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Bob Dancer's LV Advisor Column - 5 JUL 2011

Bob Dancer's LV Advisor Column - 5 JUL 2011

"A Look at Kill Phil"

http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/bob_dancer/2011/0705.cfm

<a href="http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/bob_dancer/2011/0705.cfm">
http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/bob_dancer/2011/0705.cfm</a>

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I think before Rodman, Sklansky had "The System" which he wrote about in his "Tournament Poker". The simpliest system is to go all in with pocket Aces if your stack is more than 10 Big Blinds, once the stack/blind ratio is under 10, go all in with any pair, any Ace suited, Ace-King, or suited connectors. Otherwise you fold. In Chen and Ankenman's "Mathematics of Poker", they print the mathematical solution to the jam or fold strategy (page 136) and suggest it is the optimal strategy for stack/blind under 10.

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--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "vpFREE Administrator" <vpfreeadmin@...> wrote:

Bob Dancer's LV Advisor Column - 5 JUL 2011

"A Look at Kill Phil"

http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/bob_dancer/2011/0705.cfm

<a href="http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/bob_dancer/2011/0705.cfm">
http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/bob_dancer/2011/0705.cfm</a>

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This link is posted for informational purposes
and doesn't constitute an endorsement or approval
of the linked article's content by vpFREE. Any
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Hmmm... Only playing aces until you get to 10 bb is going to get you crushed in most MTTs. You are better off getting your money in bad a few times, IMO. Harrington's red zone. Equilibrium strategy. ICM strategy. Most of the poker eggheads have something to say about playing push/fold short. It is an essential part of tournament play. I suspect KP is talking about something a bit different.

Chandler

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--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "nightoftheiguana2000" <nightoftheiguana2000@...> wrote:

I think before Rodman, Sklansky had "The System" which he wrote about in his "Tournament Poker". The simpliest system is to go all in with pocket Aces if your stack is more than 10 Big Blinds, once the stack/blind ratio is under 10, go all in with any pair, any Ace suited, Ace-King, or suited connectors. Otherwise you fold. In Chen and Ankenman's "Mathematics of Poker", they print the mathematical solution to the jam or fold strategy (page 136) and suggest it is the optimal strategy for stack/blind under 10.

IIRC Sklansky's "The System" was designed for a friend who had no NL experience whatsoever but wanted to play the main event anyway, or something like that, which explains its lack of sophistication.

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On Thu, 7 Jul 2011, Chandler wrote:

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "nightoftheiguana2000" <nightoftheiguana2000@...> wrote:

I think before Rodman, Sklansky had "The System" which he wrote about in his "Tournament Poker". The simpliest system is to go all in with pocket Aces if your stack is more than 10 Big Blinds, once the stack/blind ratio is under 10, go all in with any pair, any Ace suited, Ace-King, or suited connectors. Otherwise you fold. In Chen and Ankenman's "Mathematics of Poker", they print the mathematical solution to the jam or fold strategy (page 136) and suggest it is the optimal strategy for stack/blind under 10.

Hmmm... Only playing aces until you get to 10 bb is going to get you crushed in most MTTs. You are better off getting your money in bad a few times, IMO. Harrington's red zone. Equilibrium strategy. ICM strategy. Most of the poker eggheads have something to say about playing push/fold short. It is an essential part of tournament play. I suspect KP is talking about something a bit different.

Hmmm... Only playing aces until you get to 10 bb is going to get you crushed in most MTTs. You are better off getting your money in bad a few times, IMO.

Maybe, maybe not. One thing you are trying to do is create the impression that you only shove aces. Then you capitalize on that impression later in the tournament when the blinds are more significant. The early rounds are not significant because the blinds are too low relative to the stacks, unless you can convince some donkeys to send over their chips.

Harrington's red zone. Equilibrium strategy. ICM strategy. Most of the poker eggheads have something to say about playing push/fold short. It is an essential part of tournament play. I suspect KP is talking about something a bit different.

Who's KP?

If you want to play a somewhat more complex system, you can play Chen and Ankenman's jam or fold table, which has you shoving any pair, A3s, K8s, Q8s, J9s, T8s, 98s, ATo, KTo, QJo or better at stack sizes of 50 BB (in other words, jamming is better than folding). You jam more cards as the stack size decreases till around 2 where anything is a jam. As I stated before however, Chen and Ankenman make the claim that this is only the game optimal solution at stacks below 10 BB, above it is still a good solution but not optimal (optimal would be something like raising 2.5 BB and playing from there, in other words what the pros do). If you watch the final table at WSOP, you pretty much see this strategy being played. To regular cash game players it looks recklessly aggressive (ghost of Ungar anyone?) but it turns out to be near optimal for tournaments. Also, Sklansky has proposed a more complex version of his "The System" which also takes into account position and action before you.

http://www.google.com/search?q=sklansky’s+system
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EAO9CFnHBw

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--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Chandler" <chandler_re@...> wrote:

> Hmmm... Only playing aces until you get to 10 bb is going to get you crushed in most MTTs. You are better off getting your money in bad a few times, IMO.

Maybe, maybe not. One thing you are trying to do is create the impression that you only shove aces. Then you capitalize on that impression later in the tournament when the blinds are more significant. The early rounds are not significant because the blinds are too low relative to the stacks, unless you can convince some donkeys to send over their chips.

Ahh, that link was very interesting. I've never seen that strategy before. Thank you. I can see how a little practice or even a strategy card could help a player with zero experience. It is somewhat more complex and significantly more aggressive than your brief description, though. Note the example was playing a stack of 20bb and jamming a range of AA-QQ, AK in mp with a limper behind. And was just a few points shy (in the strategy)from jamming AA-1010, AK-AQ, KQ.

Playing very tight early in STTs is SOP for many. ICM dictates that you need a significant edge to risk your stack early because you risk all equity while equity gained is small. And you can increase equity significantly just by outlasting a few opponents. Yet as the dynamics of the STT changes and you get into middle and late play it can be surprising for some (it was for me) just how often it is ICM correct to open jam with any 2.

MTTs are a different animal and you need to chip up a lot before you even approach the money, much less take a tournament down. I know I'm going to need to increase my stack many times over to stay relevant and make the money. Risk is not avoidable. Risk is essential.

Who's KP?

Sorry. Kill Phill.

Chandler

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--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "nightoftheiguana2000" <nightoftheiguana2000@...> wrote:

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Chandler" <chandler_re@> wrote: