Poker Minefield Attacks

The minefield in poker usually starts when the ante begins. It's when aggressive players start to really attempt to steal the blinds and generally lasts until the part of a tournament where non-aggressive players would be blinded out of a tournament or the bubble period begins.

Minefield attacks are used in poker tournaments and are based on stack sizes, used primarily for stealing pots with moderately strong starting hands or B+ to A- flop textures. [see Flop Textures]

Big stacks attack Short Stacks, Medium Stacks attack Big Stacks and Short Stacks attack Medium Stacks.

Playing a medium stack in a tournament minefield is more dangerous than playing a short stack. A medium stack will be 50 to 60 big blinds. With tournaments now going to games with a Big Blind ante, stacks take on a different strategy. 60 big blinds have a utility of about 40 hands depending on the blind change interval.

Many tournaments have 20 minutes between blind changes. At 2.5 big blinds per orbit, you're looking at your stack going down to 15 big blinds when the deal gets back to you, as the blinds, and ante have tripled . Most live games have about 30 hands per hour, that's only 10 hands per blind change. Short stacks, 10 Big Blinds or less, will be going All-in for the rest of the tournament.

If you have a medium stack, you must increase your stack by 20 % every orbit, or double up each hour. In order to be competitive, you need to play about 20% of the hands you are dealt, that's 6 hands per hour. Each hand will cost about 7 to 10 big blinds to get to the river.

Picking playable hands is crucial in the Minefield, but you can't just play premium hands to survive. You have to learn how to use the Luck Factor as a skill. Learn how to play marginal hands in optimal situations.

Advanced Poker Tournament Strategy 2, by Arnold Snyder.

[caption id="attachment_11" align="alignnone" width="248"] Mr Lucky Poker[/caption]

3 ways not to get better in Poker [Review]

3 ways not to get better in Poker

1. Only Playing Poker. Like any worthwhile endeavor, practicing improves YOU!
   More than even playing, practicing improves your game. Playing allows you to see where you need to improve.

"Practice makes PERMANENT. Repeat the same mistakes over and over, and you won't get any closer to Carnegie Hall." [Sarah Kay]

The more you practice, the longer you will last.
That's the goal in poker, to last longer.
Practicing makes us better at what we are practicing, unless you’re practicing wrong.

"Practice makes Perfect"? It doesn't! "Perfect Practice makes Perfect" [Lombardi].
Practicing and not improving on your errors, will guarantee poor performance.

2. Reading too many poker books.

You need to do more than just read a poker book. Highlight those parts that are keys to good poker. Make notes about key parts in the book. If the book is worth reading, you must have learned something useful, point it out.

3. Watching instructional poker videos or poker tournaments on TV or Youtube.

Trying to enact complicated instructional strategies on day one leaves you lacking in straightforward techniques that would be more profitable. Tools take practice to use them correctly.

Televised tournaments are more about luck, good and bad. They generally show bad beats or bad plays. The most important part is more about the commentary, which talks about odds and playing situations. Poker tournaments last several hours, even the ones with fewer players. Poker on television would be very boring if they showed the whole tournament.

I watch poker tournaments looking for why they play their cards and see what I would bet in that situation. Gus Hanson's book "Every Hand Played" gives a better picture of playing a complete tournament, but still it's not all the hands.

[Card Player Mag - Nov 2019; APT advancedpokertraining.com, advertorial]From <https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/24341-three-ways-to-not-get-better-at-poker>

I NEVER BLUFF

[caption id="attachment_11" align="alignnone" width="248"] Mr Lucky Poker[/caption]

Bicycle Casino Mega Satellite to the WSOP Circuit Event 8

My 1st Mega Satellite tournament ever @ The Bicycle Casino.

They paid 11 seats out of the field of  91, with the eleventh one getting about $1200. Not sure how that works if you don't want to spend the extra $400 to buy-in for the WSOP Circuit Event, means you would be out of pocket for about $630, after netting around $1000, from the Satellite event. Not too shabby if you could just cash out instead, giving you an ROI of about 3.35 times the buy-in.

POST GAME SUMMARY:

Not a Deep Stack Tournament. 

Your 160 M is quickly reduced to an M of 40 after the 1st hour with a utility of only 26.7 or about 2.5 orbits to get a couple of playable hands.

You need to double up by the 7th level or the blinds and ante will eat you up because you need to bet about  7.5 to 10 big blinds to win a hand.

This tournament leans heavily toward the LUCK side, as evidenced by the tighter play, and as shown by my final hand. Luck beat me early on, when I figured to win and had the best hand, but didn't show up on my final hand.

Skill Factor: 35.13

Luck Factor: 64.87

You need to double up around Level 7 to keep your Competitive  Stack (CS) above 60 Big Blinds. You can get more aggressive if your Optimal Competitive Stack (OCS) can stay above 60 Big Blinds starting at Level 5, when the Ante kicks in.

The table was running at about 30 hands per  hour or 10 hands per blind change.

Table Type: more tight aggressive than loose or even loose aggressive

Player Types: mostly tight aggressive

I made it to Level 8, a little over 2 hours into the tournament.

Most memorable hand:

Had won a couple of small pots, most raises were in the 3 BB range, both preflop and postflop, still had about 10k in chips when LUCK reared it's ugly head.

At level 4, I had ATs @ DB, everyone folded to me, I raised to 3BB, SB folded, BB called

flop  67T, (2 diamonds) BB checked, I raised to 3BB and was called ,

turn was an A, giving me 2 pair to a possible flush draw, BB raised to 3BB, I went all-in and BB called (I had him covered)

River was a diamond, giving him the nut flush w/A9 of diamonds.

My final hand, @ level 8, in Kill Phil mode with A3 in the BB, everyone folded to me, went all-in with 1325, called by SB who had JQ, flop was xxJ and his pair won when nothing helped me on the turn or the river.

Still not that bad if I would have made it to the bigger event which looks to get about 800 players and $250,000 or more to 1st place.

It should have a Skill Factor of about 177 and a Luck Factor of only about 27, ROI of about 1,087 time your buy-in of $230, which is the only reason to play this satellite. Of course and ROI of about 150 times the $1675 isn't too shabby either.

I NEVER BLUFF

Hollywood Park Casino Celebrity Sit N Go

HPC (Hollywood Park Casino) has a new Sit-N-Go Tournament, currently only on Tuesday @ 8pm (2107)
$3,000 Guarantee. $330 Entry Fee. It's a 10 player, single table event, with $300 of the entry fee going to the prize pool. The $330 entry fee will get you $10,000 in chips  with 20 minute levels starting at 50/100.

Tournament Value:   38.54,
Anything under 50 may not be worth playing and more likely designed to get you back to the cash game tables, but then again, it's on Tuesday.
Could be worth playing with an ROI of 4.94, but being that it's on a Tuesday it's more of a Predator/Prey Tournament.

http://www.mrluckypoker.net/2017/02/hollywood-park-casino-celebrity-sit-n-go.html

Sit and Go Tournaments are not spread very much anymore in the local card rooms. The best one I played in was as Hawaiian Gardens Casino, a three table tournament on weekends. Sadly it went away. Commerce Casino and The Bike run them sometimes during their big event tournaments.
This one is on the fast side but not Turbo, with 20 minute blind changes or 3 times per hour and not deep stacked @ only 100 Big Blinds for an "M" of 100, with a Utility "M" of about 67 Big Blinds.

You reach the Minefield at about Level 4,  which now lowers your (M) to 29 Big Blinds, since you need a minimum of 60 Big Blinds at all times to be competitive, you have to play much more riskier hands.

If your average win/loss rate is 50% and with the ante kicking in, you have only about 30 hands left before you have to play a Kill Phil kind of game. The Minefield section is about 1.5 hours and should end about Level 9, where you will need at least $72.000 in chips to continue at the Bubble Phase and on to the In-the-Money Phase. This tournament only pays the top 2 out of 10.

The Minefield is not too deep at about 6 levels, which means that's where most of the action is going to be as players try to improve their stacks. At level 7, about 2.33 hours into the tournament, it should start getting exciting as short stacks are going ALL-IN and medium stacks get cautious.

You only have about 2 hours to Double Up your stack, which means changing gears could be problematic when you are getting short stacked.

Being a tournament more geared to Luck at 81% than Skill, at about 18%, Tight Passive players are likely to have to make bigger bets than usual, but this one could go on for about 3 hours or more. Haven't seen the results, I don't think Hollywood Park Casino publishes them.

It would be interesting to see if a deeper stacked tournament, with 30 min blinds, and paying 3 players would make the tournament more popular, especially on a weekend.
Maybe 3 tables with 30 players and the top 3 chip stacks at each table make the final 9 and pay the 3 finishers.

I NEVER BLUFF

(M) # big blind bets you can make based on your chip stack size. An indicator of how aggressive you can be on each hand. (named after Paul Magriel.)

(UM) Utility of M, effectiveness of your chip stack size based on total blinds and ante for each round.

Feeling....................... LUCKY!

LUCK

"Chance (Luck ) favors the prepared mind." Louis Pasteur 

Luck will find you if you go looking for it, both the good and the bad, mostly the bad!

        Mental Exercise:

              Note who is playing the most hands, who is playing the least hands. 

                       What is the average raise by the loose aggressive players?

                       Who only calls? 

                       Who folds to raises? 

                       Who is aggressive against draws?

Bad Beats and Bonehead Blunders. 

Are the BBs, giving you the Heebie Jeebies, brought on by belligerent bluffing? 

          Bad Beat = Luck beat the best hand at the Turn or River and no one slow played.

          Bonehead Blunder = the best hand was trapped from the beginning or slow playing resulted 

                         in luck winning at the river. Don't give LUCK a chance to beat you at the river! 

                You have AA and slow play it to the river and get beat.

                You have AA and go all-in, reraising, before or after the flop, and get beat at the river.

One is a Bonehead Blunder and the other is a Bad Beat!

Aggression

The risk of never challenging is always greater than the risk of challenging.

“In a balance of mutual terror, whoever acts first has the advantage!”

Being aggressive before the turn or river, might have caused your opponent to fold, instead of winning on the turn or at the river.

Loose Aggressive players try to manufacture luck by playing a lot of hands. They typically raise out of position when first to play, knowing that the tight passive players are likely to fold their marginal hands. They usually raise around 3 big blinds preflop, which also shuts down the players who have bought in for less than 50 big blinds and players who have less than 50 big blinds. 

Loose Aggressive players want action and will put in 10% of their stack with their marginal hands, middle connected and/or suited hands. When in position, you have to reraise these players with your top 15 hands and call with your top 25 hands. Out of position it's best to just call your top 15 to 20 hands and raise with your top 15 hands.

Experienced tournament players are likely to make a bluffing bet on the river, if they think the other player is a weak or timid player. A bluffing raise is more likely to be used if an experienced player thinks the other player is more concerned about conserving chips in the middle of the tournament.

If sandwiched between an All-in raise and a previous raiser, when an over card comes on the Flop, the raiser is likely to fold a smaller pair to a re-raise. A Semi-bluff should be used more than out-right bluffs, early in tournaments.

The Patience Factor: 

From the controversial book: Arnold Snyder, The Poker Tournament Formula 1. 

            Required Reading for Tournaments: Arnold Snyder's, The Poker Tournament Formula 2.

The blind structure in relation to the number of chips each player starts with is the primary consideration on deciding if you should even enter a tournament, yet alone on what your strategy should be. The lower the patience factor, the more aggressive you have to be.

The lower the patience factor, the more luck prevails over skill.

The best way to get lucky, is to keep your head in the game!

You don't get lucky before the flop.
All luck happens after the flop.
After the flop you must keep this in mind.

• There are two types of hands in Texas Hold'em. 
• A pair or better and a draw to a straight or flush. 
• Every hand played after the flop is a contest between these two types of hands. 
• The draws are broken down to connected cards, gapped cards, suited connectors and suited gapped cards. 
• Anything else isn't worth looking at except when you are heads-up.

Your head can get into a kind of fog when you keep getting marginal hands or no playable hands for a couple of hours at a loose table.When this happens, it's best to take a walk for a few hands, which may help clear your mind a little.

I see a lot of players that change seats or even tables when the cards turn cold. I don't subscribe to the notion that if I change my seat, it will change my luck. You make your own luck, which is what those loose aggressive players are trying to do anyway by playing 80% of the hands and raising 50% or more with them, regardless of position. I love those players, when my head is in the game.

I NEVER BLUFF

Get your head in the game.....................Keep your head in the game!

You know your head isn't in the game, when you think of reasons to abandon the table when you keep losing to marginal hands. The hands are not coming your way and you can't justify playing the marginal hands most loose, as well as loose aggressive, players play just to get lucky on the flop. It's probably best to get up and walk around for a couple of orbits to clear the fog in your brain, or just leave.

Loose tables with loose aggressive players are very profitable, if you keep your head in the game. The low level games are usually loose and often loose aggressive. Loose aggressive tables are where you want to play. 

It's easy to lose focus when you aren't playing well or the hands aren't coming your way. I see a lot of players that change seats or even tables when the cards turn cold. I don't subscribe to the notion that if I change my seat, it will change my luck. You make your own luck, which is what those loose aggressive players are trying to do anyway by playing 80% of the hands and raising 50% or more with them, regardless of position. Some of them often use the straddle to build the pot. It's an action players move. I love those players, when my head is in the game. 

Keep your head in the game and raise the action players with your favorable position and range of hands and you have to know their range of hands.

What do Action Players play?

Loose Aggressive Tables average 4+ players willing to see the flop if the bets are less than 3x BB

LA players tend to bet 2x/3x BB w/Ax, Kx, Broadway connectors, IN or OUT of position.

They are not that concerned about the pot size, as most will raise to build the pot and eliminate tight players. These action players are are looking to get lucky and the only way to minimize their prospecting for luck is to attack them, especially those straddle players.

What do Tight Players play?

TA players will raise more often than Tight Passive players. Both have a similar range of hands, but neither one is a action player. The tight player is more likely to fold when the LA players raise the bet above their threshold of betting less than premium hands. 

IN position the TA players tend to call their bottom range and  raise with their top range of hands. OUT of position the TA players tend to call or raise with their top range of hands and are more dangerous than the action players which will release their hand after the flop, if they haven't hit something and/or don't have a good drawing possibility. Tight Passive and Tight Aggressive players are more likely to hold on when they hit the flop and Tight Aggressive players are more likely to raise when they hit top pair or make a set or better.

KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME.

I NEVER BLUFF

How the Predator and Prey Game evolves at the poker table

Updated 2/11/2017

Poker regulars at work.

OK, this has happened to me, probably you too.
"While the other players at the table played cautiously against one another, they were relentlessly and collectively aggressive against me. Check-raising me, trapping me, slow-playing me with big pairs, going over the top of my feeble raises and bluffing me right into the ATM machine."
It's obvious, most of the players knew one another and I was regarded as the "New Fish" in their pond.

Low-stakes cash games, like those at many of the card rooms around Los Angeles and Las Vegas, are home to the "regulars" of the area. They are there almost every night, they know how they play and they don't play against each other. They are here to work, and it's not just those "retired" old folks that frequent the tables. The lost boys and girls that had to come out of their "on-line" sanctuary when "Black Friday"   came are trolling the tables too. It's a game of cut throat pool when a new player enters the game, only at a poker table with 3 times as many sharks. If the new player isn't in the hand, they limp and check to the river, if it ever goes that far.

Before you enter a cash game, look around the room at several of the tables, if there are more than one. You will certainly find one or two tables where there is some banter among the players, like a good home game, with the usual ego trip by one obnoxious player. Avoid that table, it won't be fun.

Look for a game where people are actually having fun, and you might stand a chance. Find a poker room where there's a lot of young people drinking a lot and making a lot of noise. There are many of them in Vegas and on certain weekends in other card rooms. Look for the acton places in Vegas, conventions, holiday weekends, spring break and during their big special tournaments. You may find a few pros there, but mostly fun loving gamblers like the ones at the craps and roulette tables.

In most other card rooms, like those in Los Angeles or northern California, it's better to only buy into a newly started game, where everyone starts with the same stack size. It's easy to check the board and see how long the waiting list is. If the list is long, there may be a new table opening up. You'll still find the old players that buy in for the minimum and the loose players that buy in for the maximum, but you can choose where you want to start with your chips.

Be aware though, all the money isn't on the table. Many poker rooms won't let you buy in for more than 50 big blinds and most of the players have set an amount they will gamble, so they will reload when their stack gets low. Loose players and gamblers will often reload several times. You should be prepared to reload, at least once, if you want to be profitable in the long run. If you are winning and you decide to pack it up, you may have to wait a certain amount of time before you are allowed to buy in at another new table, check with the floor man.



I NEVER BLUFF

46th Annual World Series of Poker Schedule Unveiled with 68 Events on Tap for 2015

Updated 2/11/2017
Rio® All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to Host Poker’s Most Popular Festival from
May 27 - July 14, 2015

May 29, 2015, Marks Debut of the “Colossus” $565 buy-in, $5,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
The tournament has been dubbed “The Colossus” for good reason as organizers expect it to set new records and become the largest poker tournament ever in terms of field size. In fact, while all is speculation at this point, several WSOP insiders are setting the over-under at a whopping 20,000 entries.

Las Vegas-based pro and New Jersey native Matt Stout, who offers one-on-one poker training through his website, says his basic advice for players entering a huge field event like Colossus is to avoid thinking too much about the big numbers.

“Take it one table at a time and don't overwhelm yourself with the thought of trying to beat out thousands of players” advises Stout. “If you just focus on what’s going on at your table, you “Take it one table at a time and don't overwhelm yourself with the thought of trying to beat out thousands of players” advises Stout. “If you just focus on what’s going on at your table, you won't believe how fast the competition seems to disappear.”

“Don't trick yourself into thinking that you need to drastically change your style in order to accumulate because the field is so big or anything like that. Just play your game and focus on what you can control.”

A number of players will come into the Colossus with a plan to fire multiple bullets, looking to gamble early to build a stack or reenter in a later flight if things don't work out. Stout says there are a number of factors to consider first before taking this approach.won't believe how fast the competition seems to disappear.”

“Don't trick yourself into thinking that you need to drastically change your style in order to accumulate because the field is so big or anything like that. Just play your game and focus on what you can control.”

A number of players will come into the Colossus with a plan to fire multiple bullets, looking to gamble early to build a stack or reenter in a later flight if things don't work out. Stout says there are a number of factors to consider first before taking this approach.

It’s a real minefield out there in big field events and luck and variance play an even bigger role than normal. But Stout says that’s not something with which players should concern themselves too greatly.

Huge Increase in Starting Chips! Who doesn’t love more chips to start play? New for 2015, the WSOP has significantly adjusted upward the starting stack for all WSOP events that have a buy-in under $10,000. The new starting stacks for these events will be as follows:

$565 buy-in: 5,000 starting chips (Colossus, new event; 10 times the buy-in, same as last year’s Monster Stack)
$777 buy-in: 5,000 starting chips (new buy-in level this year, treated like a $1k event) – 100 big blinds
$1,000 buy-in: 5,000 starting chips (increase of 66% over 2014) – 100 big blinds
$1,500 buy-in: 7,500 starting chips (increase of 66% over 2014) – 150 big blinds
$2,500 buy-in: 12,500 starting chips (increase of 66% over 2014) – 167 big blinds
$3,000 buy-in: 15,000 starting chips (increase of 66% over 2014) – 200 big blinds
$5,000 buy-in: 25,000 starting chips (increase of 66% over 2014) – 250 big blinds




UPDATE:

World Series of Poker’s ‘Colossus’ tournament sets record with 22,374 entrants
WSOP officials said Sunday the $565 buy-in “Colossus” No-limit Texas Hold'em tournament drew 22,374 entrants at the Rio Convention Center, easily surpassing the 2006 Main Event, which held the old mark with 8,773 entrants


WSOP officials said there were 25,571 paid entries for the “Colossus” event, but the official number came down due to no-shows, voids and players who survived after buying into multiple starting flights.

The winner of the “Colossus” will earn $638,880, and the total prize pool of $11,187,000 is more than double the $5 million guaranteed by tournament officials. The minimum prize is $1,096 for 2,241st place.

I NEVER BLUFF

The Three Strategic Principles of Poker

Updated 2/11/2017

Playing poker well involves more than knowing which cards beat what. It involves more than memorizing the percentages and odds. It involves more than being able to detect tells from changes in someone’s posture, or in the way they glanced at their chips. Understanding the overriding principles of poker is far more important and valuable than being “a good bluffer”. The basic principles of poker override all correct strategies and playing styles.

Here are the principles:

Patience

Patience is the key to successful poker. Whether you are playing in a cash game, or a tournament, you will need this attribute to be a consistent winner. Most hands that you are dealt in poker are not worth playing, and if you start playing trash hands, then your results will usually be trash too.

Occasionally you will be dealt unplayable cards hand after hand. It will seem that you are never going to get any worthwhile cards again, and you will be tempted to play a rubbish hand just because you haven’t played any for a while. Don’t let it get to you. All good players go through stretches where they have bad cards and have to fold, over and over again. Patience is one of the main points that separate the good players from the bad. Patience is more important in Sit and Go tournaments and most important in Cash or Ring games.

Bide your time, and only play hands when your cards and the situation are both right.

Aggression

Once you get the cards that you were waiting for, aggression becomes paramount. It is no good to get dealt AA, if all that happens is that you checked and called on each round of betting, only to get beat on the river when they catch a card that fits their draw.

If you have a hand that is likely to be the best, BET!
If someone bets first, and you still think that your hand is better than their hand, RAISE. Get as much money into the pot as you can. Get it all in if your hand is strong enough and your opponent is inclined to play along with you.

When betting with a strong hand you either want to get more money into the pot when someone calls you with a worse hand, or you want to win the pot immediately (which stops a worse hand from getting lucky and hitting a card that would beat you).  Sometimes your opponent will call with a worse hand, and then beat you with a lucky card anyway. Don't let that bother you. As long as you get your money in as a favorite, you've played correctly.

Using aggression to get maximum value from good hands, is one of the most important principles of poker.

Deception

The deception principle is this: all actions you take must contain at least an element of deception.

It is very important in poker that you don’t allow your opponents to learn exactly how you play. If you are playing Texas Hold'em and raise to $20 when you have Aces, $18 when you have Kings, $16 when you have Queens, $14 when you have Jacks etc, it won't take long for your opponents to work out what you are doing.

But if you raise with Aces 85% of the time, and 15% of the time just call or limp, then your opponents can't ever be completely certain what you have. Use your watch, your second hand specifically, to make random plays.

Randomness is the key to deception.

Look at your watch when you have to make that decision, if the second hand is on between the 9 and the 12, go ahead and limp. It's a random bet and it will keep them from pushing you too often. Using 10 to 12, if out of position, is about 17% (counting the 12) and using 9 to 12, in position, is about 23% (not counting the 12). Randomness will keep them guessing and improve your tight image.

Raising the same amount whenever you decide to raise also makes it harder for your opponents to work out what you have. Let’s say you decide to raise to 2 big blinds about 85% of the times that you are dealt AA, KK, QQ, AK, or AQ, and just call the other 15% of the time. Now it becomes very hard for your opponents to work out what you have. Because you are usually raising with good hands (as you should) but occasionally just calling with exactly the same hands, you make yourself harder to read.

Let’s take the concept a step further. Let’s say you decide on a strategy that involves calling with pocket 2’s through to pocket 10s, and you decide 80% of the time is a good percentage to call. The remaining 20% of the time you raise.

Now even if your opponents knew your strategy exactly, they still wouldn’t know if your raise means that you have AA or just 22. They can't tell what you have when you just call either, because you might have 44, or you might have AK.

You have made your moves much more difficult for your opponents to read, and anything that makes your opponents’ job harder, is to your advantage.

If you can master these three principles of poker, then you should be the one walking away with the money.

I NEVER BLUFF

Limping & Sun-Tzu

Updated 2/11/2017

I was watching one of the poker shows on TV, I try to record most of them. One of the announcers asked the other, "I wonder what The Art of War (Sun-Tzu) has to say about limping?"
Being a advocate of The Art of War and Poker, I thought I'd take a look at it. There has already been a good book on the subject written by David Apostolico, Tournament Poker and the Art of War, and there is also a web site devoted to it. Sun Tzu's Art of Poker

From "The Art of War" by Sun-Tzu
In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack:
the direct -betting/raising- and the indirect -checking/limping-;
These two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.
The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn.

It is like moving in a circle — you never come to an end.

    (It's also an effective act of randomness to keep your opponent off balance.)

Masking strength with weakness is effected by tactical dispositions.
Thus one who is skillful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to which the enemy will act.
He sacrifices something, (so) the enemy may snatch at it.

• Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline,
• Simulated fear postulates courage; 
• Simulated weakness postulates strength. It's all part of the Lying Game of Poker!

If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he (is) sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch -a wall of chips-. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve (defend).
If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way -Randomness.

• The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided.

By holding out baits -limping/slow playing-, he keeps him on the march; then with a body of picked men he lies in wait for him.
By holding out advantages -showing weakness- to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or, by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.

Whoever is first -to act-with -active or passive Aggression- in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle - will arrive exhausted.
Patience is a virtue in poker, more so in cash games than tournament, however, 

“In a balance of mutual terror, whoever ACTS FIRST has the ADVANTAGE!"

• Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.

Numerical weakness - lack of chips - comes from having to prepare against possible attacks. Numerical strength -many chips-, (by) compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.

• Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting. 
• Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success.

If we are able thus to attack an inferior force with a superior one, our opponents will be in dire straits.

• When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped.

Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances -Randomness and Deciet- .

"Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows"; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.
Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics -Randomness- in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.

• So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.

So, Limping is a weakness than can mask strength.

I NEVER BLUFF

Hollywood Park Poker & Ponies 10k guaranteed

Updated 2/11/2017

OK, now the Racetrack is gone, but the casino is still there and going thru some type of transformation. Haven't been there since the racetrack closed, so I'll have to update this if and when I go back.

The tournaments there were mostly based on LUCK, not really too much skill involved. In other words, this tournament was not “Kessler Approved.” Then again, none of the tournament anywhere were. Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler is a Team Pro for Ivey Poker. He is considered one of the most consistent live poker players with dozens of cashes and numerous final table finishes.

Kessler has become a voice for players, demanding more chips, more play, extra levels, and more. Providing further evidence that his opinions on tournament structures are valued, the fledgling Mid-States Poker Tour went as far as to Kessler out for input and now advertises that its structures are “Chainsaw Approved.”

They had a poker tournament there called Hollywood Park Poker & Ponies 10k guaranteed

This was a crap shoot.
But I actually won a couple of them and finished in the money a few times.

Patience vs Speed and Utility

Low Patience Factor makes it a fast tournament and Low Utility limits your skill.

In an aggressive game, the teaser 1st level may give you one or two hands to try to make a good play. After the 1st level you are down to 30 or less Big Blinds if you haven't doubled up. Starting the 3rd level you are down to one or two playable hands! The Minefield started at Level 5.

Good Luck, because that's what you need to make it far in this crap shoot.

The poker room at Hollywood Park Casino has made some great changes since the racetrack was torn down. Looking for greater games and tournaments yet to come.

I NEVER BLUFF

Binion's $100 Daily Deep Stack PF & UF

Updated 2/11/2017

The end of a great era! The only reason to venture down to Old Las Vegas is to view the overhead show and get a souvenir from Binion's and the Golden Nugget Casino. It's lost the glory of the Rat Pack days. Most of the casinos there are looking like a shabby image of their former life. There's a haze outside as well as inside the casinos. It's where people go to smoke in the casino and use the penny slots. It's the poor stepchild of modern Las Vegas, the black sheep of the family.

Binion's deep stack tournament is still good to play, just to say you did. The tournament is good for the first hour or so, you can still use some skill to grow your stack. Depends on how many enter the tournament.
Patience vs Speed and Utility

I NEVER BLUFF

Patience vs Speed & Utility

Updated 2/11/2017

https://sites.google.com/site/ljmangold/home/poker-strategy/patience-vs-speed-and-utility
From Arnold Snyder's Tournament Formula Poker 2
A must read for any tournament player, it's all about Deep Stack Poker tournaments.

The blind structure in relation to the number of chips each player starts with is the primary consideration on deciding if you should even enter a tournament, yet alone on what your strategy should be. The lower the patience factor, the more aggressive you have to be. The lower the patience factor, the more luck prevails over skill. 

The Patience or Speed Factor (PF) is the first step in determining how, or even if, you should play any tournament.

First you need the tournament structure sheet that shows how many chips you start with, what the starting blinds are and how often they are raised.

Starting Chips = $1000       Full Table (9 players)
Level    Blinds+Anties    Total    Time til blinds raise    Cumulative    M (# Big Blinds)
   1          25/25              50            20 Minutes            50             (40) (1000/25)
   2          25/50              75            20 Minutes           125            
   3          50/100          150            20 Minutes           275 
                                     (end of 1st hour)
   4         100/200          300            20 Minutes           575  
   5         100/200+25     425            20 Minutes          1000  

The amount of time it takes to "Blind Off" all your chips, without ever actually making a bet, is the Patience Factor, also the beginning the Minefield. In the above example you will be out of chips after 1 hour and 40 minutes, or 1.67 hours. Square that and you have the (PF) Patience Factor, in this case, 2.76 (Level 1). Which means you will most likely be all-in on the first hand you play, if you have to go to the river, as this would be a FAST Tournament. Anything less the Level 4, is a short stack tournament, no need to even look at the Utility Factor (UF).

(PF) Patience Factor Skill Level
1.49 or less	0
1.50 to 2.99	1
3.00 to 4.49	2
4.50 to 5.99	3
6.00 to 7.49	4
7.50 to 9.99	5
10.00 and up	6

The Minefield portion of the tournament is where you will see many players, mostly short stacked, making a last ditch effort to remain in the tournament or chip leaders trying to pick-off the dead money. This is also where players try to get past the bubble. Lots of All-in betting.

 The Utility Factor (UF) is the 2nd step in determining how, or even if, you should play any tournament. Think again that your chips are ammunition, not just chips. The more chips you have, the better you can utilize them. The higher your utility factor, the more power and flexibility you have. Your utility is based on having at least an "M" of 60, In the above example, you are only 67% competitive. Divide your "M" by the basic competitive "M", to give you your competitive factor, in this case 40/60 = .67 "U" (utility). Multiply your Patience Factor times your "U" to get your Utility Factor, in this case it's, 1.79.

Clearly this is not a tournament worth playing, but it is typical for a "Shoot Out" Tournament where the winner of each table meets at the final table to play for the big prize, and starting chips may be doubled.

Your Utility Factor (UF) can range from 0 to over 200, which gives you ranks from 0 to 6.

A range from 0 to 40 and a rank of 0 to 2 is a short stacked tournament. A range from 41 to 100 gives you a ranking from 3 to 4 and good utility. A range from 101 to over 200 gives you a ranking from 5 to 6 and full utility.

UTILITY FACTOR
Quick Reference Chart (Adjusted to Patience Factor)
	Utility Factor	Rank	Comments
Short                         Stacked	0-5	0	Not a pro-level event, a crapshootat best.	KP
	6-20	1	Low utility from the start, take early risks to double up, mostlyLong Ball, often a crapshoot by midpoint in tournament.	RCB
	21-40	2	Low utility by second hour, some small ball may be possible in early levels, go for an early double-up. Very fast in-the-money portion	Zone
Deep            Stacked	41-60	3	About two hours of competitive utility, more Small Ball is possible, fast by the money phase, good for aggressive semi-pros, still some ability to play at the final table.	AoW
	61-100	4	Good utility for small ball, more trouble for amateurs, early chip accumulation can keep utility until the end, becomes mostly Long Ball by the money portion.	AoW/SB
	101-200	5	Full utility possible all the way to the final table, pros will dominate, Small Ball skills will pay well.	SB/SA
	201+	6	Full utility from start to finish, pros rule, amateurs will be knocked out, high-end poker skills and top tournament skills required.	M/C

If you are not using these to determine which tournament relies more on Skill or Luck, you might as well be playing Roulette.

I NEVER BLUFF