10 Tips for Winning Donkaments
I posted this on twoplustwo (here) and it surprisingly got a good response. So here it is you zeroth-level donkeys!
1) If you're in the big blind and several people limp to you, just move in regardless or your hand or stack. It's dead money.
2) If you raise and you get reraised all-in, always put your opponent on the worst possible hand in his range so that you can call. For example, blinds are 100/200 and you have 5000 left. You raise to 800 from the button. A tight big blind player reraises you all-in. You assume he will do this with 88+, AQ+, and KQ. Assume he has KQ and call like lightning. So what if he doesn't, you can still suck out anyway. Defend the 800 you put in there!
3) If someone raises on the button they never have anything. Feel free to reraise out of the blinds, even if you have 94o. Even if you get called, bet the pot on the flop and move him off his hand. He probably missed. If you get called, he's probably floating so either shove the turn.
4) If there is a raise and a call in front of you, reraise. You should always go for a squeeze. Your cards don't matter. If you need to make an extra large reraise just to get them out, go for it. The squeeze is a world class play ever since Dan Harrington unleashed it at the 2004 WSOP Main Event final table, so you should never forego a chance to use it yourself.
5) Consequentially, if you raise or call a raise and then someone repops it behind you, assume it's a squeeze and at least call. Remember that everyone's always trying to get chips, so put them on garbage. Also, if you're behind a squeezer, reraise! Let's say you're playing at the 10/20 blind level with approximately 2000 stacks. UTG makes it 80 to go. MP player calls. Button reraises to 250. You should go all-in for 2000. There's no way that anyone will be able to call. Make sure to pat yourself on the back after everyone folds too. If the squeezer does happen wake up with a hand in that spot though, chalk it up as a ridiculous cooler.
6) If you have a small or medium pocket pair, always assume that your opponent has two high cards. You're playing with 1000 stacks at the 10/20 blind level. An opponent raises to 80 in MP. You're in the BB and call with 66. Flop comes down 9 4 2. Go ahead and open shove, there's no way that flop hit him. If he wakes up with 99 or an overpair, ridiculous cooler.
7) If you're on the bubble, make sure to slow down the game as much as possible, even if it's hand for hand. If anyone complains, just tell them you're getting dealt some pretty decent hands and you are genuinely faced with a tough decision of whether to go with it or not. You should play this way even if you have a lot of chips, because fortunes change so much from hand to hand in no limit, and going from chip leader to being broke in two hands with $0 to show for it would be absolutely devastating.
8) Always act like an a-hole at the table. In a poker tournament you want to project an image of a world class scumbag. For some reason those are the players that get to win a good amount of the tournaments. It is your best shot of reducing variance.[1]
9) You should be perfectly comfortable putting a lot of chips at risk to win small pots. While I have alluded to this in other tips, this deserves to be a tip of its own. This is especially true when you've been card dead. Here is an example of this. Don't let any pundit tell you that this is a bad idea. It's a tournament and you need to win these damn pots!
10) One pair is always good. Never ever fold top pair in a tournament, ever. Forget sayings like "he's tight, how could he raise me here without two pair or better" or "but my kicker is no good". Go be a weak-tight pussy elsewhere. Push top pair hard and if you're beat = cooler. There's no room for sophisticated post flop decisions in a tournament. You put your foot on the gas and accumulate chips like they're going out of style.
[1] This does not a license to berate the fish. You may however, act like you're God's gift to poker and repeatedly brag about how good you are at folding, trapping, bluffing, etc. You may also blame an online site and its RNG for a bad beat. Just make sure everyone at the table knows it. USE CAPS! Finally, you may berate the players who you believe are good. If someone who is playing solid (of course, since you're God's gift to poker, you will be the judge of who is good and who is bad) and makes a bad play against you, go ahead and berate. As long as you preface it by saying "You're a professional player and I can do this to you", it's all good, even if you're just playing a $1+.$20 SnG on Stars.
1) If you're in the big blind and several people limp to you, just move in regardless or your hand or stack. It's dead money.
2) If you raise and you get reraised all-in, always put your opponent on the worst possible hand in his range so that you can call. For example, blinds are 100/200 and you have 5000 left. You raise to 800 from the button. A tight big blind player reraises you all-in. You assume he will do this with 88+, AQ+, and KQ. Assume he has KQ and call like lightning. So what if he doesn't, you can still suck out anyway. Defend the 800 you put in there!
3) If someone raises on the button they never have anything. Feel free to reraise out of the blinds, even if you have 94o. Even if you get called, bet the pot on the flop and move him off his hand. He probably missed. If you get called, he's probably floating so either shove the turn.
4) If there is a raise and a call in front of you, reraise. You should always go for a squeeze. Your cards don't matter. If you need to make an extra large reraise just to get them out, go for it. The squeeze is a world class play ever since Dan Harrington unleashed it at the 2004 WSOP Main Event final table, so you should never forego a chance to use it yourself.
5) Consequentially, if you raise or call a raise and then someone repops it behind you, assume it's a squeeze and at least call. Remember that everyone's always trying to get chips, so put them on garbage. Also, if you're behind a squeezer, reraise! Let's say you're playing at the 10/20 blind level with approximately 2000 stacks. UTG makes it 80 to go. MP player calls. Button reraises to 250. You should go all-in for 2000. There's no way that anyone will be able to call. Make sure to pat yourself on the back after everyone folds too. If the squeezer does happen wake up with a hand in that spot though, chalk it up as a ridiculous cooler.
6) If you have a small or medium pocket pair, always assume that your opponent has two high cards. You're playing with 1000 stacks at the 10/20 blind level. An opponent raises to 80 in MP. You're in the BB and call with 66. Flop comes down 9 4 2. Go ahead and open shove, there's no way that flop hit him. If he wakes up with 99 or an overpair, ridiculous cooler.
7) If you're on the bubble, make sure to slow down the game as much as possible, even if it's hand for hand. If anyone complains, just tell them you're getting dealt some pretty decent hands and you are genuinely faced with a tough decision of whether to go with it or not. You should play this way even if you have a lot of chips, because fortunes change so much from hand to hand in no limit, and going from chip leader to being broke in two hands with $0 to show for it would be absolutely devastating.
8) Always act like an a-hole at the table. In a poker tournament you want to project an image of a world class scumbag. For some reason those are the players that get to win a good amount of the tournaments. It is your best shot of reducing variance.[1]
9) You should be perfectly comfortable putting a lot of chips at risk to win small pots. While I have alluded to this in other tips, this deserves to be a tip of its own. This is especially true when you've been card dead. Here is an example of this. Don't let any pundit tell you that this is a bad idea. It's a tournament and you need to win these damn pots!
10) One pair is always good. Never ever fold top pair in a tournament, ever. Forget sayings like "he's tight, how could he raise me here without two pair or better" or "but my kicker is no good". Go be a weak-tight pussy elsewhere. Push top pair hard and if you're beat = cooler. There's no room for sophisticated post flop decisions in a tournament. You put your foot on the gas and accumulate chips like they're going out of style.
[1] This does not a license to berate the fish. You may however, act like you're God's gift to poker and repeatedly brag about how good you are at folding, trapping, bluffing, etc. You may also blame an online site and its RNG for a bad beat. Just make sure everyone at the table knows it. USE CAPS! Finally, you may berate the players who you believe are good. If someone who is playing solid (of course, since you're God's gift to poker, you will be the judge of who is good and who is bad) and makes a bad play against you, go ahead and berate. As long as you preface it by saying "You're a professional player and I can do this to you", it's all good, even if you're just playing a $1+.$20 SnG on Stars.
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