Poker News

Dr. Scott Aigner

One of the main reasons a tournament player will initially fail when he starts to play live no limit games is because his initial raises are too low given the average stack sizes of the players sitting in a game. Obviously a capped game plays more like a tournament. This isseen in a 2-5 game with a $200 cap as well as at some of the rooms in L.A. where the cap for a game can be quite low.

In a game with no max though you will find a pretty big variation in what people will buy in for. The better players will usually buy in for 100 times the BB whereas the recreational players and the tight players will buy in for only $200 or $300 max in the 2-5 game. They are actually making a big mistake as they reduce their implied odds when they hit their sets and their draws. In a tournament setting the usual raise is 3-4 times the BB. The raise amount usually goes up slightly once the antes kick in. Still, the raise is relatively small in comparison to the live games where a raise is generally anywhere from 4 to 8 or even 10 times the BB (depending on the number of limpers already in the pot). The loose passive nature of the live games make these raises necessary to narrow the field. If you make a standard raise of 3-4 times the BB then expect a lot of callers. I have seen 7 players call this small of a raise hoping to hit a flop.

Why do the live games play so much looser? Obviously a main reason is because there is no survival situation in a live game. You can always go back into your pocket to get more ammo should you lose a confrontation. Even more importantly though is that the implied odds are much bigger in a live game. A player can win 20, 30, or even 40 times the initial bet when he hits his hand in a live game. That is a very unusual situation in a tournament structure where one usually starts with a stack size that is only 50-60 times the BB. A raise of 4 BB will reduce the implied odds down to 10 or 12 times for the caller.

This also explains why you are probably better off to either raise or fold as Chris “Jesus” Ferguson suggests in a tournament and you are the first one in (I disagree with this strategy in certain situations and structures but agree with this concept when the stack to blind ratio is on the small side). It is also why you need to seriously consider reraising or folding to an initial raise as well unless you are trapping an opponent with a much stronger hand.

Finally, this is why the pot odds become a bigger factor in a tournament setting than in a live game. You rarely are receiving significant implied odds in tournaments and therefore you play to win a pot where the pot odds are favorable. If you can win more than pot odds consider it a bonus. Implied odds go out the window when all you can win is an opponent’s measly little stack or all he can win is your measly little stack. That is a rarity in a live game but quite common in tournaments whereone opponent is usually all in after the flop if not preflop. If you are going to play no limit ring games you need to always keep in mind that implied odds can be a much bigger factor than pot odds.

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