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Short Handed TV Tables

Written by: Dave Colclough (2004-06-25 01:19:39)

I don’t know how many of you stayed up to watch my banana backed, square eyed poker performance on last weeks Sky Sports Poker Million The Masters. A few friends of mine did, and suggested it wasn’t so easy to follow what was happening. So here’s a few hints and explanations of what was going on, or more accurately, why it was going on. They also hold true for one table competitions. (You can play one table competitions on certain online Poker sites at any time during the day. 5 handed - similar to the TV series and 9 handed tables are available).

What happened in my TV Heat was quite typical of many TV Heats, but probably not as likely to occur in normal one table competitions. Just because it is on TV, most players do not want to make fools of themselves, and especially don’t want to be first out. So generally they play very passively for the first three or four levels. In my heat this resulted in no-one being eliminated early.

Meanwhile the blinds are obviously going up. When we reached level 5 without any eliminations, the blinds were very high (8000/16000) in relation to the average chip stack (100,000). If we had eliminated 3 of the 6 players the average chips stack would have been 200,000 and the blinds versus average chip stack ratio would be more normal… So what?

Well, should you have dropped below average, to say 72,000 - you are now in dire need of a hand to play. All your chips will whittle away in three rounds of play. So that is why on TV you suddenly see some of the professionals moving all-in with K6, whereas earlier they had passed A10. The pressure of the blinds is beginning to take its toll.

Also should you have gone another round and let your stack drop to, say 40,000, another situation occurs. Let’s say you pick up 2 Kings and move all-in. The big blind has already invested 16000 in this pot. When the action reaches him, he has only 24,000 to call, whilst he can see 64,000 on offer in the middle. Excellent pot odds. So you will then see many of the professionals calling with unlikely looking hands such as 6,8 off-suit.

Conversely, if you have allowed your stack to dwindle to 40,000, you can expect to be called. So now it is very difficult to make any semi-bluffs with hands like 9,10. You know you are probably going to get called, so it is only the right move if you want to gamble.

At the end of my heat, the blinds were 30,000/60,000 and the average chip stack was 300,000. Lets assume I always make up the small blind, because the pot odds are 3-1, and I have the button. Then I only have 5 hands before all my chips are in the middle. And I only have 2 hands before I can expect a mandatory call from my opponent. Thus, I end up in a situation where I try and bluff move all-in with 9,3 off suit, while my stack is big. Perhaps not quite as ridiculous as it looks on TV?

Many of the professional will point out that Jimmy White was lucky to win the first Poker Million The Masters. The other main reason he won, was because the blinds v average stack ratio got to the stage where the professionals were forced to gamble in situations they would rather avoid. When the ratio is high, the luck content in poker is equally high. It could of course, be argued that we professionals should play these TV one tables much more aggressively, thus avoiding this situation. Then Jessie May could really get excited.

Confused, you soon will be.

Dave Colclough

Written by: Dave Colclough (2004-06-25 01:10:30)

Hi,

Well after six weeks in Las Vegas, I needed 2 weeks off to acclimatise to the real world again. Eventually I dragged myself back onto the European Tour again, and flew down to Barcelona (it is such a hard life). The major competition of the week was the Worlds Heads Up Championship, with a first prize of 100,000 euro. Not bad for a week’s work, but it wasn’t to be.

Heads Up poker is completely different to 9 handed or even 6 handed poker. If you fancy a change, try it on the Bet365poker.com 1 v 1 tables.

My first round opponent was Daniel Holm, one of the young Scandinavians that are changing the way poker is played in Europe. Generally they play considerable more aggressively, raising considerably more starting hands than I would. If they suspect any weakness after the flop they will fire away trying to pick up the pot. There have been players like this in the past, but certainly not the same number.

Personally I dislike playing against this type of player, because I much prefer to be the aggressor myself. I prefer to be the one who dictates when I want to play a big pot (preferably when I have position and good cards). I am not quite so keen on playing big pots every third or fourth hand. But this is inevitable against some opponents.

My strategy for playing against this opponent is to rarely raise myself but to call with big hands and marginals such as suited connectors or say K7. (King high is much stronger heads up than you may think. The average starting hand for Heads Up play being only Jack high). I would then tend to do a lot of check calling until my opponent realises that he can’t steal too many pots from me.

The first round match went very much along these lines. I took an early chip lead when I called a raise with A10. I flopped an Ace, checked to my opponent and called his bet (which turned out to be a bluff). After about 30 minutes, I flopped top pair against his flush draw and the rest of his chips went in. Fortunately for me, he missed his flush and I progressed to the next round to face the intimidating Rob Hollink.

In my opinion, Rob Hollink from Holland is one of the top ten all-round players in Europe. He plays live cash games and competition poker equally well. He is a prolific winner on the internet, and is also one of a very few players who repeatedly win Omaha competitions (myself and the great Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliot being the only others who spring to mind). He won last years online WCOOP Heads Up Tournament. So I knew I was in for a Battle Royale&.

Wrong! Rob raised the very first hand. The blinds were 100/200 and he raised 300 more. I looked down at Kd4d and called the 300, as there was already 700 in the middle. The pot odds were good and the hand was average. The flop came down 10h4h3d. I had second pair so thought I was probably in the lead. There was 1000 in the pot. I checked and called Rob’s bet of 700. Making a pot of 2400. (I don’t think either of us wished to be playing a pot this big on the very first hand). The turn card was 10d, so I now had 10s and 4s with a King kicker. Surely I was in front? So I trap checked, as I had also picked up the flush draw. Rob bet 1700 and I quickly raised all in. I nearly fell off my chair when he called. He had 10J and my only out was a diamond. It didn’t arrive, and now I am the proud owner of another record: the only player eliminated from a WHU match on the first hand.

Well the only moral I can pass on this week, is that Heads Up is tough, Very tough. But try it. It is fun.

Dave Colclough