STRATEGY CONSIDERATIONS

Table Make up and Break order

It's been sparse on the blog reports but I've been vacationing and haven't been motivated to dance on the keyboard. Rest and sleep have been the top priority while the balance of days have been spent entertaining the kids. I'm reading Jerry Jenkin's new novel Riven, which is captivating. Getting my kids to read with me is the chore of the day for them...and me.

We are in Toronto now and went to the Blue Jays game the other day. It's the first time my youngest Spencer has travelled to another country, if you consider Canada another country being right next door. But hey, you got to go to the neighbors house before heading off the block right? It's been a great summer vacation for them and to have the time to spend with them and take a break from the daily grind of the tournament trail is special.

I decided to go through some strategy notes of mine and share them with you. I'm sure a lot of you consider breaking order and your table make-up and incorporate it into your play so this will serve only as an important reminder even if it is already part of your discipline. Remembering that these two factors are important strategy considerations;

Table make upTable break order

You have to take advantage of tables that have weak or inexperienced players. There will be times throughout the tournament that you are seated in a bad position or on a very tough table where the chips are not easy to win without a hand or specific situation. Therefore when opportunities present themselves with good table draws you must take advantage of that situation by maximizing the value of your opportunity by expanding your starting hand requirements and exploiting your experience throughout the play of the hand.

Also, in regard to break order. It does no good to establish an image and gain knowledge of your opponents if your one of the first tables to break. Knowing your table break order is necessary in prioritizing your strategy. Are you going to be sitting with these players all day or for just a few levels?

Table make up and your break order then weigh heavy on your strategy considerations. So now let

RATE THE TABLE by scoring each player and come up with a table total:

Knowledge of opponents or known prosObservation of play of handsTable mood and style of play

You may want to use a point system and rate players giving certain considerations such as:

1. Pros 1 for over a million in winnings or any major win1 for proper strategy1 for experience

Unknowns Score 1 point for each person that has proper hand frequency and understanding of the value of hands based on positionScore 1 for fearlessness or aggressivenessScore 1 for creativity and level of experience

Table Mood. Sometimes regardless of the players the table make up is such that everyone is gambling and playing crazy by making a lot of mistakes and just playing bad. Other times the table is not giving anything up and is battened down like a ship in a stormy sea. Use your judgment and use a scale from 1-10 with 1 being loose and 10 being solid.

So this now would give you a system on defining your tournament situation based on your table make up and breaking order in developing a proper strategy.

Enjoy the Journey,

Kenna