Playing Coin Flips in Poker

You should never look to minimum cash in poker tournaments mainly because in the long run of things you will go broke. Minimum cashes are only alright if you lost a hand, or got unlucky in a big pot and have since had very few chips. If you are however looking just to cash in a tournament when it starts as opposed to come in 1st place in the tournament, you have a terrible approach. You should have a hunger and a need to win every time you sit down at the tables. Tournament poker will lead you down some bad roads and down some great roads. If you want to find the path of the great road you have to do a lot of things differently in poker tournaments.

                When you look to win a poker tournament or go in for a win late in a poker tournament there are a handful of things to keep in mind. First off, you should never play weak hands out of position or play small pairs with a call pre-flop. If you call a raise before the flop with a small to middle pocket pair, you are now stuck in a pot without having a clue what your opponent is holding. If you have under 20 big blinds you should go all-in a large portion of the time. The only decision you should have is to shove or to fold. If you look to call you are approaching the situation poorly. The reason for shoving is because you can get called a small percentage of the time by an over pair, and sometimes maybe even fold out an over pair. When you are aggressive you will be rewarded with a fold a ton of the time depending on the player you are shoving against of course. You should look at their track record in the tournament and always remain vigilant at all times. If you are facing a player who calls off a good percentage of the time then you shouldn’t look to shove as much. If you are against a player who raises before the flop a ton and folds to a shove then you should put as much pressure on them as possible. Eventually, a player who raises before the flop and folds a ton will lessen their hand range to get some chips back. You should look out for this situation and when the player chooses to change gears. Poker is a game that players constantly adjust to and if you look to go for a win you have to pay attention to every single hand that is played. If you don’t you could miss a spot a hand or two later to pick up some chips.

                Why you want to win poker tournaments should be an easy question to answer for most tournament poker players. You want the fame, the fortune, and to be recognized as one of the best players in the world. This is the reason why 8,000-10,000 players put up $10,000 every year to play the main event in Las Vegas. These players and most players in the world want to become a recognized professional. Once you are recognized there are possible sponsorships that you can receive as well as more money from numerous places. All of a sudden people will want your opinion and value your opinion more often. The reason for this is because you went for the win. You let it all hang out and wanted it more than the other guy did. You would not be satisfied with any place but 1st. This attitude is why there are constantly new and younger players coming out of nowhere and beginning to be recognized at the world series of poker every year. There are numerous stories of young players who seemed to never have results, but came to play and win, and that’s what they did.
If you look to cash in tournaments and not get in to race situations or situations where you feel you may have the best hand, you are not doing your job as a tournament poker player. It always comes down to the one big hand or one big sweat with AK versus the middle pocket pair. You have to take the chance to go in for the win. If you don’t look to take a chance then you will never have a chance. You have to win a ton of coin flips to win poker tournaments.