Posted by Dr Fro 8:59 AM
My friend Beavis is playing in a NL Hold'em tournament this weekend. He has never played in one in his life. As a matter of fact, he hasn't played Hold'em. He has however played a bit of poker, so he knows his straights from flushes from full houses. He has asked me to give him advice. While I do not think that the below advice is good enough to do particularly well in the tournament (for instance position is largely ignored), it is hopefully good enough to keep a completely inexperienced player from making a fool of himself. I have grouped the advice into Hold'em advice, No Limit advice, tournament advice, and one piece of bonus advice.

Holdem
1. Pre-flop play premium hands. These are any pair, any two cards 10 or higher and suited connectors (8 clubs, 7 clubs). Throw away everything else, even if they improve into, say 2-pair, someone else will have a higher two pair. You will end up playing around 20% of the hands you are dealt. If you are playing more often, then you are either getting very good cards or you are not following my advice.

2. Pre-flop, raise made hands and call drawing hands. Pairs (except very low pairs) and hands like A-K would be 'made' hands pre-flop because you probably have the best two-card hand at the time. Furthermore, it is possible that nobody hits the board (improves after the community cards are dealt), in which case you win. Drawing hands are hands like suited connectors or a pair of babies (say 3-3). These hands cannot win unless they hit the board (to make a straight or flush or for the 3-3 to make trips). These hands you should just call with. If there is raising pre-flop, don't call. Only call a single bet (the big blind) with these hands.

3. Figure out the nuts and compare your hand. For instance, say you hold QQ & the flop shows AK2. The nuts here would be someone holding an A-A. Anybody that holds an Ace or King also has a higer pair than you (and this is the most likely hand to be beating you). Someone with 2-2 also has you beat with trips, as does KK. Lets face it, the whole table has you beat. Throw away your hand. Now, say you hold QQ and the board is J92. You are so money. The only hands that beat you are pocket pairs that improved to sets, which are unlikely. If somebody paired up with the board, you have a higher pair. Bet. Last, assume the board is Q93. You have the nuts. Nobody has you beat. Bet. There is a rule in poker that if the flop didnt help you, fold, and if it did, bet. Follow that advice.

But that just covers the flop, you should always be cognizant of the nuts. For instance, say those 3 Q's you got earlier are now staring at a board on the river of Q9345 with three hearts. There is a possible flush out there and many straights (A2, 26, 67) which beat you bad. Furthermore, if the other guys called all along the way and start betting on the river, this means they were probably on a drawing hand and they now have you beat (if they follow my rule 2 that is). Give up on those Q's, don't be married to them. Which now gets its own numbered advice below:

4. Divorce those pairs. The numero uno mistake made by inexperienced players in my tournament was staying married to a pocket pair all the way to the bitter end. I dont care if you just put a heap of money into the pot, if you are getting raised and the board is showing a lot of possiblities that beat you, just fold. He who turns and runs away lives to fight another day.

5. Avoid runner-runner. Runner-runner is needing and getting two consecutive cards on the turn and river that make your drawing hand. E.g., you have two hearts and the flop has one heart. YOu need two more hearts to make your flush. Don't do it. Fold. Only draw when you are 1 card shy of your hand.

6. Bluffing is overrated. Don't bluff, you'll regret it. If you think the other guy is bluffing, let him get away with it. Let someone else be the bluff police. The only exception to this rule is at the final table. If you are at the final table, then you'll need a healthy dosage of bluffing. They should respect the bluff if you havent been bluffing all day long, too.

No Limit advice
7. Always raise in standard increments. Whether you have a pair of Aces or a pair of Kings, raise the same amount. This disguises the strength of your hand. I always bet 3x the big blind.

8. Don't call a big bet on the flop unless you are willing to go all the way. If a guy likes the flop, he will probably like the turn and river as well. So don't call on the flop saying, "well it's only $25." If he is betting $25 on the flop, he'll be $100 on the turn. So it isn't only $25 to see it, it costs $125 to see if you'll make your hand.

9. Tis better to bet All-In, than to call All-in. Unless you hold a monster, fold when a guy bets all his chips. If you are in situation 8 above, and it appears likely that you will end up with all of your chips in the pot anyway, get them in there before he does. This isnt a bluff, because you wouldnt have made it this far w/o some sort of hand. But like a bluff, they may fold and you can win with the second best hand.

Tournament advice
10. Survive. This is the second best strategy for tournament play. However, it is the best for you. Take no chances, especially early. Fold a lot and only call small bets. Preserve your stack. Let the bullies knock each other out. Back-door your way into the final table(s). Then, if you get a nice streak of cards, you can do well. Also, this will give you several hours of experience, which you need.

Friou's Rule
11. Put a label on everyone within 30 minutes. Their mom's may call them Bob, Steve, and Rick. You should call them The Bluffer, the Too Scared to Bet Good Hands Guy, the I Love Flushes guy or the Stupid Idiot. Whatever, just label them and make you decisions accordingly. Be willing to change your labels as evidence supports. Of course, they'll label you too. Be aware of that.

Of course this is all game-day advice. Before the big game, spend several hours playing HE on Yahoo just to get the swing of the rules. Consider going to PartyPoker, PlanetPoker, etc and playing their FREE games.

Good Luck, Beavis.

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