FREQUENTLY ASKED POKER QUESTIONS Q: It seems to me I’m always coming second at a show-down. What kind of adjustments should I make when I’m playing “heads-up”? A: One-on-one is a totally different strategy from normal play. For one thing I would never fold pre-flop. You simply have to play with aggression because there’s no hiding place. Lower your hand value sights at this stage in the game. Any pair is good news. Flopping a pair is good news. Ace high is probably good news. You just have to go for it. Only fold when you’re convinced you have no choice.
DOUBLE ALL-INS! Q: I’ve got Ace-King in the big blind and two players go all-in in front of me. What should I do? A: A double bout of all-in is like a double bout of flu’. It’s likely you’ll catch pneumonia or something pretty serious on top of it all. I’m guessing one of your opponents might be bluffing but it’s unlikely they are both bluffing. Nine times out of ten I’d fold. Under these circumstances it would be easy to slip up badly betting on the Big Slick.
POKER POTTY TRAINING Q: I’m a new player and I like to be aggressive and play things down to the wire. Any ideas why this isn’t working for me? A: A lot of new players read about aggression and feel they have to fight for every hand. The first thing to do is tighten up and become very hand selective. However, beyond that, in your case it sounds like the real danger is in becoming “pot committed”. If you’re inexperienced and you’ve pumped loads of chips into a hand you can find it almost impossible to let go of your investment. This freezes you like a hare in the headlights and you keep chasing the hand down when all the signals are telling you it’s already lost. Even if you’ve invested all the way down to the river, don’t make even one more bet if you think the game’s up. It’s bad poker. Be selective, know when to quit and always play the odds.
SUIT-ABLE SITUATIONS TO PLAY Q: In a tournament when is it a good time to risk playing suited connectors? A: The question is well posed because suited connectors are an enticing risk. I’d only be truly happy to play them early on when the blinds are low. I’d certainly take another pop at them later in a tournament if I’d already built a big stack. If you get into a heads up situation and the flop tells you there’s a chance you can take down your opponent’s whole stack, I might be tempted to go for that as well. But again, I’d want to have a healthy pile of chips in front of me before being sure. Tournaments are all about survival. You have to make that job one.
