| James Van Alstyne |
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| Poker Pro's Corner - Poker Pro's Corner | |||
 James Van Alstyne is an engineer turned blackjack player turned poker player. His current profession the latter, he has made a successful career out of his decision to make a life for himself around the green felt. Ranked in tournament poker for more than ten years, Van Alstyne has been a very consistent player. James Van Alstyne is an engineer turned blackjack player turned poker player. His current profession the latter, he has made a successful career out of his decision to make a life for himself around the green felt. Ranked in tournament poker for more than ten years, Van Alstyne has been a very consistent player. He has $2.8 million in cashes, including ten WSOP cashes, four World Poker Tour final tables and 11 tournament wins. How do you spot a good game? What should you be looking for? – Trapped in Rural Wisconsin Predictable players who do not mix up their game make for a profitable situation! So, even a table full of tight players is a good spot, if the players are not creative. Of course, the main indicator of a good game is a series of displayed hands that leave one bewildered as to their rationale. When should you look at your hand? Do you really need to wait until it is your turn? – Just Looking, Detroit, Michigan It doesn’t matter. Just try to remain impassive and act in the same manner regardless of hand strength. When watching other people look at their hands, what kind of tells are you looking for? – If I Only Had a Clue, Atlantic City, New Jersey The reflexive glance toward chips is one. Another is the sudden glance or interest directed toward the blinds. If the player takes awhile before deciding, it’s worthwhile to know if that delay is a legitimate decision about a borderline situation or just an acting job with a strong hand. When are you priced in to call a raise with a marginal hand? – Any Two Cards, Las Vegas The most common time that this situation arises is when a player tries to attack the blinds from late position and the button or one of the blinds goes all-in with a relatively short stack. If the original raiser is getting 3-1 pot odds, he should usually call with any two cards. A hand like 5-6 suited has roughly 40 percent equity vs. A-K and your opponent’s range must include A-K. A typical situation is to be in this spot with a hand like Q-10 offsuit. Q-10 is almost certainly the inferior hand, but nonetheless has equity in the pot. The exact equity is always a tricky number to estimate in any poker game. It depends on the opponent’s range of hands weighted by the corresponding expected value versus those hands. As a general guideline, if I’m getting 2-1 against an aggressive player, then I’ll usually be inclined to call with two high cards, e.g. Q-10, even if I think my opponent has a real hand. In a tournament there are two early limpers in the pot – blinds 50-100 with average stack 3000. You raise late with 10-10, one player calls behind you and two limpers call you. Flop comes Q-J-5 rainbow. They both check – are you always continuation betting here? – Where Did My Chips Go? West Palm Beach, Florida There is not enough information to answer this question, but “always make the continuation bet” is definitely a wrong answer. I would often bet this flop, but my approach to the hand would be highly dependent on the opponents. In particular, how would these opponents be inclined to respond with hands like 9-10, K-10, A-5, J-10, K-J and A-J? If they are inclined to check-raise with these hands, then I would be more inclined to check the flop. If they are inclined to call or even fold with these hands, then I would bet the flop about 85 percent of the time. Assuming that the original raise is to 300, the pot is about 1000, so a bet of about 600-700 would be right. That would leave the raiser with 2000-2100 if called. This amount is probably an adequate amount for bluffing if the player with 10-10 perceives weakness from the caller. Of course, further decisions are highly dependent on the opponent in question and the turn card. When is a stop-and-go [see sidebar] the right play? A-K to a button-raise when you are short in the small blind? – NBA Player, Sacramento, California If you are convinced the big blind is going to fold, then I think your stop-and-go play is good provided you have zero fold equity preflop. If the big blind might call or if the original raiser might fold preflop, then I think an all-in reraise is correct with a short stack. One play that sometimes works is to try the stop-and-go with a small or mid-size pair when a preflop reraise would have no chance of inducing a fold. How much should my game be opening up short-handed? I heard you should play any hand with two overcards or any pair. Is this the case? – Tall Texan, Houston As far as short-handed hold’em is concerned, my best advice is that you should ask a better player than me for advice. However, in the spirit of this column, I’ll give my response, prefaced with the warning that I am certainly not an expert. Short-handed, you should definitely play any pair and regard this holding as a strong hand. In no-limit hold’em, if the chip stacks are not deep, then suited connectors lose a lot of their value and should be played conservatively. One general rule is that “trouble hands” such as K-Q offsuit, A-6 suited, Q-10, etc., become much stronger and should therefore be played in an aggressive manner. Is floating more effective in cash games than in tournaments? I feel like when I do it in tournaments, I end up with most of my stack in there with nothing. – Janice, Council Bluffs, Iowa I agree that floating works better in cash games. In tournaments, the chips aren’t real money and some players develop an all-in mentality whereby they mentally commit their chips once they’ve put a certain amount in the pot. Cash-game players seem to have more regard for their chips/cash. I always lose in sit-n-gos and tournaments when I play heads-up. What is some key advice to playing heads-up? Where can I get more practice? – Gary G., Pendleton, Oregon If you’re always losing heads-up, then your play is too tight. David Sklansky calculated that even a player who moves all-in every hand should win roughly one out of three heads-up matches if the players start with equal chips. So stop waiting for overly strong hands and play more aggressively. In what instance would you fold K-K or Q-Q preflop? A bunch of raises and multiple players in the pot? If you raise with K-K and get reraised by a tight player, can you just flat-call there instead of reraising or folding? – Honest John, Milwaukee I’m going to restrict my response to tournament play. If I have two kings in a tournament, I’m willing to commit all my chips preflop in almost any situation. If my opponent has aces and eliminates me, well, I can just go play in the side games. So, no, I would never just flat-call with the intention of folding on a no-king flop. Two queens are a much riskier commitment. However, I still only lay this hand down preflop if I have a reliable read of strength from that particular player. These answers may seem loose and reckless but on numerous occasions, opponents have lain down hands against me and said they had K-K or Q-Q. Naturally, some of these statements may have been fabrications, but it has happened often enough that some of the instances must have been true (and almost always the wrong decision).
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