How to be a Winner at High Stakes

A lot of mid stakes NL cash players ask me what I think it takes to make the jump from middle stakes games to high stakes games. There is no one answer, there is no magical formula for being a competitor with the best. The answer lies in bringing out the best in yourself, as well as a few technical aspects.

Don’t Sell Yourself Short

Far too often I see people making decisions that they feel is “standard” because they are afraid of thinking outside the box. Poker at the lower stakes can be algorithmic, but at the higher stakes when you are playing against truly thinking opponents, following a set of guidelines or rules will get you crushed in no time. I can think of many occasions when looking at a friends’ hand history, or while coaching a student of mine, they have said things like “I really don’t know if I am good enough to fold kings here,” or “I don’t think I am at the point in my game where I can fold a set.” My head nearly explodes when I hear this. If you EVER want to make it in poker, you have got to have confidence in yourself. This doesn’t mean you should ignore game selection, and ignore advice from other players because you should think you are the best, but the only way you will improve is if you truly test yourself at the table.

A few months ago, I made a fold with two kings preflop, that I think most players would say was very non-standard. I was playing live 5/10 at Turning Stone, and I had about 780 in my stack (I recently lost a pot and hadn’t reloaded). A very tight online player opened under the gun for 40. The table was 7 or 8 handed, and the player 2 to the left of the UTG player reraised to 110. I thought about either pushing or flat calling, and opted to flat call, because I thought there was a good chance they would be able to fold hands as good as QQ and AK there if I shoved. It was folded back to the under the gun player who reraised to 400 straight. The utg+2 player thought for roughly 15 seconds before folding, and it was back to me. At first, I almost instantly shoved my stack in, before I stopped to think. Effective stacks from my perspective were 78 big blinds, but both UTG and UTG+2 both had over 2500. This means that while I am playing only 78bb effective, the real decision should be made keeping in mind the 2 other players’ stacks, and how they would play 250bb deep. I thought for roughly 5 minutes, before realizing that UTG really had a range of KK+, and very rarely would make this play with anything worse. Why? Think about it. UTG+2 showed a LOT of strength by reraising an under the gun raise, and followed by my flat call for almost 15% of my stack, there is just no way he is making a move, so we can remove all semi bluffy hands. Can he have QQ or AK? Almost always the answer will be no. What hands can he expect to get value from if he repops those hands? He knows both me and UTG+2 will be folding EVERY worse hand, there is just no way we are sticking it in with JJ or AQ there. I folded the kings face up and the player was kind enough to show two aces.

When I told some friends about my fold, I was very surprised to hear a lot of good players say “I could never fold KK preflop for 78 big blinds.” In my opinion, that is just a classic cop out of making reads. It is as if you have two sides of your poker brain. The side that makes reads and has instincts, and then there is the side that knows what you are “supposed” to do. Probably over 95% of the time, if you rely on the latter side, you will make the right choice. But there are times when if you really want to go above and beyond, you will have to be creative.

Play Heads Up

Even if you aren’t a heads up player, you should try to become one. I know of a few good 6-max players who never play heads up, but I know a lot more great 6-max player who are great heads up players. Heads up poker is simply poker in its purest and most beautiful form. In no other game are there so many psychological and mental battles going on than in heads up. Playing heads up forces you to play weak hands, forces you to really put yourself in difficult situations, and above all forces you to make reads much more frequently than 6-max or full ring does.

I have a friend, who shall remain nameless, who taught me more than anyone about game selection. His policy? Play everyone, sit out versus no one. I definitely do not do that, there are a few players who I will not play, but it definitely forced me to think about why I don’t play certain regulars. No longer do I ever sit out versus someone based solely on reputation. There are many players who have a great reputation, who have huge leaks. When I began to play good players heads up, is when I truly developed my heads up game. I was able to see firsthand how to exploit common heads up leaks, and it forced me to plug my own leaks. If you only play fish heads up, you will make money, but you will NEVER get better. Do not be a bum hunter.

Keep in mind, I am NOT saying you should play everyone, I am not saying anything like that. If there are players who are significantly better than them, by all means avoid them. If you see a player who you think you are an even match for, by all means give them a shot. Maybe just play them on 1 table for an hour, just to test yourself. Maybe do this only once every two weeks. It doesn’t really matter, as long as you occasionally test yourself, and force yourself to think at a higher level.

Exercise Game Selection

Game selection is not simply about finding a 6 max game with a minimum number of fish. It goes far beyond that. I have on several occasions seen some friends in games which they definitely should not have been. I tell them I think they don’t have an edge in the game and they typically respond “But dude! Fish xyz is in the game!” They say this when they have a huge nit on their right, and a great loose aggressive player to their left, and 3 other great players are in the game plus ONE fish. This isn’t a good situation. Game selection is also about seat selection. You will not be taking the fishes’ money if you are going to get spanked by better regulars sitting to your left.

Good seat selection means you want looser player to your right, and tighter ones to your left. If you are playing 3 handed you may want to take position on the better player, and there are plenty of example where you might want to mix up your seating, but do not assume that if you are playing with a huge whale, and there are 8 of the best players in the world at the table that you will be a winner.

High stakes truly is all about game selection. Above 25/50, games hardly ever run. Why? Because every big stakes player practices good game selection, and a game will not run if there is no fish. At lower stakes, game selection is not nearly as important because the regulars are so much worse, though you should still consider it.

Leave Your B-Game at Home

So many players say “man when I am playing my A-game, I am unstoppable,” or some variation with the same meaning. It is probably better to constantly play very good, than occasionally play amazing, with frequent stretches of mediocrity. At high stakes, the margin for error is so amazingly small, that the few times you play great will be meaningless compared to the times that you slip up and get smoked. If you are consistently playing your B-game, you may as well call it your A-game, and what you think is your A-game, is just a fluke occurrence. At higher stakes the swings are mentally crushing at times, and if you cannot withstand >20 buy in downswings every so often, stick to the lower stakes. Being able to play your A-game through the downswing is a skill that so few people possess, but the ones who have it are the ones who crush.

Never, ever, EVER, accept mediocrity. If you aren’t willing to play your absolute best in a session, then go play video games, or go for a walk, or scratch your ass for an hour. It doesn’t matter, but you start a session and you really aren’t feeling mentally prepared, then you are being an irresponsible gambler.

Conclusion

I don’t have much else to say. I truly believe every winning mid stakes player could be a winning high stakes player. There is no amazing intuition in 25/50 players that lower stakes players are unable to attain. It is simply about bettering yourself in every aspect of the game. Never accept mediocrity from yourself. Poker is not just a card game. It is a people game.