03- 4-04, LearnTexasHoldem:

Poker Questions - Three handed play in a tournament

Question: I've been reading through your site, and find it very informative, especially for someone like me, who is fairly new to the game.

I was recently playing in a one-table tourney online, and was down to the final three. One of the players was tight…I was playing a bit looser as I was the short stack…the third guy thought he was a tight aggressive player, as you put it.

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I took a few pots from him with marginal hands (and busted him in a bluff once), and became the chip leader, this drove him nuts, and was continually ranting. So the following happens, which I think may have given him an aneurysm…

Player 1 is on the button, and he folds.

I call the big blind (400) with K 8 offsuit - I know, not the smartest hand, but I had the chips to blow.

Player 3 raises to 800. I figure, I'm in for 400 so whats another 400 to see the flop.

The flop comes down 989.

I bet 1,000, and player 3 immediately goes all-in on me.

I call him.

He turns over A Q offsuit.

The turn and river bring nothing, and I take him out. He went nuts…calling me a fish and every other name. In a situation like this, was calling his preflop raise that bad a move? Second, in a tourney situation, do you play differently than you would normally play, in a regular game?

Thanks for the input

Answer: Thanks for the question Lee. That's a funny story and it illustrates a few poker points. I'll get into those after I answer your questions. Number one, playing K8 offsuit when three handed is not a bad play at all -- especially against someone who is "on tilt" (pissed off and likely to play badly). You have him exactly where you want.

Now the flop comes and you have two pair and with a board like that, it is very unlikely that it helped him at all. He made a big error calling you on the flop with the rest of his chips. As for your second question, in a tourney situation you do play much differently then you do in a regular game. My next article will be the differences between no limit and limit holdem. Then I'll also put one together for the differences between tourneys and regular play.

There are a lot of differences: drawing hands go down in value, knowing your opponents play goes up in value since at any point you could potentially bluff them, your stack size affects your play, your opponents stack size affects your play, you have a limited time frame to make something happen, etc.

Now for the lessons to be learned from that little story:

1. The best preflop hands don't always win. It is a cardinal error in no limit tournaments to lose all your chips in a situation like this. Obviously you weren't bluffing and were "pot committed" and yet he still went all-in with only two over cards (and he didn't even know if they were live). A big bet wouldn't be a bad move by him but to call you or raise when you are already so invested is just stupid.

2. It is rare to find someone who is good at poker who belittles other players. Usually that type of person feels that since they aren't winning, they need to prove to everyone else at the table that they know how to play by correcting other people and calling them names. A pro knows that poker is a game of small edges and you will lose hands no matter what you do. Having bad players at a table is a great thing and to embarrass them by pointing out their errors is the last thing anyone wants to do if they are interested in making money.

3. Short handed play, like three handed play, is a much faster/looser game then 10 handed ring games. Middle pair often is a great hand and you have to take that into consideration preflop and post flop. Any hand with an A or K that hasn't been raised is usually playable. Even the tightest players early in tournaments loosen up when they get to the final few. You don't want to get knocked out and lose a spot (3rd instead of 2nd) but you can't just go into a shell either.

4. This last rule is a general one -- playing in a predictable way is a weakness. When learning to play poker you'll start with the fundamentals (good cards). As you progress you'll look for opportunities to mix in other hands based on the texture of the situation. For example, recognizing someone is a rock means you can probably bluff and steal from them all day regardless of your cards.

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