Pro’s Corner – Amit Makhija

Shortly after graduating from the University of Minnesota Amit Makhija, dove straight into his poker career. In his first year on the tour he had 12 cashes, including five final tables. In 2008 Amit took fifth in the WSOP $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship and then went on to take second at the WPT Legends of Poker. His first big win came in late 2008 online in the $5,200 FTOPS event, where he took down the $550,000 first prize. Makhija was also recently hand-picked by Doyle Brunson to be a part of the Brunson 10 and represent DoylesRoom.com. He answers readers’ questions this month. 

I am confused when I get to be the big stack in a sit-n-go or final table. What is the best way to play a big stack?–        Shorty, Laughlin, Nevada 

Usually the best way to play a big stack at a final table is super aggressively. This is because every spot is a pay jump at a final table, and ICM dictates that the other large stacks need a much bigger hand than average to play back at you because of the fear of getting less money, since you can bust them and they cannot bust you. The shorter stacks in turn usually try to wait around until someone else busts so they too can move up the money ladder. This results in you winning a lot of dead chips without showdown. 

Is playing for play money (competition-wise) anything like playing for real money? Is there a HUGE difference in skill level between people playing for play money online and people playing for real money?–        Tom D., Wales 

Play money can be very fun to play for, and can be very helpful if you aren’t clear on the rules of the game, or if you are very much a beginner, but play money is vastly different than even the smallest stakes real-money tables. The reason for this discrepancy is that when people aren’t playing for anything that matters, they just are looking to gamble and have fun – they are mostly going all in and seeing what happens to the chips. When playing play money people don’t usually go on tilt or have to worry about important concepts like bankroll management (because your bankroll gets reloaded every time you bust.) There is a vast difference in how the game is played from play money to even $.01-$.02 no-limit.  

How should I play pocket deuces in a sit-n-go? 

This is very sit-n-go dependent, and I admittedly don’t play many sit-n-gos these days but I think the standard is to limp in during early blind levels in small-stakes sit-n-gos and try to see a cheap flop and hope to hit a set. In higher buy-in sit-n-gos, from early position you generally should fold them in the early stages, and raise wit them from the button and cutoff. The reason being that people are too good at the high-stakes sit-n-gos to play your hand so face up by limping in, and they will isolate you with a wide range of hands and they will often not pay you when you hit.

In the later stages of a sit-n-go when stacks are very shallow, often you are looking to shove all-in when you are first in the pot with pocket deuces from most positions, assuming you have 15 big blinds or less. 

When moving up in stakes do you reduce the amount of tables you play?– Clueless in Seattle 

This varies for everyone, and some people legitimately play better when they are playing mass amounts of tables. I know people who 30-table a lot better than they 1-table. That being said, I think for 99 percent of the population it would be best to reduce tables the higher they play. People at the higher stakes are very, very, very good at poker and good luck beating them when you are on autopilot. It’s quite simple: If you are focusing more than they are that is an edge you have, and you can’t pass on many edges in high-stakes competition. 

I play both cash ($10NL) and SNGs ($5 6-max) and I want to improve on both, but I don’t quite know how to improve on the sit-n-gos (SNG.) How do you study and improve?–        Betty in Bristol 

There are numerous ways to improve. You can go to www.twoplustwo.com and read more strategy than you could ever imagine on SNGs, you can go and buy the Harrington on Hold’em books, which aren’t specifically about SNGs but bring up a lot of key concepts for them, or you can join a training site that will have step-by-step instructional videos from some of the best players in the world teaching you just how to beat SNGs! There is a vast amount of information available about poker on the Internet, so there’s no excuse in this day and age for not doing everything in your power to improve! 

I read all these stories of people building a 20-dollar BR to like $1,000 and they win most of their money through SNGs. Are cash games more profitable in the long run, but require more patience, while SNGs are less profitable, but less patience is needed?– Louis in Luton 

It’s not as much about patience, it is more about skill. Sit-n-gos are one of the simplest forms of poker; you can learn basic push/fold math in hours and be +EV in sit-n-gos. Cash games are an art; they are very complex and require a very deep understanding of poker. In the long run it is pretty accepted that a very good cash-game player will make more money than a very good sit-n-go player. You hear more stories of people starting their roll in sit-n-gos simply because it’s much more feasible to be a winning sit-n-go player in the first few months of play. 

How do live players transition to Internet play? What is different?– Warren, Gibraltar-stuck 

I think because of the massive information available online and the sheer numbers of people playing online poker, the game has evolved at a much more rapid pace than live play. Games on the Internet play substantially more loose and aggressive than their live counterparts, thus when a lot of live players jump into online play for the first time and play the same $5-$10 no-limit game they play at their local casino, they tend to be in for a surprise. I think it is important for live players to start playing at roughly one-fifth of the stakes they play live when they are playing on the Internet, so they can get acclimated to the pace of the games before they play for money that is significant to them, and along the way acquire the skills that are necessary to beat the online version of their favorite stakes before they jump in. 

What are good situations to reraise a button-raise from the blinds? Is the big blind better than small blind? Does the hand matter? What things does it depend on?–Sixth Beatle, Liverpool 

This depends on a lot of factors. The most basic situation to reraise from the blinds is when you have a player on the button that is opening with more than 50 percent of his hands and has proven to fold to reraises far too often. This situation is rare though, and oversimplified.

When deciding to three-bet the button’s raise light (without a big hand), the first most important thing to ask yourself is what is the player’s range of hands he is opening from the button, and which hands will he fold to a reraise. If the range is wide and he folds most of it, then you can feel fairly comfortable with your three-bet.

The next question you should ask yourself is how deep are the stacks, and are they so deep that he will call my three-bet a lot with marginal holdings and outplay me in position? If the stacks are too deep, it is more often than not a mistake to build huge pots out of position with marginal holdings.The next question you should ask yourself is how likely is it that my opponent will recognize my steal attempt and come back over the top with a four-bet? If your opponent likes to four-bet obvious resteal attempts, it is likely that you will lose money by your light three-bet.

All those questions are for bad hands that are looking to resteal; obviously, if you have a big hand that is substantially ahead of your opponent’s hand range, you are generally looking to three-bet for value. What hands are good for this depends on your opponent’s tendencies and stack depth.

It is always going to be slightly better to resteal from the big blind than the small blind, simply because then there is one less person behind you to wake up with a monster, or put in a light four-bet of his own!
 

How important is it for me to be watching my table? Am I going to find things out if I really study my table? Sometimes when I just sit and watch, I get bored and play bad hands. Suggestions?– Brain Dead, Oxford 

Watching your table is very important, and there are a lot of little things you can pick up on along the way. When you’re paying attention, make sure to look for a few things that may help keep you from getting bored, and try to constantly take notes on these things. Look for the people who are calling down very light, and when you find a player like this make sure to put a note on him that says he is a bit of a call station. Look to punish this tendency later when you have a playable hand, and value-bet him thin on every street!

Also, look for the people making moves. For example, when someone three-bets on the button and shows down 8-7s on the river, make a note that you should tighten up preflop on his button because he is looking to reraise with a wide range of hands in position and most likely knows what he is doing.

Another thing to look for and note are who the passive players are and who the players controlling the action are. When a passive player bets or raises, you can usually be pretty confident giving them a lot of respect and make big laydowns, but when an aggressive player does the same you can often give them a wider hand range.

Paying attention is very important, though often boring. The harder you work at a table the more money you will make, so just be disciplined and focus!
 

Plain and simple, what is the best tip to get better at playing poker?– In a Hurry, Nottingham, UK 

The most helpful tip I can give you is to only play when you want to be playing poker. If you are stuck six buy-ins and are depressed, angry and frustrated while you are playing, there’s no sense in continuing the session, since you clearly would rather be doing something else. Playing when you aren’t in the best state of mind is a clear recipe for losing your bankroll.