The Auto Auction Group

When I’m getting ready for an online poker tournament at Everest Poker francais, there are a few things that I like to review in my head. For some people, I’m sure that sound play is second nature, but for me, I need these little ‘pre-game primers,’ just to make sure that I don’t let my excitement get the better of me when the game starts off. Since I play pretty often, going over everything that I’ve learned over the years would take up a bit too much of my time, so I try to narrow it down to my five basic rules. These are the tenets that tend to get me to the final table when I play.

1. Start slowly. Every time I come out firing, I end up losing a unch of my chips right away. I’ve found that it’s better to start slow, then ramp up the aggression.

2. Observe. During that slow time, I make it a point get to know how my opponents are playing, so when I decide to start playing, I know who I’m up against.

3. Ramp up the aggression. Playing super-tightly will only help for so long, so once I feel like I’ve got a read on my opponents and the blinds start going up, I start playing more aggressively, buying up blinds and whatnot.

4. Playing with moderation. Even as I ramp up the aggression, I try to stay out of the mindset that I need to knock everyone else out. Sometimes it’s better to sit back and let others do the work for you.

5. Head’s up play. When I play head’s up poker online, I get crazy aggressive. By then the blinds are so big, that my opponent tends to fold instead of play. Usually, those blind steals are the difference between winning and losing.