Tony Pillinger aka Pilchard | Texas Holdem Poker Strategy

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Tony Pillinger, better known as "Pilchard" in the poker Forum, contributes his first article on Hold'em poker. The article looks at some basic rules to follow when making decisions in Texas Holdem Poker

Basic Rule (No:1)

There are only two ways to win a Holdem poker hand:
a) You get all of your Hold'em poker opponents to fold; OR
b) You end up with the best Holdem poker hand at a showdown.

Before talking about the merits of single tabling, I should give you a brief history of my playing career. I started playing internet poker three years ago after watching it on TV. Like the majority of people I started off clueless, played above my bankroll and lost a lot. After about 6 months of constant studying and improvement I started to play reasonably and found myself holding my own in the 10/20 full table game I was playing at pokerroom.com.

Back in those days, you could only play one table at a time. Furthermore, game selection was never a factor because you were lucky if there was more than one full table at the given limit you wanted to play. As a result, I would usually have to wait for a short period for a seat to become free (unthinkable given the playing traffic these days).

Every day I would be surrounded by the same players. All these players ranged from slight losers to winners and so the standard was a lot higher than you would find now online.

Bear in mind, we are talking about pre Pokertracker days here. I would make hand written notes as well as mental notes on my opponents and reassess them day after day for months on end, slowly refining my notes so that eventually it was almost as if I could play their hand as if I were them. It got to the point where I knew that a particular player would raise 77 UTG but only limp with 66. There were about 5 to 10 players who I began to know inside out.

After about 6 months, interest in poker started to explode. The software improved and I found myself moving to Party where I had a chance to increase my earn rate through the use of game selection. However, the apprenticeship I served at Pokerroom held me in good stead when compared to a lot of my competitors who were new to the game. When I sat down I could pick up within a few hands what type of players my opponents were and I was able to make reasonably accurate judgments on how they would play certain types of hand in certain types of situation.

Human nature dictates that new players are trying to make as much money as quickly as possible and they can now start multitabling from day one. They mistakenly think that by playing more tables they will gain more experience and therefore improve at a faster rate. The problem with this generation is that many of them lack the observational and categorisation skills that would improve their earn rate. They also tend to lack something which I call “feel”. “Feel” is about being able to correctly assess the relative strength of your holding given your opponents, the action and the board. You can not get “feel” from looking at Pokertracker stats, rather you have to carefully watch the table and establish an understanding of the table’s dynamics and your opponents’ characteristics.

The truth is that the vast majority of multitablers make decisions without giving consideration to the opponents who have acted or the opponents who are left to act. “I have TT so I three bet the EP raiser” or “I have KJ so I fold on the button to the MP open raise”. These decisions may be correct decisions but it is the type of player the EP and MP are which makes the decisions correct, not the fact that you have TT or KJ.

Are you somebody who multitables? If so, ask yourself these questions:

When was the last time you folded AQ, TT or even JJ preflop?

When was the last time you folded an overpair on the flop?

When was the last time you folded a flush draw on the flop?

Now usually when I ask the above questions, somebody responds with something like “if you never folded AA before a showdown you would never be making that big a mistake”. Are you really happy to play in a manner where you make “small” mistakes? Surely, the objective is to try and play optimally. Going back to my days at Pokerroom there was one particular player who would only raise in EP with JJ-AA. With AK or AQ he would limp. If I was next to act with TT wouldn’t I be making a mistake by doing anything other than folding?

There is no doubt that in games with weak opponents you can make a steady return even without observation or categorisation skills. However, at a recent live tournament it really struck me how you will eventually get found out if you do not possess them. At this tournament I had a young lad next to me and we got to talking about playing online. He was studying at University and made a decent income playing 3 or 4 tables of 3/6 at Party. I could see why he was making money at the limit he was playing. He only played good starting hands, bet his good hands, folded his weak hands and so on. However, he had no interest in what was going on in a pot when he wasn’t involved in a hand. He would stand up and chat to his friend who was sitting behind us or he would look around the room to see what was going on. Numerous showdowns took place without him showing any interest in what cards were being shown. Needless to say, he was putting himself at a huge disadvantage when compared to those players who were taking an interest in such important matters. The sad fact was that he didn’t know that he should be observing and even if someone had advised him to watch the action he wouldn’t have known what to look for.

Due to the growth in popularity in the online game, it is unlikely that you will have the opportunity I had to play against and observe the same group of people for months on end. At the big sites like Party you will occasionally come across the same faces but not for the extended period I did. However, you should not let this deter you from trying to work on your observational and categorisation skills. The next time you play why not sit down at one table, turn off all distractions, and make notes. Watch who is raising with what and from where. Who is playing the most hands and who is never involved? Is anyone at your table playing dynamically and adjusting his play to the situation like you should be doing? Can you spot the players at your table who are multitabling (this is a good test)? Take note of the hands shown on the river and replay the hand in your head. Take as much interest in the hands you are not involved in as the hands you play.

I know a lot of people say that they get bored when they play just one table. How can improving yourself as a player and increasing your future earnings be “boring”? I know that I find poker much more interesting when I am making the decision to fold 99 preflop in the one hand and reraising with A3o preflop on the next hand. You must learn to take satisfaction from correctly evaluating situations, whether you are involved in them or not. This is the true test of how well you are playing. You need to realise that short term increases or decreases in your bankroll are no reflection of your ability as a player.

To conclude, I am not suggesting that you should never multitable. It would be hypocritical for me to suggest that given that I multitable two tables of 30/60. I am suggesting that you spend some time developing skills that will improve your earn rate when you go back to multitabling. Hopefully, you will be surprised how quickly you are able to categorise players once you start watching patterns and behaviours. With this extra skill at your disposal, you will be able to increase your earn rate per table and speed up your progression to the higher limits.

In next months article, I am going to look at how playing shorthanded can improve you as a player. Until then, why not take up my suggestion of playing for a couple of hours at one table without perusing the internet or watching TV and see how many things have been passing you by. You never know, you might start to get a real “feel” for the game you have been playing.

Every day I would be surrounded by the same players. All these players ranged from slight losers to winners and so the standard was a lot higher than you would find now online.

Are you somebody who multitables? If so, ask yourself these questions:

When was the last time you folded AQ, TT or even JJ preflop?

When was the last time you folded an overpair on the flop?

When was the last time you folded a flush draw on the flop?

In my first article I discussed the merits of single tabling. In this article I am going to look at what you can learn from playing shorthanded. This article is not going to talk about the required tactics and strategy needed to beat a shorthanded table (I will save that for another day). We are going to concentrate on the skills that you will learn from playing shorthanded and how they will help you when (or indeed if) you return to full tables.

Shorthanded play to me means 4 players or less. In recent times, the term has been associated with 6 handed or less because of the presence of 6 max tables. At these tables you need to refine your play, but you would be better off adopting a 10 player strategy over what I call a “true” shorthanded strategy. With 4 players at the table you will be raising UTG with any ace, two picture cards or any pair. At a 6 max table you do not need to play that loose. In this article, I am suggesting that you seek out tables where you only have two or three opponents.

A lot of people start playing shorthanded almost from day 2 and they play it for the wrong reasons. I say day 2 because these players deposit their money on day 1 and because they have some concept of hand selection they get bored by the amount of hands they have played after a day of full tabling. These players inevitably make one of two mistakes right from the start in their desire for “action”, they either open up more tables or (and sometimes they will do both) they start playing shorthanded.

My advice is that you should be careful about when you start to play shorthanded. Work on your hand selection skills at a full table first. With time your hand reading skills will develop and you will have a better understanding of calculating odds. This should take you several months to get proficient at. Always remember that the aim of the game is to become a strong player. Do not make the mistake most players make who think the aim of the game is to make money. Profit is guaranteed when you become a winning player. From my own experience, I wasted two or three months trying to make money rather than concentrating on improving as a player. As things panned out, I spent my first 6 months playing one full table before I made the move to 3 or 4 handed hold’em. At that stage I thought that I knew most of the basics and was ready to take the next step in terms of my poker development.

So what additional skills do you learn from playing against less players? Shorthanded play allows you to work on additional skills such as “playing the player”, “winning without the best hand” and “inducing calls or bluffs”. At low limit full tables all of the above are relatively small factors because the tables are so loose you are predominately playing for value. If 6+ players are seeing every flop and 3+ are seeing a showdown it is all about assessing where you are in the hand and playing appropriately. Winning without a showdown is so unlikely that your own strength dictates your play.

In shorthanded games, the action tends to be heads up by the flop (or at most 3 way). You are going to miss most flops but you know that your opponent is going to miss most flops too. Against weak players you are going to be over aggressive. Against over aggressive players you are going to let them bet and bluff into you. So to be successful at shorthanded play you need to
a) be able to accurately categorise your opponents; and
b) adopt the necessary strategy to capitalise on their mistakes.

You categorise players by watching how they play hands and different situations. In my last article I made the point about how important it was to watch players at full tables (and thus was advocating single table play). At shorthanded tables this is even more important as it is going to form the basis of your decisions.

Once you learn how to categorise players, you will often pick up quite quickly how to manipulate situations. If you know a player is going to bet every time it is checked to him heads up, with time you learn when it is best to bet, check-fold, check-call or check-raise.

The one thing you hear time and time again when shorthanded play is discussed is the term “aggression”. Aggression is such an important factor because you are not going to make enough strong hands to be just playing top pairs and overpairs. As a result, a lot of the players who struggle at full tables actually get by at shorthanded tables. Hands like QJo and T9s which they want to open raise at a full table now should be raised in a 4 handed game. When they keep betting with nothing in a 4 way pot at a full table they get killed by at least one passive player who is never going to fold his middle pair. At a shorthanded table their single opponent probably doesn’t have anything and folds.

At a full table it is often difficult to pick up on an opponent’s weaknesses or strengths because they hardly ever contest a hand. This is not the case at a 4 handed table. They will need to play lots of hands (just like you) and because of this you are provided with more information as to how they think. The quicker you can identify what type of player they are the better.

When I play hold’em these days I am not limited in my table choice. If I think that the most profitable table is heads up I will play that. If it is against 9 other opponents I will play that table. In my next article, I am going to talk more in detail about game selection but for now I will point out how beneficial it can be to be flexible enough to play shorthanded even if you want to end up at a full table.

Let’s say I want to play 30/60 but the first 6 tables at the site with an average pot over 8 big bets are full and having huge waiting lists. I scroll down a bit further and see a table with 4 players and an average pot of 6 big bets. A lot of players will avoid this table because they do not like the fluctuations that are inevitable with shorthanded play. However, this table provides more of an opportunity than waiting in the queue for one of the other tables because you know by the time a seat becomes free the maniacs will have busted out and it will be you and 9 other tight reasonable players.

If you join the four handed table you can choose any seat you want. Furthermore, you will probably be playing against players who are not that skilled at shorthanded play and will not know the adjustments you need to make. Most of the time the table will fill up around you but by then you will already have obtained many benefits including additional information on your opponents and the ability to choose the most profitable seat in relation to one or two of the players at the table.

There is no doubt that shorthanded play can be a rollercoaster ride for your bankroll. If you are going to try it for the first time I strongly recommend moving down a limit or two from your usual full table limit. The swings can be huge and even players who learn a successful strategy sometimes avoid them because they are risk averse and prefer the relative tranquillity of full table play. However, even if your aim is to stay at full tables hopefully, one day you will end up playing 15/30 or higher and you will find then that most flops are heads up or 3 handed and the skills you learned will be required once again.

In next month's article, I am going to look at game selection and seat selection. Until then if you have been playing limit for a while, why not check out some of the action at a shorthanded table and see if you are flexible enough to make the adjustments needed to be a successful shorthanded player.

3.30pm Thursday 27th October

I have got Ah Kd Jh Jd in the SB in a 200$ buy in PL O8B 7 handed ring game. (In this game both the SB and BB post blinds of 2$) I have managed to work my buy in up from 200$ to 345$ after about 45 minutes of play. After a couple of limpers I check and the BB checks too. The flop comes:

Ac Qs 3s (8$ in the pot, 4 players).

It is checked around. I have to admit I am not paying a lot of attention to this table. I am also playing at 2 shorthanded 5/10$ hold’em games and one full 10/20$ hold’em game.

Turn is Tc.

I bet 6$. The BB folds but both limpers call. The first limper only has 5$ left at this point whilst the second limper has about 150$ left.

River 2d

I check. They both check behind. I show my hand. The first limper folds and the second limper shows 8c 8s 4c 4s.

9am Monday 24th October

For the past 18 months I have played exclusively at Empire. I would usually single (or occasionally two table) the high limit games there and have had success over a long period of time. Apart from the monthly bonus or two I would receive from Empire (which it would be stupid not to take advantage of given that I played there anyway) I have never really considered bonus chasing. However, with the action drying up at Empire I decided to reassess my options as to where to play and also whether I could take advantage of the bonus schemes that different sites are offering. After reading about the 666$ bonus at HOLDEM poker I decided to deposit some money there and to play there for the week.

2.45pm Thursday 27th October

I log on to HOLDEM poker and sit myself down at 2 shorthanded 5/10$ hold’em games, one full 10/20$ hold’em game and a 200$ buy in PL O8B ring game.

My “bonus chase” to date is not going great. In search of my FREE 666$ I am already down 1400$. On the positive side, I am flying through the hands I need to play to get the bonus. At this point I have already got 3/5ths of the required points in no time whatsoever. When you are playing 4 tables at once it doesn’t take too long to get those raked hands in.

In my second hand at the O8B game I have 2c3c4s7c in the SB. After 3 limpers I check and the BB checks. The flop comes:

Ac 8c 7s (10$ in the pot, 5 players).

I have the nut low (with protection), bottom pair and a flush draw.

It is checked to the Button who bets 7$. I check raise the pot (to 31$) and only the Button calls.

Turn is 5s (72$ in the pot, 2 players)

I bet the pot and the Button calls

River is Kh (216$ in the pot, 2 players)

I have committed 105$ to this pot. At this point the Button only has 65$ left. Given the percentage of chips he has in the pot I cannot see him folding. Given that I am going to call a bet anyway, and if he has the same low my pair of 7s may be good, I go all in for my last 93$. The Button folds and I pick up the 309$ pot. The Button types something along the lines of “both flush draws and the straight draw, cannot hit a thing today”

3.31pm Thursday 27th October

To recap, I have checked the nut high Broadway on the river and the two players have checked behind me. The last player has shown 8c 8s 4c 4s for a pair of eights and 8432A for low.

As fortune would have it, I did not immediately click back to one of the hold’em tables because a strange thing happened. The whole pot got pushed to me. This took a few seconds to register as I was already thinking about my river check and whether I was right to try and entice a bet from the short stack and then check-raise the pot if the late player called when I was 100% sure he did not have the same nut high as me.

What was going on here? Was there a programming error? I looked up to the top of the table and noticed the words “Hi Lo” were missing from the table description. I had spent the last 45 minutes at this table playing a different game to everyone else and had still managed to turn 200$ into nearly 370$. After a huge sigh of relief I started to think about the second hand of the session and my bold betting with a low flush draw and a pair of 7s Very Happy

At this point I stopped playing at all the tables and tried to assess what was happening.

8pm Sunday 30th October

I finally accumulated the points I needed to get the bonus. I acquired the last 2/5ths of the points I needed playing just one table of O8B and one table of hold’em and, although it took a lot longer to get the points, I managed to finish only 40$ down (so 626$ up with bonus). This was a big improvement on the 1400$ hole I had found myself in.

My game has always been based on good game selection skills and the ability to study my opponents so that I can maximise gains and minimise losses. All of that had gone out of the window. Instead I had sat down at the first tables I could find, leapt from one table to the next making decisions without any reference to the playing styles of the opponents who were involved in the hand.

Hold’em is all about your opponents and their cards, not you and your holding. Admittedly, some hands do play themselves to a certain degree (usually when you have a very weak hand or sometimes an exceptionally strong hand) but most of the time when you are involved in a hand your opponent(s) should be influencing your decision making.

Now I know what some of you are thinking. “It is different for us low limit players where the size of the bonus may be far in excess of our potential winnings”. There seems to be a mentality here of just get the hands in as quickly as possible and hopefully at the end of the chase you may be slightly up but even if you are slightly down you will have had a good result with the bonus payment.

It may be that in the short term this strategy is the best way to build a bankroll. However, it does nothing for improving you as a player. When I first started playing, the software only allowed me to play one table a time. I can confirm that I did not play more hands through boredom. Rather I concentrated on what was going on at the table and making the right play in the circumstances. In fact, this week has shown me that I play MORE hands when I multitable because I know that even if I lose what might be a marginally negative decision, I will be playing another hand in a minute.

Most importantly, I learn from my mistakes when I single table. If I play a hand and win or lose I replay the hand over and over in my head because it is usually a few minutes, at least, before I am involved again. When multitabling I might make a decision to call a river bet with third pair. After making the decision another table pops up and I never get the opportunity to evaluate my call and the play throughout the hand and what conclusions I should form about my opponent because of that hand.

So what have I learnt this week? I’d have made more money just concentrating on what I do well and then picking the bonus up at some time in the future when I had played the requisite hands. What advice can I pass on? For those playing low limits, if your aim is to eventually play higher limits, do not concentrate solely on increasing your bankroll through bonus chasing. Getting your bankroll big enough to play 5/10 is not going to do you any good if you are going to be out of your depth when you get there. Instead, spend some time acquiring a poker education. With all the bonus schemes on offer, improving as a player may not be the best way to obtain a short term increase in bankroll but it is the only sure way of attaining longevity in this game and maximising long term profit.

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