PokerStars pro Johnny Lodden once again sits down to answer your poker queries. Email your questions to editor@wptmag.com
ANTE TRUST
Q. I have noticed that in live multi-table tournaments, I nearly always get myself into trouble in the exact same scenario. Once the antes kick in, if the action is folded around to me in the small blind I feel compelled to raise the big blind, regardless of my cards, so as not to let them pick up all the dead money. However, more often than not I find that I end up playing marginal hands out of position that ultimately cost me a lot more than if I had just open-folded in the first place. Is it correct to attack the big blind with any two cards under these circumstances or should I be more willing to let my small blind and the antes go without a fight?
A. First off you have to see how the big blind player is, if he never defends his blind or if he always defends. If he is a good/hard player to play against then you of course should just fold bad hands. You never want to
play against a good player out of position if you don't have a good hand of course. You can also limp in from the small blind and try to take down the pot on a later street. I personally like to just limp in with almost any two from the small blind.
Stephen Hadaway, Leicester
BIGGER BUY
Q. Lately, I have stepped up and started playing in the occasional bigger buy-in tournaments as a reward. I’m very pleased to say that even in these higher entry tournaments, I’m usually able to quickly identify at least two or three players that are far worse than I am, even though they obviously have the bankroll to play these events regularly. My question is, if you know a player is worse than you, how should you go about taking advantage of that fact? Do you ever go out of your way to play pots with bad players without a real hand simply because you know you will be able to take advantage of them post-flop?
A. It depends if he is a tight-weak player or an aggressive calling station. If he is a tight-weak player you want to play as many hands as possible in position against him with almost all kinds of cards. Against a calling station you’d rather have good/connected hands so if you make your hand there’s a better chance to get paid off. Aggressive players often give you the third barrel so when you have a good hand out of position it’s often best to just check-call so they can do their thing.
Mark Lynch, Windsor
LOUD AND PROUD
Q. At the risk of sounding incredibly paranoid, I’m starting to worry that the way I look is affecting the way that people play against me in tournaments. I’m in my early twenties, have several visible piercings and dress quite loudly compared to your average poker player. I’m actually a fairly solid, tight-aggressive player, but I can’t help but feel that a lot of my opponents – especially the older ones – take one look at me and assume that I’m going to play like a maniac, despite all evidence to the contrary. This often means that my steal attempts are unsuccessful and that people are far more willing to play back at me without a hand – is there any way that I can use my opponent’s misconceptions to my advantage?
A. If you are a tight player as you say this is a very good thing for you! You just have to sit back more then and take an advantage of people paying you off. I think my first impression if I saw you were that you would be an aggressive player myself. Exploit it.
Ben Green, Hammersmith
LIMPING ALONG
Q. With the average poker player being far more aware of position raising and blind steal attempts than they were several years ago, I’m starting to think I should be mixing up the way I play my hands on the button. I have heard players like Phil Hellmuth say that they love to limp into pots on the button and use their position and post-flop skills to take down the hand rather than always making the standard pre-flop raise. And with players seemingly so willing to three-bet light out of the blinds these days, it looks like a good strategy for keeping yourself out of trouble. Is limping on the button a play that you like to employ in your own game?
A. It’s not a bad play but not one I often use myself. Late on in tourneys if you’re going to raise on the button you should be prepared to do a re-move against a player in the blinds (but not if he is ultra tight, of course). When players like Phil Hellmuth limp in on button it’s most likely with suited/connected hands that he wants to see a cheap flop with. He always has position and if he misses he will most likely try to outplay you.
Andrew Hussey, Whitby
CALLING TIME
Q. Recently I’ve been wondering – what are the general unwritten rules of etiquette that you should follow when calling the clock on someone in a live tournament? I recently witnessed someone call for the clock on the final table of a major tournament in spite of the fact that the player it was called on was facing a decision for all his chips, had only been thinking for a couple of minutes and the person who called for it wasn’t even involved in the pot. As an observer, I thought this was very unfair, but it would be useful to have some basic ground rules to refer to when a player is taking an inordinate amount of time to make a decision – what’s the deal?
A. I have never myself called time on someone. And I could never have done it in a pot on a final table! But I must admit that players taking a lot of time in every pot irritates me a bit! When the blinds get higher and you are short-stacked and the same guy takes a lot of time it’s actually a smart move to call time.
Farhan Ahmed, Derby |
