[TenPercenter]

I'm going to play in a $300 NLHE tourney Thurs nite. That's huge for me... trust me. I want some pointers. I actually wanted to buy HOH but couldn't find it.

Summarize Harrington on Holdem plz? Or rather, give me a very simple list of tips for making it through a 3 hour 100 man NLHE tournament? I need to take 1st... any less is useless.

Example of what type of tips I need to see:

- Tend to fold or raise, not call. (very short explanation here)
- If you are on the bubble and medium stacked, play very very tight.
- If you have an average stack, do not get involved in a pot with big stacks.

Those examples may not even be correct strategy... but they are all I could think of.

Thanks.

[SpaceMonkey]

HOH 1 is the basics of NLHE tournament play. What makes it stand out is the simple and logical explainations as well as the vast number of hand examples and a detailed explaination of what you should be thinking about in each case.

The basic ToC is:

Playing Styles and Starting Requirements
Reading the Table
Pot Odds and Hand Anaysis
Betting Before the Flop
Betting After the Flop
Betting on Fourth and Fifth Street

It's really actually much more than the basics though, delving into a lot of different bets, strategies and analysis.

There's no way you'll get through both books and actually digest everything before Thursday. I'd still recommend starting with Vol. 1 before tackling Vol. 2.

[dad604]

Play tight in the beginning. Loosen up middle stage. When blinds are up there, steal. Normal advise found in any book.

[dammitjim]

Originally Posted by TenPercenter

- If you are on the bubble and medium stacked, play very very tight.
- If you have an average stack, do not get involved in a pot with big stacks.

#1 is not relevant if you only care about 1st
#2 while the big stacks can bust you, they can also double you. I wouldn't worry about this.

I would play TJ poker (tight) for the first hour. Fold anything that isn't pocket Qs or better if you are out of position. Maybe call a bet with JJ or AK. Fold if you don't hit your flop. If you hit the nuts or close to it, consider going all-in becasue someone will likely call.

For the 2nd hour you'll have to loosen up, and the lucky big stacks will probably start to push people around. Push back whenever possible. You need to accumulate chips here or you'll be going all in with crap in the 3rd hour.

I've heard that when you get down to 7x the big blind in your chip stack you need to find a hand and push all-in with it and cross your fingers. I would start looking for that hand at 10-12x the bb if you are a smaller stack in the 3rd hour. You want to be able to go in with a big enough stack to get some respect. Hopefully you'll have a ton of chips at this point and it won't matter.

If I were you I'd take my chances in the 2nd hour (depending on the table) when you should have chips. If you play too tight at this time and don't get lucky, you'll be playing on pure luck in the 3rd hour.

-Find the strongest opponent at the table and stay out of hands that they are in
-if the table is tight, play aggressive, if the table is loose, play tight.
-in the first 2 hours, fold if you dont hit your flop.
-bluff no more than twice in the first 2 hours.

alternative method:
When you get 2 face cards, go all in. Do this for the first hour and hope to double up a few times. If you do, then start playing smart poker with your big stack.

[dammitjim]

More as it comes to me:

1. with the small and middle pairs, if you don't hit your set, fold to a bet.
2. KQ, QJ, KJ can get you into trouble. Stay away from those hands in the first hour.

[jojobinks]

the above is all advice, but not HOH advice...

HOH I could be subtitled "betting for value." it's all about getting maximum value for your hands, and never about metastrategy or making moves. HOH2 is about making moves and endgame play.

and i'm sorry, ten, but they just can't be summarized in a post. but i'll do my best.

HOHI:
-randomize your bets within a reasonable range, so that it's hard to become predictable
-when you have the best hand, bet. on the flop, that should be between 1/2 and 3/4 of the pot (to give drawing hands poor odds).
-don't bluff multiple opponents
-on the turn, betting about 1/2 the pot will always give poor drawing odds.
-always consider the pot odds when you make a bet or call.

HOH2:
-here are various ways to run bluffs, and some criteria for when they're good ideas
-when the blinds get big relative to your stack, you'll need to steal a lot. here's how to figure out how/when
-shorthanded tables (haven't read yet)
-headsup (haven't read yet)

[vrecksler]

I have read Harrington's first book 5 or 6 times and think it is pretty good for naturally tight players (I pre-ordered book 2 but have not received it yet).

Jojobinks does a good job of summarizing it, but in response your specific points.

- Tend to fold or raise, not call. (very short explanation here)
Pre-flop: Bet or raise with premium hands (3-6 times the BB) in any position, and with other good hands play position more; you still want to raise in an un-raised pot but only in late position. You could only call if you do not have anything good and you can see a cheap flop, Harrington encourages raising to limit the field because good hands can become garbage in a multi-handed pot. Fold garbage.

After the flop: If you hit your flop then you can open the betting strong, raise any previous bets if they are not showing strength, do what you want. If you kind of hit it then you can open with a value bet making sure you are not giving good pot odds to would be callers; this is usually 1/2 to 2/3rds of the pot. If someone else bets then consider calling if you are getting favourable pot odds and your hand is fairly strong or can improve greatly, around 4-1.

- If you are on the bubble and medium stacked, play very very tight.
Keep in mind how the other players are playing and play accordingly; if you are in pots against aggressive players than consider your hands stronger than usual since aggressive players tend to play a wider range of starting cards. If tight players are coming out betting, give them respect and know you need a monster. Always be aware of the relative stack sizes when entering pots, if you get a monster starting hand you want to encourage action from the big stacks and not the little ones.

Like jojobinks said, it is a book about value betting, pot odds, and using all of the information present at the table in your decision making. So pay attention to what other players do, and their betting patterns, and try to be aware of your own table image and betting patterns.

Good luck Ten!

[pager23]

Harrington also suggests that an opponent that you have no read on will be bluffing 10% of the time. This number will change as you get more of a feel for how the person plays, but it's important to remember when assigning probabilities to the hand's that you figure your opponent to have.

OR you could forget all this advice ... and go the fish route... Play Poker Like The Fish

[pager23]

Originally Posted by dammitjim

If you hit the nuts or close to it, consider going all-in becasue someone will likely call.

But if they don't call, be happy you stole the blinds with your nut flush???

Originally Posted by dammitjim

You want to be able to go in with a big enough stack to get some respect.

No, you're in a desperate situation at that point, so you want to go all-in in an effort to double or triple up. Respect is not the issue.

Originally Posted by dammitjim

alternative method:
When you get 2 face cards, go all in. Do this for the first hour and hope to double up a few times. If you do, then start playing smart poker with your big stack.

Oh, I get it. You thought the OP said $300 Play Money NLHE Tourney...

[vrecksler]

Originally Posted by pager23

Oh, I get it. You thought the OP said $300 Play Money NLHE Tourney...

Seriously, that is some AWFUL advice from dammitjim and definitely NOT Harrington material which is what Ten was looking for.

Ten, if you has mentioned this before I am sure one of us would have gladly sent you our copy to read for the tournament. My copy is just sitting there right now as I wait for the second edition to arrive, so I do not mind lending it out for a short while.