Poker Tips From Paul Wasicka
Paul Wasicka is the second winner of the 2006 World Series of Poker taking home more than 6 million dollars. He managed to beat the other 8,771 players and reach the final table, where he and Jamie Gold battle it out for the championship title. Paul managed to reach the final table by avoiding being caught in the showdown between players with chip leads. Here are some of the tips from Paul Wasicka that may be of aid to poker players who also wants to win huge amounts of money just like him.
According to Paul, the most critical part of surviving in a tournament is learning how to control the pot of the game. In layman's term, a player should be playing big pots when he or she has a big hand and small pots for small hands. If you and your opponent are already deep in stack, you should pay much attention to your opponent's reactions and playing style when you enter a pot. You should pay attention to how the flop is oriented.
Before committing chips to the pot, you must first try to indentify the other players who are likely to be in the same hand with you. If you are in a table where your opponents plays whatever hand they have, you may want to play small pots unless you are sure that you have the winning hand. Only call big bets if and only you have one of the winning hands after the flop.
For example you have pocket Queens, the player who has been wildly calling all the pre-flop raises also calls your raise and the flop comes with a Jack, a nine and a seven. You have to be very attentive with the reaction of the aggressive player here. Most likely, the aggressive player will put you to test and try to push you off the hand.
It is highly recommended that in cases like this, you do check-raising or check-calling rather than going on a continuous bet that allows your opponent to re-raise the bet. This aggressive player would probably try to push you off your hand by making a large bet after the river or the turn. Be calm in reading your opponents moves and methods of playing because this can help you decide if you can win the showdown or not.
These types of players are usually the ones that will allow you to easily control the pot. This is because you will be able to turn the table by calling or re-raising their initial bets. With this, you can easily manage how much bet you are going to give for the hand you have.
Controlling the pot is what helped Paul Wasicka win second place in the 2006 World Series of Poker. These tips are just some of the methods he used in order to best the other 8,771 players of the game. If you want to win it like him, it is good to consider these tips.
