The game “Texas No Limit Hold’em” in a tournament format is played differently than in a single table group format (or ring game). The reason for the difference in play is due to the risk of losing all your chips and being eliminated from play permanently. It is this risk that makes the “all in” play so effective in pre flop betting. The risk of losing all your money prior to seeing the cards on the table is the ultimate risk in Texas No Limit Hold’em. Knowing this makes the “all in” move so powerful in tournament play. In David Sklansky’s “Tournament Poker for Advanced Players” he elaborates on a simple system that he claims could do well against top professional poker players since they will hesitate to go “all in” pre flop unless they have one of the most dominant hands in Texas Hold’em (A, A). Since you can expect the hand (A, A) or pocket aces only once every two hundred and twenty hands it goes to reason that when you have it you want to make the most of it. Brunson (in his book Super System) suggests three different strategies for playing pocket aces that depend on your position at the table as follows:

Early Position – limp in (just call the bet) and hope that someone raises the bet so that you could re-raise thereafter.

Middle Position – limp in if nobody came in otherwise raise the size of the pot.

Late Position – raise and re-raise at will.

According to Brunson the flop is the key and depending on how the players react to it you should play accordingly. IE raise it if nobody bets to you and lay down your aces if you see three of the same suit or three cards in a row with a couple of keen players betting into you. You should not be afraid to discard pocket aces when your senses are telling you to do exactly that.

Online Texas Hold’em does not have the interpersonal aspect so all you can do is guess at what the other players have based on their speed of play, their knowledge of the game (based on your observations on how they play and what they play with), and the relative size of their balance of chips in relation to who is playing in the hand and where they are positioned around the table for a given hand. There is no doubt that the style of play in an online Texas Holdem Tournament will be looser than the equivalent in a land based casino poker room. This is especially true early in an online Texas Hold’em Tournament where many players want to go all in and get an early chip lead. For this reason we advocate watching the play for at least thirty hands and to go into a hand only with the strongest of hands (A, A or K, K). While you wait for the blinds to increase you should have ample opportunity to take notes on your competitors and watch for any signal of how they play. You will note that many players use the automatic betting option to their detriment. In other words if you see someone check and then immediately thereafter you see three quick checks in a row you can assume that those people have weak hands. Likewise if someone calls and then two people call very quickly then you know that these players were planning to call the hand and you can often put them on small pocket pairs or on suited connectors or an ace with a poor kicker. You should try to focus on getting information on how the other players act and how they try to hide their good hands while they remain in a hand. Pay particular attention to where people are positioned on the table when they play certain hands. This information will give you a good idea of the quality of their poker skills. Another indicator is how they bet with good hands vs how willing they are to lay down questionable hands. Whenever you get a read on this you should immediately note it down in the player notes for that player. Also you must always be careful if a pair hits the board and a player who was previously betting suddenly checks and then raises all in either later in that betting round or in subsequent betting rounds. That is a sign of tremendous strength and you better have a really good hand to go in at that point. In addition watch how players react when they get taken for a large chunk of their chips in a hand where the river card cost them the hand. There is a high probability that they will play the next hand and that they will be acting irrationally (or on tilt). If you happen to lose a close hand on the river be sure to fold the next hand unless you get pocket aces or pocket kings. Folding right after a bad beat will save you a lot of money in the long run.

We have taken parts of Sklansky’s simple system and his improved system as well as various ideas formulated through experience playing in online Texas Hold’em Tournaments and created what we believe is a dynamic Online Texas Hold’em Tournament system with ten or nine players at the table.

You are in position 3 – 4 – 5 and

1 - nobody has raised the pot:

Bet two times max bet on AA or KK, AK (suited)
Bet one times max bet on QQ, JJ
Call with 10 10, 99, 88, AQ (suited), AJ (suited), KQ (suited)
Otherwise fold. If someone raises more than one bet behind you fold with anything but AA or KK.

When the flop comes check it unless your hand improves (then continue to bet it) or unless the flop is completely useless to any combination of good cards then bet it as well – use your experience here and your knowledge of your competitors to bet accordingly or to check raise. If you flopped a monster hand then you can check and let someone else bet into you – if this is the case then take your time calling and check as fast as you can into the other players. Wait until the turn or the river to start betting back.

2 – someone has raised the pot:

Match their bet if you have AA.
Call their bet (providing it was not an all in) if you have KK, AK (suited)
If they bet the minimum call with TT, 99, 88, AQ (suited), AJ (suited), KQ (suited)
Otherwise fold.

You are in position 6 – 7 and

1 - nobody has raised the pot:

Bet two times max bet on AA or KK, AK (suited), QQ
Bet one times max bet on JJ, TT
Call with 99, 88, 77, 66, AQ (suited), AJ (suited), AT (suited), KQ (suited), KJ (suited)
Otherwise fold. If someone raises more than one bet behind you fold with anything but AA, KK, AK (suited), QQ, KQ (suited).

Depending on how many players remain in the game you can bet if there are only two players active otherwise you will become a calling station or you will fold (if three or more players are still active). In this position if you flopped a monster hand then you will bet one times the maximum unit and hope that someone raises back to you – if they do you call them. Same tactic on fourth street you bet one unit into them and call their raise back to you. On the river if you have the absolute nut then you can bet as much as you think your opponent will call or raise back with or you can just wait a long time and then go all in.

2 – someone has raised the pot:

Match their bet (unless it was an all in) if you have AA, KK (if they re-raise call) – if they go all in after your raise then call with AA only unless you feel that they may have QQ. It depends on how they have been playing and how you feel and how much of your stack of chips are about to be risked – but as long as it is less than 30% of your total then you can risk it.

If they bet the minimum call their bet with QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, AK (suited), AQ (suited), AJ (suited), AT (suited), A9 (suited), A8 (suited), KQ (suited), KJ (suited), KT (suited).

You are in position 8 – D or 8 – 9 – D and

1 - nobody has raised the pot:

Bet two times max bet on AA or KK, AK (suited), QQ, JJ
Bet one times max bet on TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, AQ (suited), AJ (suited), AT (suited), KQ (suited), KJ (suited).
Call with A 9 (suited), A 8 (suited), A 7 (suited), A 6 (suited), A 5 (suited), A 4 (suited), A 3 (suited), A 2 (suited), KT (suited), K 9 (suited), Q J (suited), Q T (suited), J T (suited), T 9 (suited), 9 8 (suited), 8 7 (suited), 7 6 (suited), 6 5 (suited), AK (not suited), AQ (not suited), AJ (not suited), AT (not suited), KQ (not suited), KJ (not suited), KT (not suited), QJ (not suited), QT (not suited). Otherwise fold.

If someone raises more than one bet after you or from the SB or BB you fold with anything but AA, KK, AK (suited), QQ, KQ (suited), call any single raise with any of the above. Be careful if someone bets heavily from the BB – it indicates AA or KK or AK (suited) so fold accordingly vs big bets pre-flop from the BB.

Depending on how many players remain in the game you can bet if there are only two players active otherwise you will become a calling station or you will fold (if three or more players are still active). In this position if you flopped a monster hand then you will bet one times the maximum unit and hope that someone raises back to you – if they do you call them. Same tactic on fourth street you bet one unit into them and call their raise back to you. On the river if you have the absolute nut then you can bet as much as you think your opponent will call or raise back with or you can just wait a long time and then go all in.

2 – someone has raised the pot:

Match their bet (unless it was an all in) if you have AA, KK (if they re-raise call) – if they go all in after your raise then call with AA only unless you feel that they may have QQ. It depends on how they have been playing and how you feel and how much of your stack of chips are about to be risked – but as long as it is less than 30% of your total then you can risk it.

If they bet the minimum call their bet with QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, AK (suited), AQ (suited), AJ (suited), AT (suited), A9 (suited), A8 (suited), KQ (suited), KJ (suited), K 10 (suited).

You are in position SB or BB and

Someone has bet into you ... hopefully on the dealer button - trying to steal the blinds:

Do not be fooled into playing average hands just because you were forced to bet from these very weak positions. In either case unless you have AA or KK or AK or QQ or AQ or KQ just lay it down - in the long run it is not worth betting or playing from either of these positions. Once the flop hits always assume the worst and go into a defensive checking mode if you are afraid of someone who could be slow playing you. If there is a straight or flush materializing on the board and you have the nut otherwise then bet the equivalent of the pot to eliminate pot odds and to scare potential callers away. If you have the nut at the river and you have been slow playing – letting someone else bet into you then do the same and this time when they bet you come back over the top with an all in. You better have the nut in this case or else you can get eliminated from the tournament.

Always remember to check your position relative to other players and relative to the average player. Do not get drawn into a sense of panic if your chip stack has fallen by 20% or more as a result of no play – stay the course until the cards come back your way. It is not unusual to go 20 hands without playing a hand. It happens to everyone. The really great players use this time to watch their opponents and to study their betting patterns and their mannerisms and their style of play. This is as important as actually playing the cards when you have good cards to play. Remember if you have won a bunch of hands in a short period of time you can expect junk for at least 20 to 30 hands in a row. It is in this time frame that you can try to bluff at a pot in a strong position vs a player on a short stack or a player who is ultra tight. At some point you have to imagine what your opponents are playing during the play of hands and not to focus on your hand all the time. If they are good players then they will follow the above guideline given a certain variance. Play a game trying to pick who will win a pot and with what hand (while you are out of a pot) and if you are correct you can reward yourself by playing a normally folded hand (like two small suited connectors) in an early position – as a reward to yourself.

If you do get into a situation that you regret fold as soon as you can or if you decide to play it out make sure you have at least one out that will save you from elimination. You never know when that out will hit the board and save your existence in the tournament.