Small Pot Poker: Part 2
3/22/2006 12:00:00 AM
Last week we discussed the general theory of Small Pot Poker (SPP). This week we’re going to look at a real life example of the SPP style I used in the last tournament I played. In case you didn’t catch last week’s article, here’s a brief summary of SPP:
1. Increase the number of starting hands you play.
2. When you do come in, raise the minimum or just a little more.
3. Take a shot at the flop, even if you miss. If you’re played back at, get out.
4. The majority of the hands you take down will be on the flop, after you bet or re-raise. If you do hit the flop and someone has say an over pair, or A-K, you will get paid.
5. As in all forms of poker, position is very important. You want to have good position so you can push the other players around.
Now that you have a general run down of small pot poker, let’s dive right in and examine some hand examples.
I was first introduced to this style of play watching Mike “The Grinder” Misrachi play in the 2006 L.A. Poker Classic, in which he finished second in the $2500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event. I’ve since done quite well in tournaments using this strategy.
I’ll use the last one I played in as an example; it was a $33 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament at Party Poker. There were around 700 or so players, so it was a fairly large field to go up against. Normally when I play online I will play 3 or 4 tables at a time, but I decided to just concentrate on this tournament and play a little SPP.
Right away, I noticed I had more fun playing when I was more involved, instead of just muck, fold, fold. My stats after the first break were pretty good - I was up to $8400 in chips (tournament started with $3000), and I’d never been close to all-in. I had seen an astounding 58% of the flops and been to the river only 9%. Out of the flops I’d seen, I’d won 78% without showdown, and 100% at showdown. The rest of the hands were folded on the flop to a re-raise of big bet.
After feeling out the first hour, I noticed two things:
1. I didn’t get a lot of really big action. Because I played so many hands and raised so much, even though usually only the minimum, no one really wanted to play against me. If I continued to show power on the flop, they’d let it go.
2. Near the end of the first hour I noticed a couple of the players at my table getting frustrated and starting to see a lot of flops too, only they weren’t raising, just calling. I knew that if I could really hit a flop against either of these players I could bust them, and I was right!
The first hand after the break was a big boost for me and exactly what I’d been hoping for during the previous half hour or so. I was on the button with 9c-10c, with the two players I mentioned earlier immediately to my left in the SB and BB. One player called, and I raised the minimum. The SB, BB, and the middle position player called me. The flop came, 6c-7c-8d. Wow! What a huge flop. I’d flopped the nut straight to the 10 as well as a gut-shot straight flush draw, needing the 8c. SB checks, BB bets half the pot, middle position folds and I just call, hoping he has an over pair and I can get him all-in on the turn. Then the SB re-raises. Hmmmm, that was unexpected. The BB quickly calls, but does not re-raise. I take my time and call. The turn comes a 2h - no help. At this point, I’m thinking that the BB has a big pair, maybe Aces or Kings, and the SB has the same thing, or a set of sevens or eights. SB bets half the pot, which leads me to believe that my first instinct is right, he probably has on over pair, not a set. With a set, I think he’d just push all-in. BB calls, and the action is to me. Trusting my read that both of these players are on a high over pair, there is no way I can lose this hand, so I just call the turn. The river comes, a Qd, which doesn’t really change anything. SB moves all-in and BB takes some time before calling. I, of course, call. SB shows Aces, BB shows Kings, and I show the nuts! I had both of them covered by $1000, so after the showdown they were both out. I had nearly tripled up, and was second in chips for the tournament.
The rest of the tournament pretty much played out like the first hour. I started on Table #2, which is great because I got to stay put while new players with fewer chips were moved to my table. Before the blinds got out of hand, no one really wanted to go up against me, so the only action I got was when a small stack got moved to my table. I’d make sure to raise against him to isolate, and get heads-up. I was able to get up to $95,000 in chips - never risking more than 1/3 of my total stack. The rest of the tournament was fairly uneventful with no other big hands to note. I lost my final hand playing heads up - pocket 10’s against A-K. I played perfectly, but it still came down to a coin-flip. He caught his King on the turn, and I took home second. No complaints here!
What you have to remember is this: the majority of the time you’re going to miss the flop. But, the majority of the time your opponent is also going to miss the flop as well, and the pre-flop aggression is what gives you the advantage. If you’re portraying power before the flop, and both you and your opponent miss, by maintaining that power with a bet or re-raise on the flop you will have the advantage, and most of the time your opponent will lay it down. This allows you to pick up lots of small pots, early on, without putting much of your stack at risk. There are a lot of top pros who use some variation of small pot poker - Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, and the aforementioned Mike Misrachi, just to name a few. It’s a good way to build up some ammo, without putting yourself at risk of losing all your chips.
I hope that shed a little more light on Small Pot Poker for you. Give it a try in your next tournament and see how you like it. To become a great poker player, you should understand many different styles and be able to vary your play as much as possible. Small Pot Poker should definitely be a weapon in your arsenal.