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Back to Fundamentals

I've bumped some old poker skills
posts back to the top of the blog.

We have some new players to the
Premier Tour who would benefit
from going over and understanding
these skills that are absolutely
necessary to have consistant
success on our tour (or anywhere).

I've even seen some seasoned veterans
make some fundamental mistakes
(like ignoring pot odds) lately,
so it never hurts to go over the basics.

Reminds me of a story...
great football coach Vince Lombardi
started every training camp by
gathering all his players around him,
holding out his hand and saying
"Gentlemen, This is a Football".

Thats how important it is to never
forget the basics and improve on
the fundamentals of whatever you
are trying to do.

*FUNDAMENTALS: Position

Position is a critical component of every
poker hand you play. Good players
understand and use it to their advantage,
poor players dont.

Even though most times the person with
the best hand will win, there are many
situations where your position will allow you
to win even though you may not have
the best 2 cards in your hand.

Lets define position:
Position is where you sit
in relation to the button/dealer

Lets also define the terms Late, Middle
and Early position for an eight player table.

LATE Position (LP):
The Button and the seat Right of the button
(referred to as the "Cut-Off" position).

MIDDLE Position (MP):
The Three Seats Right of
Late Position Players.

EARLY Position (EP):
The Seats Right of Middle Position Players.
This includes Under-the-gun and
both Blinds after the flop.

The BEST position is the Button
because you will be last to act
in all but the first (preflop) round
of betting. By acting after the
other players at your table,
you gain information about
their hands by what they
have done this betting round.

Some will fold, others may call..
which tells you its unlikely they
have a big hand. If you have a
strong hand and they check/call
(weakness), you will bet. If your
opponent bets, then you will raise
because you have a strong hand.
Either way, you are getting the
maximum about of money into the pot.

Having position on your opponents
allows you to apply pressure
(by betting/bluffing) regardless of
the strength of your hand.
If the flop missed your opponents
and they check it to you in late position,
you have the opportunity to bet and
win the pot without showing your hand.

If you are playing at a strong,
tough table, i recommend rarely
playing anything but a Very Strong
hand out of position.


The WORST position therefore is
one seat left of the button. The earlier
your position, the more likely someone
behind you has a strong hand.
Even when you have a strong hand
in early position, you must still decide
whether the best play is to check-raise
or to bet out your strong hand immediately.
If you check and your opponent checks
behind you, you have lost an opportunity
to bet (build the pot) with what is now likely
the best hand (since he checked) .
If you bet out your strong hand there are
still many players left to act behind you,
any of which could call or raise you which
leaves you with difficult decisions ahead.

When deciding what starting hands you
will play, you must always consider your position.
The Earlier your position, the stronger your
starting hands must be because you will be
required to act before your opponents.
Consequently, the Later your position,
the more you can relax your starting hand
requirements because you will act after
your opponents which will give you information
about their hand.

Remember this little tidbit: "Money at
the poker table flows in a clockwise direction.
The chips generally flow from the blinds
towards players seated in late position." (1.)

Thats how important position is.


1. Phil Gordon's Little Green Book,
Phil Gordon, 2005.

*FUNDAMENTALS: Pot Odds

POT ODDS are the odds being offered to you
by the pot, compared to how much money
you have to invest into it.

For example, lets say all five community cards
have been dealt and there is $400 in the pot.

Your opponent bets $100.
The pot now has $500 in it.

It will cost you $100 to potentially win $500.

You are getting Pot Odds of 5:1

Pot odds are especially important when
deciding whether to "chase" your draws.

Lets say you have 2 Hearts in your hand
and the flop comes with 2 more Hearts
giving you a flush draw.

The odds of you making your flush
by the river are 2:1 against it,
meaning out of 3 times...
1 time you will hit it, 2 times you will miss.

If you had to call a $100 bet on the flop,
with $500 in the pot, you are getting
pot odds of 5:1.

The odds of making your flush
by the river is 2:1, giving you much
better odds to win than the pot odds to call,
you Must Call.

*FUNDAMENTALS: Calculating OUTS

OUTS are cards that can come that
will improve your hand, and make it
a winning hand.

Calculating outs in not a perfect science.
In poker, we're always dealing with
incomplete information.

If your opponent is trying to trap you
with a monster hand, what you think
are your outs, are really cards that might
cost you your entire chip stack.

On the other hand, if your opponent
is bluffing, what you think are outs
may be be cards that improve your
hand which is already the best hand
and doesnt need improving.

Having said that, it is still very valuable
to know what cards and how many cards
can come that will improve your hand.


Here are some common situations
and the number of outs you have:

Two Over Cards needing to make
a Pair - 6 Outs

Open-Ended Straight Draw - 8 Outs

Flush Draw -9 Outs

Flush Draw + a Pair (improve to trips)
- 11 Outs



Here's a quick formula using your OUTS
to determine your ODDS. (Rule of 2 and 4)

With the Turn and River to come....
Count your outs, multiply them by 4,
and that's roughly the percentage shot
you have of hitting it.

With just the River to come....
Count your outs, multiply them by 2
to get the percentage.

Example: I have AJ of Hearts and
the Flop comes with two Hearts.
13 hearts in the deck minus 2 hearts
on board and 2 hearts in my hand
leaves 9 available hearts.... NINE OUTS.
9 x 4 = 36 ....I have a roughly 36%
or 1 in 3 chance of making my Flush
by the River.

*FUNDAMENTALS: Aggression

A key attribute of all good poker players
is Aggression. Some people translate this
into I should Bluff a Lot or I Should try to
Steal Chips from people who are stealing
from me, but that's really a misguided approach.
Aggression has more to do with applying
pressure by putting money into the pot
and forcing your opponents to make
decisions (and hopefully mistakes).

Players who consistantly Bet and Raise
strike fear into their opponents.
Checkers and Callers do not.

When you Check and Call, there is
one way to win... you must show down
the best hand at the end.

When you Bet and Raise, there are
2 ways to win.. your opponent can
Fold - you Win... you show down the
best hand - you Win.

There are other reasons to Bet and Raise:

1. To Gain Information -

You get information about the strength
of your opponents hands by betting.
If he calls he likely has a good hand.
If he reraises you, he likely has a very
good hand. If your opponent folds,
he's obviously very weak and you
win the pot.

2. To Get More $ in the Pot When
You Have the Best Hand -

Raising for Value is a very important
reason to raise. You want to win big pots
when you have big hands. Playing passively
will result in you winning smaller pots and
give opponents chances to outplay or
out draw you. Raising protects your made
hands by chasing away weak hands that
might out draw you. You should always
be striving to get your money into the pot
when you have the best hand.
That is winning poker !

3. Drive Out Other Players When You
Have the Best Hand -

Referred to as Isolation, essentially you
are trying to limit the number of opponents
you have beat by eliminating players
with weaker hands. If you allow them to
stay by not raising, they may improve their
hand enough on the next street that they
will continue with the hand and eventually
beat you with a better hand. It's often said
that "It's Better to Win a Small Pot
than to Lose a Big one".

4. Drive Out Other Players When
You Have the 2nd Best Hand -

Similar to the reason above, you want to
eliminate the weaker players from the hand
so they dont have a chance to out draw you
later. When you are 2nd best, you want to
catch up and make the best hand, but not
allow other opponents the same opportunity.

5. To Bluff/Semi-Bluff Other Players -

Raising to bluff/semi-bluff your opponent
can be useful even if your opponent
doesnt fold. You may still gain valuable
information or get a free card.
Raising to steal the blinds from LP
is a good example of a semi-bluff.
Remember that weak players are more likely
to call your raises with any hand,
so bluff sparingly.

6. To Get a Free (Cheap) Card -

The idea here is to bet now to save later.
Lets say you flop a flush draw in good position
and your opponent bets. ReRaising him NOW
(the flop) might cause him to check when the
turn card comes. Him checking the turn essentially
allows you to check and see the turn and river
cards for Free.


For more detailed explanations,
read The Theory of Poker or
No Limit Holdem Theory and Practice
by David Sklansky

*FUNDAMENTALS: Heads Up Play

The one area of the average players game
that needs the most work is Heads-Up.
The reason is simple.... lack of experience.

People tend to play with 6+ people
all the time. The only time they get practice
is when they happen to make it to the
last 2 people in a tournament...
and thats not much practice.
Usually the pressure is on, they feel
totally lost and they're not really sure
what to do.

Let me give you some pointers.

First off... in heads-up play, sometimes
it's all about the cards. In a Premier Poker Tour
style event, the blinds are often so high
relative to the chip stacks that there isnt
much opportunity to wait for premium hands.
A player who gets dealt a streak of better than
average hands will likely win.
Nothing you can do about that.

Most times though, both players will be
dealt weak hands. This is where strong
heads up players shine. They use Position
and reading their opponents to steal.

The number one mistake I see players making
heads-up is not using position/the button
to their advantage.
Heads-up, the Button is the Small Blind (SB)
who is First to act preflop...but is Last to act
after the flop. This is a HUGE advantage.

"Good heads-up stategy requires playing as
many hands as possible when in position and
pushing marginal hands as hard as possible
when out of positon" (1.)

Heads up, what would be weak hands at
a full table becomes a playable hand heads up.
7 out of 8 times both players will be dealt
non-paired cards. So when you are dealt a pair,
it is a strong hand and you should bet it
aggressively. Lets look at what constitutes
a strong hand in heads-up situations.


These stats are from Harrington on Holdem Vol. 2.

The top 20% of hands Heads Up
(58% or better to win)
Pairs : AA-55
Suited Non-Pairs: AK-A3, KQ-K8, QJ-QT
UnSuited Non-Pairs: AK-A7, KQ-KT, QJ

The top 50% of hands Heads-Up
(50% or better to win)
All of the above plus....
Pairs: 44-22
Suited Non-Pairs: A2, K7-K2,
Q9-Q2,JT-J5,T9-T7, 9-8
UnSuited Non-Pairs: A6-A2,
K9-K2, QT-Q5, JT-J8, T9

Dont bother trying to memorize the list,
its not necessary. I put it in here for you
to get a broad idea of what a good starting
hand is heads-up. K8 is a junk hand at a
full table, but heads-up its actually quite strong.


Lets look at combining hand selection
with position. When you are the Small Blind (SB)
you are always getting correct pot odds to
atleast call with any two cards.

The exception being if your opponents has
been aggresively raising you from the BB
when you limp. If thats the case, fold your very
weak hands (92, 84, 53, etc). Most times
you want to be raising from the Button.
Even if your opponent calls, you have
the advantage of acting after him on
every street.

When you are the Big Blind (BB),
you are out of position for the entire hand
so your objective is to end the hand quickly
if possible. If your stacks are relatively
small compared to the blinds and you have
a strong hand, move all in. Checking to see
a flop and either trying to outplay your
opponent later or folding if he bets
strong is likely the next best option.

When you or your opponent are short stacked
compared to the blinds (your stack is less than
10 BB), usually your only moves should be all in
or fold. The power of ALL IN is it puts your
opponent to a decision. If he has a weak hand
he will fold, if he has a marginal hand it will be
a tough call and might still fold. If he has a
strong hand and calls, you get to see all 5 cards
and you are still rarely worse than a 2:1 underdog
(most times will be closer to 50/50 or 60/40).
This is a great move when you are in the
Big Blind and out of position.


1. Harrington on Hold'em Vol. 2 -
Dan Harrington, Bill Robertie, 2005.

Recommended Reading (Advanced)
SAGE System (Heads-Up) by Lee Jones
http://www.cardplayer.com/magazine/article/15250

TOURNAMENT SKILLS: "M"

Possibly the most important piece
of information (specific to tournament
poker) that you can have is knowing the
relative value of the chips in your stack.

As the blinds increase, the ratio of your
chip stack to the level of blinds and antes
goes down.

This ratio is referred to as your M
(coined by poker and backgammon
wizard Paul Magriel) and is a crucial
factor in how you play, especially
towards the end of a tournament.

Calculating your M is simple.
Figure out the cost of one orbit
around the table.

(Blinds 100/200 - Cost = 300)

Divide your chip stack by
the cost of one orbit.

(Stack=3000 divided by 300 = 10,
your M is 10)

Your math doesnt need to be exact.
I know its not easy for me to calculate
in my head 4675 divided by 800, but i know
its roughly 6, and thats close enough.

What this tells you is the number of
times around the table you can survive
(assuming you dont play a hand) before
you are blinded out.

When your M is large, you can play any
game you choose, tight, loose, crazy.
When your M is low, you have few options.
You need to get chips or you'll be out of
the tournament.

There are times during a tournament
where you have to make a move.
You're falling behind and you have to
get more chips or risk being blinded away.
These are referred to as Inflection Points.
If i recall right from high school science
class, an inflection point is a spot on a
graph where it changes direction,
either up or down. During a tournament,
there comes a time when our chip stack
is either going to go up or go down
because we need to make a move to
aquire chips to keep our stack healthy.

So at what M are you safe and what M
are you in danger and how can we use
this to keep the blinds and antes from
eating us alive ?

Dan Harrington in Harrington on Holdem II
recommends using a zone system to gauge
where you are and when to make a move
based on your M. ("the Pot" refers to total
of blinds & antes before any action is taken)

GREEN Zone --- 20+ times the Pot
This is where you want to be as much as
possible. All playing styles and moves are
available to you. You are fully functional
and should be willing to take some risks
to stay here.

YELLOW Zone --- 10-20 times the Pot
As you go from green to yellow you lose
the ability to play tight conservative poker.
The blinds are starting to catch you and
you have to start making moves with
some weaker hands. Dont let yourself
be wittled away. Avoid getting into big
confrontations that can consume a big
chunk or your stack. Try to win some
small pots to atleast stay even with the
increasing blinds.

ORANGE Zone --- 6-10 times the Pot
You lose the ability to make complex moves
that require a large stack size to succeed.
Its time to get more aggressive. If you wait
too long for a monster hand, your stack may
be too small to be useful to you. In this zone
you need to conserve your chips for big moves
that can double you up. Look for opportunities
to be first in the pot to try and win it outright,
but get out if you encounter resistance.

RED Zone --- 1-5 times the Pot
You've lost any ability to make a bet other
than all in, and thats what your bets should
mostly be, all in pre-flop or fold. Even going
all in, your stack might not be big enough
to scare away other players after you've
made this move a number of times.
Hand selection should be liberal.
Any Pairs, Any two Face Cards, Suited
Connectors. Being first in the pot is
probably as important as your cards,
especially if several players fold in front
of you. You need to be very aggressive here
if you want to have any chance at coming
back and making it to the end of the tournament.
When you're toughing it out in the Red zone,
remember Harrington's 3-to-1 rule which
essentially says if your M = 3, you're first in
the pot, and you figure your opponents will
fold 50% of the time, put your chips in the middle.

There is one final zone called the

DEAD Zone --- Less than 1 times the pot
You should NEVER let yourself get to
this zone by folding and being blinded away.
In the Dead Zone, you appear to be alive but
you are not. You should have made your move
long before now (when doubling / tripling up will
make a real difference in the health of your
chip stack) You have only one move which is
all-in and players will call you just to get rid of
you and end your misery. You should pick any
2 cards with any kind of potential and be the
First In The Pot, dont wait for the big blind
to come around to you. Being first in is
more important than your cards. This will
cause some players to fold marginal hands
to your little all-in because they may fear
someone coming over the top with a big bet
behind them.

In the later stages of most of the Premier Tour
events in London, all players will be in
the Orange or Red Zones. Because of the fairly
small fields, the total chips in play might only
be 120,000... with an average stack of around
10,000 and with the blinds and antes at
300/1000/2000, most M's would be around 1- 4.

When Everyone is basically in the same
low M situation, those on the top end of the scale...
say an M of 4 or 5 should act like they're in the
Orange zone.

Those with M's of 1 or 2 are really and
truly in danger and need to follow the
Red Zone guidelines.

It is more important that you understand
the concept of M and the necessity of making
a move before your chips lose their power,
than it is to follow these zone guidelines exactly.