Here’s an interesting email conversation…on getting blinded out. – Rick

Hi Rick,

I thought I would ask you a question that I sent to both Roy Rounder and Johnny. I bought both of their systems and both are very similar. They both have helped me allot in online games. However when I use the same strategy tight/aggressive and play the only the hands they suggest the blinds eat me up.

In the online games the blinds start at 10/20 and go up much slower then in a casino.  In the casino they start at 25/50 and go up every ten minutes. Do you have any suggestions you can give me so that what works online will also work in casinos?

Regards

Joe M.

P.S. Are there any books or strategies that focus on playing in casinos rather than online?

Joe,

Yes, you must bluff and steal more often Joe.  It’s tough to do, but something that’s what everyone who wins consistently learns to do.  The reality is, on average we each only pick up one really good starting hand about every 2 to 3 rounds, which is exactly why the blinds eat the tight players right up!

Picking the players to target (the tighter players) and the positions to bluff/steal (the later positions) and the times to bluff/steal (when you “detect” weakness) are the keys in my experience.

I dedicated an entire chapter to bluffing and blind stealing in my Secrets of Winning Sit and Go Tournaments e-book, which provides proven strategies for this and many other elements of a winning poker repertoire.

Also, when you do end up playing tight you’ll be projecting a tight “table image”.  Once you learn to bluff and steal under the proper circumstances, you can leverage that tight table image by jumping in and representing strong hands that you don’t actually have.  For example, you have 9/10 of clubs in the small blind, which means you’re next to last to act pre-flop.  One player limps in and another player, who’s been obviously stealing regularly, raises it 3 times the big blind once again.  Now it’s up to you.  You have one limper (who may fold once it gets back around to him) and a blind stealer in this pot.  You don’t have a strong starting hand, but you have good pre-flop position. 

You re-raise it to 6 times the big blind, the limper quickly folds, and now the other player is taking a long time to make his “decision”.  Finally, after thinking about this tight player suddenly re-raising out of the clear blue, he decides not to push his steal attempt any further and folds.

 You must become capable of reading these other players like I’m describing above, detecting weakness (limper) and stealing (repeatitive raising), and occasionally challenging them to take down the blinds, which buys you another few rounds of solid play.  You must also be capable of recognizing “sharks” – more experienced players who are capable of trapping by slow-playing hands (a good subject for another blog entry).

Make sense?

 So, what happens if you get re-raised back?  You probably have to fold it, unless you’re pretty certain he’s bluffing back at you.  Once you do see the flop, you must then continue your bluff, or you’ll lose the entire hand. 

Now, you could also play pocket Aces or small pairs like I’ve described above, especially with 4 to 5 players.  To do this, you must have a good read on your opponents. 

If you’re just slinging your own hand around at the table, it’s only a matter of time until you lose, since the cards won’t hold up over the long haul (typically).  You must bluff and steal successfully in poker – it’s one of the fundamental poker skills.

 This takes a lot of courage and some experience at reading the other players.  It’s never easy, but it’s an absolutely essential part of the game.

Great question!  I hope that’s helpful.

Rick