Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 1 (67 page)

If the short stack pushes from the button for 5BBs and you and the player behind you both have 50BBs in the small and big blinds, respectively, re-raise to 9BBs with every hand you plan to play. You need to figure out what odds you need in order to determine with which hands you can call. There are 7BBs in the pot and you have to call 4.5BBs more, so you need to win 40 percent of the time. If the short stack pushes 80 percent of hands from the button, re-raise to 9BBs with all except your worst hands, hoping the big blind folds. I would cut hands like 10-4 or J-2 from my range because you can find better spots. Also, once the table sees you isolate with a total junk hand, you will have to be careful about doing it in the future because they will be quick to play back at you.

If your opponent goes all-in for something like 10BBs, you can now call with weak hands and monsters. You should still isolate with medium-strength hands. You call with weak hands so you can get away if a player pushes behind you. You call with monsters to balance your calling range. You will also set some nice traps from time to time. Re-raise your medium-strength hands because you don’t want players coming along with random hands, and you might occasionally re-raise them off a better hand. You should generally min-re-raise if you have at least 4 times the initial push, and push if your stack is smaller than that.

If a tight player pushes from early position, your range should be pretty tight. Suppose you have 30BBs. You can consider calling with monsters but should fold most weak hands, like A-10, because they are behind the raiser’s range. You should actually call with your entire range to keep it balanced, as it contains no weak hands. You can also shove your entire range, but that will cause large losses when a player behind you picks up a monster.

So, you need to determine a decent calling range if your opponent is only pushing 10-10+ and A-J+. Once again, you need about 40-percent equity because your opponent is pushing 10BBs. And remember that you actually need better than 40-percent because you will find better spots later, plus you have to worry about the players behind you. Your range is fairly interesting, as you can profitably call with 10-10+ and A-Q+. In early position with a 30BB stack I would only call with 10-10+ and A-K+, and call if someone behind me pushed. If I had a 50BB stack instead, I would still call the entire range.

If the pusher has a wide range and pushes for 10BBs, I will tend to call with hands like A-10, 4-4, A-A and A-K, and push hands like A-Q, 7-7, and K
-Q
if I have less than 50BBs. With a deeper stack I will min-re-raise the hands I would normally push. If someone behind me pushes, I want to be able to fold A-10 and 4-4 while at the same time trapping with A-A and A-K. With A-Q, 7-7 and K
-Q
, I am much more likely to re-raise or push because if I get shoved on by a player behind me, I have no clue as to whether I should call.

As I have stated throughout this book, make your decisions simple. If you just call, know ahead of time what you will do if someone behind you pushes. If you are unsure, then either fold or re-raise pre-flop. Think ahead and consider everyone’s range, and you will be way ahead of the curve.

Half-Stack Raise

If you feel like you are losing fold equity but still want to push a wide range, you can consider raising to about half your stack instead of pushing. While I do not use this play against thinking opponents, you can use it with great success against weak players.

Suppose you are on the button with an 8BB stack and know you will push any two cards if your opponents fold to you. They do and you look down at 7
-4
. You have pushed the last three times in this situation and fear the blinds may be tiring of your constant aggression. This is a great spot, assuming the blinds are weak, to raise to 4BBs. If one of the blinds pushes, you have to call, as you will be getting 4-to-1, but he will usually think you are begging for action with a monster hand.

If the blinds just call, which will rarely happen, you can fold if one of them pushes and the flop is terrible for you, like A-J-10, electing to save a 4BB stack. Bluff regardless of the flop if checked to. You will be amazed at how often a player will call the 4BB raise with something like K
-10
and check-fold on an 8-5-2 board.

Used sparingly, this little trick will get you one or two extra sets of blinds. Just don’t overuse it because it will quickly become useless once people catch on.

Stop-and-Go

The stop-and-go is a play in which you call a raise from the big blind, and then push on any flop. In my opinion, the stop-and-go is another case of fancy play syndrome. I honestly can’t remember the last time I used this play because it is easy to play against and very few people fall for it.

Here is how most people use the stop-and-go. A loose player raises to 2.5BBs from middle position and you are in the big blind with 9
-8
, A-7 or 2-2 with 10BBs. You decide to call. You will go all-in on any flop you miss and check on any flop you hit. Obviously you should mix it up from time to time, but rarely give up on the hand. So, if the board comes 8-7-3, the 2-2 would push and the 9
-8
and A-7 would check, and if the flop came K-10-2, the 9
-8
and A-7 would push and the 2-2 would check. The problem is that most players, unless they are weak and loose, which doesn’t happen too often in today’s games, will just call when you push the flop.