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Idiot's Guide to Winning an EPT Pub Tournament

05-14-2017 10:21:40 PM

In last week's post, I wrote about game selection within the Eastern Poker Tour. Be sure to check it out!

I joined the EPT for two reasons: 1) to meet 1/2 talented players who are at the top of their game and are willing to coach me and 2) to be like them and crush the competition. As of tonight, I have accomplished both.

Tonight I won a tournament (Billy and I chopped the prize pool and I gave him the "win") at Maxamillian's. We were both sitting at around 250k in chips at heads-up with blinds at 30k/60k, so there was no point in continuing.



Below are my top tips for winning. Hopefully you will find them useful.

1) Don't limp. Really don't. Open pre-flop with premium hands and fold garbage ones. One of the beauties of tournament play, according to my coach, is to steal the blinds and antes (when there are antes). Limping increases the chances of going to show down. Poker becomes a game of luck when you have the entire board in front of you to see. It's a game of skill when you can force a fold or induce a wrong move from your opponent before that. That said, game selection is again key. Don't pick N Shore where some loose aggro with no intention of winning will call every raise and all-in. As the saying goes, you can't bluff a fish.

2) Be fairly tight before dinner break. So many rec players bust before they had a chance to hit the buffet table. You can absolutely float at around your starting stack of 20k or lower and build up a stack after dinner (as I did tonight going into 1k/2k blinds with a 13k stack).

3) Turn up your aggression level after dinner. Most players are fairly passive after a full meal, making it a great time to capitalize on poor plays. Don't be afraid to apply maximum pressure with your stack when it is the right strategic move. Chip up before heading to the final table.

e.g.
Final 11 and blinds at 1k/2k, I had a 40k stack and KJ on the BB. Mid position limped and SB limped. I raise 2.5X and it folded to the SB who called. Flop came K86 rainbow. She bet 17k. I put her on K and small kicker and 3-bet jammed my remaining 35k. SB had me covered by 15k, but unwillingly folded after deliberating for a good 20 seconds.

4) Defend your blinds so that you don't get bullied. It's rarely a good idea to be isolated by a good aggro player. But when the price is right, try to see the flop.

e.g.
Final table with blinds at 10k/20k, JJ was raising 2.5x preflop every time he had the button and I was on the BB. Carol on the SB was playing extremely tight and giving up a lot of blinds. The first time this happened, Carol folded and I folded AT off suit, giving JJ credit that he had a bigger A. The second time JJ raised with TT and Carol shoved all in with AK off suit, I tanked for a long time before folding my pocket 8s. K came on the turn.

With just a few seconds before the level was over, JJ again raised to 50k on the button. I figured I had to at least see the flop with my pocket 6s as I had won a few hands prior with pocket 10s to two Ace rags and was sitting on 200k.

Flop came 68T rainbow. I slowly checked my set and JJ quickly shoved all in with his remaining 130k. A good player like JJ would extract value from a set or a flopped straight, so I put him on an over pair or a draw. I snap called and he said he was behind after showing pocket 4s.

5) Having any face cards or pairs in your hand substantially increases the value of your hand when you are 5- to 6-handed.

e.g.
Final 5 and Carol limped with pocket 7s on the SB and checked all the way down to the river, allowing me to hit my nut flush and make a small value bet that costed her a fifth of her stack. When blinds get big, winners don't wait for hands and need to steal pots. I didn't get that concept prior to coaching, but it's exhilarating when you begin to do it right and do it well.

6) And along the way, be nice to people. I gave Marie about 3 walks on my SB at the final table tonight because she was a really decent player from my prior table. And I made a more than fair deal with Billy because I had enough confidence in myself to know that this won't be the last time I'm making a deal.

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That said, I'm grateful to the Lowell and Charity regions for the players I have met and the education I have received. It has been entertaining and I would gladly return if time permits in the future.