Ever find yourself noticing the same names near the top of a tournament leaderboard or constantly hearing about them from poker media for dominating cash games? It's not an accident. These guys aren't better lucky than everyone else; they are very good players with a host of moves and tactics. Although one can play poker for free for training purposes, the real difference between professionals and others is that they are able to adjust, read people, and make the best possible decisions in any given situation.
There's no good or bad playing poker: you pay your buy-in and play as you like. You can be a baseball bat — moving forward with confidence in a strong, assertive style — or a Swiss army knife, able to perform multiple tasks. The very best players, the ones you hear about everywhere, are in the second category — and you should be in it too.
In the following guide, you’ll discover several moves used by professionals and the tactics they employ to stay one step ahead of their opponents. Read them, absorb the information, and then head over to the PartyPoker tables to put them into practice.
Every poker pro will be saying it's not enough to win every now and then to succeed. The real secret to success in the long run is to get maximum value from each hand — and sometimes that's not playing large, but blocking, using a simple form of betting to make your opponent believe you are weak.
A blocker bet is unique from a value bet because it is much smaller in size and more of a defensive concept. Its only goal is to prevent your opponent from betting large, something that you do not want to call. As an example, you might have Ts-Tc with a board of Ks-Jc-7d-5d-2h. Your tens are worth calling in the showdown, but if you observe and your opponent bets three-quarters of the pot, calling will be difficult. Bidding one-third of the pot as a blocker bet gives you your own price and allows you to observe how your opponent responds.
Blocker bets are used to control the pot size. That does not mean that they cannot be effectively used — actually, they can even create bluffs. They are usually used by skillful players, even though they may possess marginal hands.
The origin of the phrase "Small Ball Poker" is attributed to poker legend Daniel Negreanu, a six-time WSOP bracelet winner with over $51 million in live tournament winnings. The primary features of this style are:
This type of play involves playing multiple pots with a range of hands — all pocket pairs, suited connectors, one-gap suited hands, and any hand that can be profitably invested against in position as well as in preflop action.
Small Ball players win a lot of small pots and conserve their chips — a perfect strategy for tournaments, especially deep-stack ones.
But. Small Ball has its nemesis as well: an aggressive re-raising opponent. The player possessing the latter can obliterate the effectiveness of Small Ball — a well-played raise is akin to shooting a cannon that renders playing attempts by sub-standard players futile. Therefore, Small Ball is not for everyone and may not be played under every situation.
A squeeze play is a standard play, especially in tournaments, and even more so when one of the players has a short stack of less than 20 big blinds. For example: someone raises from the cutoff, the button calls, and you re-raise from the big blind — that's a squeeze.
The squeeze can be extremely profitable if it is used at the right moment, but at the same time, it is extremely risky. Its success demands some supportive conditions to exist.
The first thing is to have a solid table image. If you’re perceived as tight-aggressive, the chances of your squeeze succeeding increase. However, even more important is your ability to read your opponents. Making a squeeze in spots without good opportunities or without a solid read on your opponents means you’re bluffing somewhat blindly — and over time, that leads to inconsistency and, worse, self-incrimination. That’s definitely something to avoid.
Stack sizes matter: when the players are short on remaining big blinds, they will bet more frequently in a hand — even in a marginal preflop situation.
Your squeeze will be more effective if you do have a strong hand — but even stronger if you make the other players believe you have a strong hand. It's relevant because when two players are pretending to play strongly but actually they have marginal ranges, they are in a state of balance. Catching them there and getting through a squeeze hurts them the most. It's not a sissy play.
Everybody who plays poker needs to have the ability to switch gears or change style. Otherwise, they are predictable and can be exploited. There are a lot of players who prefer styles like tight-aggressive or loose-aggressive, but the best ones switch style quickly and easily.
If your opponent realizes you play tight-aggressive all the time, they can easily figure out what is out of your range, and it will be much easier for them to bluff you. With every bluff attempt, they know for certain that you don't hold the kind of hands that would encourage you to call.
Imagine this: you've been playing tight-aggressive for 20 hands and have not been given a card worthy of a bet. You switch your style now and play loose-aggressive in 7 of the next 10 hands, then tighten up again without warning. How could your opponents possibly read you under these conditions?
Keeping them guessing — and playing that which opposes them — is the way to win. Switch pace abruptly: play tight, open up and go wild, then play a tough defensive game again! To win, keep them guessing.
Being careful with the pot is something good players are familiar with and have come to master. There are countless instances where you will — and want to — bet for value. There are, however, countless instances where you must look at the pot and estimate what hands your opponents will have in their range, especially against your hand.
Avoid over-playing the pot when your hand is of showdown value but not necessarily the best. Avoid letting the pot become enormous so you don't get roped in to excessively large pots with marginal hands.