Playing the Main Event - Poker Tips from the Pros

Poker Tips from the Pros
Gus Hansen
Playing the Main Event
This week starts the largest,
richest tournament in poker
history - the Main Event of the
World Series of Poker.

Playing the Main Event
Gus Hansen
July 31, 2006

Poker Tips from the Pros

This week starts the largest, richest tournament in poker
history - the Main Event of the World Series of Poker. For
anyone who makes it deep in the tournament, there will
be several long, exhausting days of poker. So, going in
rested is extremely important. Beyond that, however,
there are ways to approach different portions of the event
that could help you develop and maintain a healthy stack.

In the early stages of a large tournament like the Main

Event, chances are you'll be seated with nine players who are complete
strangers to you. Most of them will probably not be all that strong. Also, at
this point in the event, you'll have a lot of chips compared to the size of the
blinds. In these portions of the tournament, you should try to slowly build
your stack. You don't need to double up quickly and you don't want to commit
a lot of chips to the pot unless you're pretty certain you know where you
stand.

This is not to say that you should be tight pre-flop. Actually, when playing
against weak opponents while holding lots of chips, you should try to see
more flops as cheaply as you can. You can limp, call raises or even raise with
a wide variety of hands, and then proceed from there. Most of the time, you
won't hit the flop very hard, but in those hands where you're forced to fold,
you won't have lost much. When you do manage to catch a hand, you'll pick
up a lot of chips from players who don't make very good decisions much of
the time. You can use your skill advantage to balance your wins and losses,
and slowly build your stack.

As the tournament moves along, many will bust and the fields will get
tougher. The players you'll encounter later in the tournament are more likely
to make good decisions post-flop. Some will be excellent players - even top
pros who are capable of very good reads. At these points in the tournament,
you'll have a lot of chips, but the blinds will be much higher; the average
stack may only have 25 or 30 big blinds.

This is also the time when you need to be more willing to gamble. By
"gamble" I don't mean that you need to over-commit with a hand where
you're hoping for a race. Rather, there are some situations where you might
be compelled to put all your chips in the pot, even when you're not thrilled
with your hand.

For example, in the early levels of a tournament, I'm unlikely to commit my
entire stack with a hand like top-pair, top-kicker - it's just not strong enough.
But later in the event, I'm likely to have no choice but to commit all of my
chips if I have Ace- King and hit a King on the flop. To me, going with this kind
of hand is something of a gamble.

These are some general guidelines to playing large tournaments. By seeing
lots of flops early, you're likely to build your stack slowly by taking advantage
of your skills post-flop. And later, you'll do better to tighten up and look for
opportunities that require a little more gambling.

If you're playing in the Main Event, keep these thoughts in mind and good
luck!

Gus Hansen

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