ABSOLUTE POKER

These are some important rules you need to know about the World Poker Tour:

Rule 1: Game Play

The World Poker Tour plays no limit Texas Holdem, which is a far different poker game than the Texas Holdem games you see in most casino and home games, which limit the amount of bets and raises to pre-determined amounts.

In no limit, any player can bet any amount on any turn. As such, “Going all in,” (Betting a players entire bankroll on one bet) is a common occurrence, which makes for a game of exciting and unpredictable aggression.

As the game play is the same, the betting is what differentiates the no limit game. There are four primary differentiating factors, as follows:

Rule 2: Increasing Blinds

To create a sense of urgency, the blinds in a no limit tournament increase steadily at pre-determined time intervals. This means that players who sit back and watch too frequently risk getting their bankrolls slowly eaten by the increasing blinds.

Rule 3: The All-in Factor

Knowing that any opponent can go all-in on any turn definitely amplifies the decision of whether to play a hand or not, especially if one or more players has already actively moved money into the pot.

In a limit game, especially low limit games, it’s not uncommon to see four or five players playing a hand. In no limit, usually only two or three players will contend any given pot, and there’s a lot of head to head play.

The option to go all in on any turn makes it a lot easier to run others out of a given hand. On one side of the coin, players with the best hand can make it extremely costly for others to play drawing hands. On the other side, bluffs tend to carry substantially more weight when elimination is put on the line.

Rule 4: Fewer Players in Each Hand

Partially because of the all-in factor, but also because of the nature of a tournament, there tend to be fewer players contending for each pot in a game like those played on the World Poker Tour. By definition, in tournament play, there is a natural attrition of players at the table.

As each player runs out of money, the number of players sitting at the table shrinks by one. In contrast to a typical Texas Holdem game in a casino where there are usually seven to nine players sitting at the table at all times, the number of players sitting at the table in a no limit tournament starts at eight and slowly approaches the final two.

As such, fewer players are involved in the average hand. Additionally, as the number of players at the table decreases, the relative strength of poker hands change.

Rule 5: Bankroll Management

Knowing how to play the cards is only half the battle in no limit games like the World Poker Tour. The other half of the battle is knowing how to use your bankroll, and how your strategy should change given how your bankroll compares your opponents.