Sandi Wilson

She's been with me 25 years teaching poker and directing tournaments.

She hands out "Survive And Win" to the corporate tournament players. We do a lot of them, most recently for The City Of Hope last Friday. Stuff Magazine and Clear Channel's Vegas Rock Stars coming in a couple weeks.
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Survive And Win
Tips for winning no-limit tournaments
by Sandi Wilson, Poker Instructor at the Palms Casino

Always Remember – the last person with chips is the WINNER

Some Basic Rules to Know:

1. It is the player’s responsibility to protect your own hand. Keep your hand, a chip or a “good luck” charm on top of your cards and NEVER release your cards face down in a forward motion as they may be put into the discard stack.

2. Check and raise is allowed.

3. String bets are NOT permitted. Always announce that you are going to raise and how much the raise will be before attempting to put any chips into the pot. A raise must be at least double the last bet or raise, i.e., the big blind is $200, the next person makes it $450, making the raise $250. The minimum amount the next person can raise to is $700. But – remember this is “no-limit” so there is no maximum amount for the raise.

4. If you have any questions, ask the dealer or the tournament director.

now for the good stuff – how to play to win

In playing Texas Hold-‘Em, each player receives two cards face down (referred to as “hole” cards), and five community cards are placed on the table face up (referred to as the “board”). A player can use any combination of these cards to make a five card winning Poker hand, i.e., you can use both cards in your hand plus three on the board, one card in your hand plus four on the board, or no cards in your hand if the best hand is on the board (all five cards on the board will make the best possible hand). If all five cards on the board make the best hand, everyone who is still in would split the pot.

The five cards placed on the board are as follows:

THE FLOP – the dealer will burn one card and turn three face up.
THE TURN – the dealer will burn one card and turn one face up.
THE RIVER – the dealer will burn one card and turn one face up.

In a full table of ten people, this will mean each hand will use 28 cards from the deck, leaving 24 cards in the dealer’s hand. This is very important as it means the odds of the card you want still being in the dealer’s hand are far greater than it showing up on the board.

There are two forced bets in Texas Hold-‘em, referred to as blind bets as they are made in the blind, before the players see their cards. The two people to the left of the button must make these blind bets and they will get the last bet on the first round only as they were forced to make bets before seeing their cards.
In tournament play only, these bets will increase at regular timed increments. The first person to the left of the button is called the Small Blind and puts in one-half the size of the Big Blind. The second person to the left of the button must post the Big Blind.
There are four rounds of betting in Texas Hold-‘Em, before the flop, on the flop, on the turn and on the river. In No-Limit play, the minimum bet is the size of the big blind. There is no maximum bet in No-Limit play.

No-Limit Tournament play is the most exciting form of Poker you can play. It is also played differently from any other form of Poker. It is a betting strategy game and must be played aggressively to win.

BEFORE THE FLOP

In Texas Hold-‘Em, you have 3 choices before the flop:

1. THROW YOUR HAND AWAY
2. RAISE THE BET
3. CALL THE BET

You can never make a mistake by throwing your cards away before the flop unless you are the big blind and no-one raises the bet. Remember – the last person with chips wins.

Inasmuch as you are trying to hold on to your chips to Survive and Win, especially in the early stages of the tournament, play only premium hands, i.e, AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ. Later in the tournament, when it becomes short-handed (less people at the table), it will be necessary to play more hands but at the beginning you hold on to your chips and let the other people play and break each other.

Important tip – if you are holding a pair of Jacks in your hand and there has been a bet and a raise before it gets to you, throw them away as they are probably beat already.

NEVER just call a bet before the flop. If you are going to be in the hand RAISE. Do not make it attractive for another player to come into the hand. If they do, they can beat you. A raise before the flop should be 3 times the big blind. Another hint – always raise consistently the same amount whether you have Aces in the pocket or you are bluffing so the other players cannot pick up a “tell” on you.

POSITIONS at the table are VERY important. The BEST position to have is always the “dealer” or “button” position. You have the advantage of always knowing what the other players are going to do before the action gets to you. The button is the bluffing position at the table and also where you can play “weaker” hands.

The WORST position at the table is the first person after the big blind. This is what is called being “under the gun” as you will always have to act before all the other players who come in behind you. It is essential that you play stronger hands in this position.

AFTER THE FLOP

If you think you have the BEST hand, bet at least l/2 the size of the pot, i.e., if there is $2,000 in the pot before the flop, bet at least $1,000 on the flop. Always make it as unattractive as possible for your opponents to play their hand. One exception to this rule – if you have flopped the “nuts” (referred to as a hand that can’t be beaten), this is the time to check and let an opponent make a bet or commit their chips to the pot, then raise them.

If you are in the first position to bet, you must decide what you will do with your hand if you bet and someone comes over the top of you and raises. That is why it is called the WORST position.

NEVER put your chips into the pot to “chase” a hand, i.e., flush draws, straight draws, or pairs smaller than the highest card on the board. The only time you should play these cards after the Flop is if no-one bets and you can see the next card for free. If you are in the last position and no-one has bet, this would be a good time to try to steal the pot, or try a bluff. If you are trying to steal the pot, you must make a bet strong enough to discourage callers, i.e., one-half the size of the pot.

THE RIVER

There are two times to bet your hand strongly on the River.

You have the “nuts”, a hand that can’t be beaten, and you hope you will get called. I am a firm believer in betting your hand as opposed to trying to check raise on the river unless you know your opponent will make an attempt to steal the pot and you can come over the top of them.

You are trying to steal the pot. However, only try this if you know your opponents and know they will throw their hand away.