Al Spath, a very well respected poker instructor, colleague of many poker household names and widely published poker author/presenter has joined our ranks.

In the link below, he introduces himself and asks for our help in pointing out the good, the bad and the ugly in a poker room he is involved with.

In return, he is willing to impart some articles and 10/20 limit presentation slides which he will be presenting at a conference in Tunica soon. I'm sure we'd all like to take a look at those.

So join me in welcoming Al in the topic he started (link below) and I urge you to check out his site (which will encourage him to forge a stronger relationship with us!).

Please see this post:

http://livepokerforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=691

Heading for Tunica next week, but upon return, hope to be able to stop by more often.

James (tetsuo) has been very kind to me and in return I would like to share with you a recent article that was published nationally, hope you enjoy it:

Tournament Discussions “101” Part I

It would appear that with having ala carte choices of tournaments @ various internet sites on the web, a new player would be in seventh heaven, but recent postings on several poker forums indicate that they are not all happy campers. Be it too many choices, too many formats or just too many opponents, specialization and mastery in any specific event appear out of reach. This dilemma has caused a few frowns and seems to have created both uncertainty and some difficult decisions. Do you play all formats and attempt to be a top-notch player in them all, or focus on one or two specific types of tournaments and make yourself a specialist, or remain a solid generalist? What side of the fence do you come down on?

Let’s examine a few choices players have to make and some popular online “advice” that I found to help beginning players become immediate winners.

ONE TABLE LIMIT TOURNAMENT

Limit tournaments usually go into more rounds than NL events. With the betting limits capped, the elimination of players is slower to occur. It would not be unusual to get past the tenth or eleventh blind increase before winners reach the money spots (usually top 3 are paid off).

The best advice I can offer is play premium cards early, forget about limping, and forget about playing suited connectors and especially about playing small pairs. You need specific direct hit flops with these hands and it seems to be a good sound approach to play hands that don’t require help or much help to win the pot. Squandering your chips chasing is a recipe for an early exit.

Most successful single table internet players would tell you that amassing chips is essential to winning the single table event. But more importantly, you must have enough chips to properly battle when the limits reach a certain stage (level 3, where the blinds could be 75/150 or 100/200), because this is actually when the tournament really begins. So, saving chips early will ensure you have ample chips to make a run at the leaders when the blinds become more significant. Therefore, losing small amounts by limping in pots trying to connect may be an improper strategy to employ. Save your ammunition for hands where others are trying to catch cards to beat you to have a shot at winning your pot, and always take into account your opponents skill, or lack thereof.

So, you start playing pretty tight in the early rounds, you bring it in for a raise if you play, and you attempt to isolate your opponent with position. You also must be willing to lay down the occasional hand when the flop is VERY unfavorable to you. Once the event enters the third or fourth blind level increase stage, winning one pot at these levels is equivalent to winning several in the early stages, and can occasionally cripple your opponent’s stack.

As the tournament proceeds, you must be very aware of your opponents chip stack size, as they will be of your remaining chips, especially if you are the low chip person at the table. Expect larger stacks to make a play at you and to counter this you should also raise in an attempt to steal blind money. Do not let yourself be blinded out, and try to make a bet prior to dropping below a minimum level that will not let you raise the pot. Make a stand! With a short stack you have to abandon the normal selection of hands to play and make the best possible attack maneuver. Some might suggest and I would concur (especially if entering the pot first and you are extremely short-stacked), to play any ace, any pair, any two overcards, and even any two cards that total 18 or 19 that might give you at least a decent chance against one player to win the hand.

If you are in good shape with chips, you will sort of join forces (not collusion) with other larger stacks and attack the small stacks. There is no set plan or communication to act as a team, but several large stacks will have the same intention, to knock out the smaller stack, narrowing the field and thus advancing into the payout positions before a huge confrontation and your ultimate victory. During this time, larger stacks should not let small stacks see the flop without having to call a raise and keep in mind, if two of your opponents are on the bubble for the last money spot, they will be very selective about committing their chips and therefore can be bullied with pots stolen from them.

Once in the money, it is not unrealistic to see a much wider range of hands being played, with nearly every hand raised (first in usually doing the raising and usually doing the winning). You need to be smart about your play and being overly selective will cost you the tournament and a bigger payout. Loosen up your starting requirements and fire away. When the table is heads up, the tempo again increases and bluffs are more common than good hands. Be prepared to raise every hand and be committed to betting the flop (follow through), no matter what. If you don’t carry out your action, your opponent will sense weakness, play back at you, and take your pot. If you play too tight, you will surely lose your chips, so gamble a bit more and pressure your opponent. There will be bigger swings in chip counts occurring here, but expect that to happen. Continue to value bet your hand and remember when to lay it down if improvement does not occur right away. Remember, a single pair heads up is a mighty powerful hand!

Lastly, don’t be afraid to lose, play to win…. Attack, attack, attack! Take a few more chances and continually pressure your opponent into making a critical mistake. You have two ways to win if you raise heads up; you have the best hand, or your opponent folds! Make your bet count.

In Part II, I will discuss no limit satellites and playing in full tournament events. Until then: Raise More Than Call; Fold More Than Raise!

This article is 100% correct. Al lays it out for you. If you follow what is written in Tournament Discussions “101” Part I and get just a few hands you are going to finish in the money.

I do not know Al but from his first article I am more then looking forward to Part II

Another great addition to BET THE POT

Thanks guys!

hi, first post here...just wanted to say that i'm familiar with Al from the On-line poker school where he's an instructer...take what he says to the bank as he's a 100% straight shooter.

Al has agreed that we can put these on the main site!