What should your strategy be in a hold ‘em tournament as it pertains to your pre-flop hand? There are a few general guidelines to consider. First, unless you plan on bluffing your way to the top, you need to at least have a strong enough hand to catch something on the flop should you be in a position to limp in. All right, that said, let’s explore some strategy further.
The first thing to consider when forming your PokerStar strategy is where you’re sitting at the table. It makes a huge difference in how you can play certain hands. Your position will either help or hinder your knowledge of other players’ hands and decisions. If you’re at an early position, meaning one of the first to act, your options are limited. At a full table, a bluff or check is suicide, as you’ll most certainly get at least one caller on a bluff, and if you check (unless it’s to set a trap) you establish yourself as a weakling ready to surrender his blind. Later position players can use what they’ve seen in the betting round thus far and react accordingly. They can limp in on a call, raise back with a bluff or strong play, etc… And by then, half the table might already be out of the hand.
A second point of consideration for forming strategy was already briefly touched upon – your hand. Crazy, right? How good your cards are might actually affect how you play your hand! You should already know how you plan to play certain hands in certain situations at Poker Star before entering live play. Then it’s simply a matter of remembering and sticking to what your strategy is for each of those hands, breaking only when you sense a trap or a tight table you can take advantage of.
A tight table? Great transition to the final point of strategy, how your table is playing. You’ll need to sit through at least 15 hands or so before coming to a conclusion here, but if the table is tight, you can open up with some aggressive play. Taking a risk here can net you some early blinds and establish you as a chip leader before the middle rounds where the blinds get up to a certain level. If players are aggressive around you, leave your options open – don’t automatically assume it’s the right call to do the opposite and clam up. While doing so might allow you to avoid the big hands, you’ll also miss out on some very winnable big pots. So stick to your hand strategy here and be open to going along with the aggressive game until you get burned a few times, then you can back away before it’s too late.