Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 1 (66 page)

If there are a lot of short stacks likely to push over your raise, you should just fold your weaker hands like 7-4. If there are no antes in play, you would have to win 36 percent of the time to break even, making the 7-4 an easy fold.

Now, assume you raise and an average player pushes on you. You expect his range to be something like 7-7+, A-10+, K-J+, Q-10s+, and J-10s. Assume again that you are getting 2-to-1. You should now call with 2-2, 8-8, A-4 and A-J, and fold 7
-6
, J
-10
, K-10 and 7-4. In this example K-10, J
-10
and 7
-6
are close to being calls, although they are only marginally above the break-even point, so you should fold them.

If an abnormally tight player pushes with something like 8-8+, A-J+ and K-Q, your calling range shrinks right up. You can still call with 2-2, 8-8 and A-J, but you should fold 7
-6
, J
-10
, A-4, K-10 and 7-4.

Few players have a set range of hands that they push over raises in every situation. Most players will see you raising a fairly wide range and will compensate by pushing more hands. Some players will never get an inch out of line. Figure out each player so you can call appropriately. I suggest you spend a lot of time experimenting with an online poker equity calculator. It will be time well spent.

Isolating Versus Calling

If a player goes all-in, you have him covered and you have a hand you want to play, you must decide whether to call or re-raise. This decision generally depends on your stack size, the size of the push, your hand and your position. The purpose of re-raising the pusher is to get heads-up and maximize your chances of winning the hand.

When the pusher is very short-stacked, around 6BBs or less, you should almost always re-raise because if you just call, more opponents behind you may do the same. Even if the button pushes for 5BBs and you are in the small blind with less than 35BBs, push with any hand you want to play. If you have more 35BBs, you can min-re-raise to around 11BBs and fold if the big blind pushes. In fact, if you decide to isolate a 5BB push from any position, you should usually min-re-raise because few players will push without a very premium hand. Notice that if you have less than 35BBs and re-raise to 11BBs, you’ll be getting around 2-to-1 if a player behind shoves, forcing you to call, so shoving is almost always the best play.

To determine which hands are best for isolating, think about the short stack’s pushing range, which will usually be fairly wide, and determine how your hand performs against that range. Since you should already know how to figure this out, I will be brief.