Final
table strategy for beginners
It is a generally accepted principle that the more
aggressive someone is in a heads-up game the better
they will do. There are also a variety of tables which
break down hands into groups and then assign different
groups as playable based on position and stack size.
These
theories and tables are all pretty closely related
and all fairly affective for most poker games. However,
at the final table we think that something changes.
The people there can get a payoff at any time by simply
pushing their poker
chips all-in; this is different from most
poker. It's even possible for them to make money by
checking and folding each and every hand until they
have been blinded to death.
At
first glance death by blinds doesn't sound very smart.
Without referencing any statistics we can tell you
that when we started playing online poker we would
play in a lot of cheap multi-table tournaments and
free rolls. About half of the time we would just get
our stacks up into the top 10 and then click sit-out.
In the end we usually ended up in the money, and between
the time it saved and the small pay out, it was worth
it.
Our
suggestion for someone that got to the final poker
table through a series of impossible draws
and is now head to head with professionals is to do
just that. Your chances of getting first place are
zero, but we would say that those were your chances
before this passive strategy too. You might say that
the people will figure out what you are doing and
wait for the blinds to eat you but they won't. Just
like they would never sit on the button and let a
hand pass entirely unbet. Eventually they will start
to take each other out.
This
is opposite to the other beginner strategy which is
to go all in every hand at the final table. This usually
works for a while but eventually someone will call
them and win.
We
believe that the best method of playing lies in the
middle. You should use a very simple formula: play
1/x % of the deck; X = number of people seated. For
example one in two hands in heads-up. This should
mean that in the long run you are always playing with
the strongest hand. If you are feeling overwhelmed
by the rest of the table's skill then you should move
all in with one in x hands. If you feel that you are
able to compete with them then play your best game
with that frequency. The downside to going all in
is that you will tend to get called by people with
better hands. As soon as they figure out the frequency
with which you are going all in they will say to themselves
ok, I will wait for a hand that falls in the 30th
percentile and then call him all in. Within a couple
of calls they will win. Likewise you can use this
strategy against others who seem to be exercising
an all-in game.
Continue
to next essay
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