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When playing in a pokern tournament, most poker players want to cash more than anything else. Chances are, when you are near the bubble, your stack will not be excessively large. Whether it is or it isn’t, aggressive play on the bubble will yield strong results, as most other players will be trying to preserve their chips, and make it into the money. By exploiting this given that occurs in every tournament, and aggressively going after the blinds, three-betting opponents, and moving all in with strong hands, you can build your stack and make a run at the final table, instead of just settling for the smallest payout.

Throughout the poker tournament, blind levels increase, and many bad players bust out early. Through the initial stages, there may be many players who are way above the average. However, as you get deeper in and closer to the money, variance tightens up, players enter fewer pots, and many players regress back to the average. Ratios of big blinds to stack sizes shrink, and because of this, players slow down and play fewer pots in order to survive. You should be using this fact to ensure your own survival, by taking their blinds, and coming over the top of their raises. Of course, be reasonable and make good reads, but if the situation warrants a steal and you are in position, go for it. Play fearlessly on the bubble and you will have a greatly increased chance at making the final table, where the payout is substantially more.

Adjust your mindset, and play for the win instead of for the cash. Over the long run, your profit from winning and final tabling will greatly exceed those few times you didn’t cash because of a consequential beat from an aggressive play on the bubble. Do what you have to do to win, not to cash, and you will see much greater results in the long run.

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Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson is regarded as one of the most effective math-based players in all of texas holdem. He employs a method of play primarily based on odds and calculations, while also appending his ability to make great reads of his opponent. Chris Ferguson is commonly known by the nickname ‘Jesus’ for his Jesus-like appearance, with long brown hair and plain face. But behind that face is a mechanical poker animal.

One of the most stunning things about Chris Fergusons’s play is the way he totally deflects all possibilities of giving off ‘tells.’ Ferguson looks the same every time he makes a move, whether he is bluffing or has the nuts. He always takes the exact same amount of time to bet and remains seated rigid and quiet with one direct arm motion for moving his chips, making him essentially like a computer even at the live poker table. And because he very rarely puts his money in behind, you’re either going to have to get lucky, or pull a really strange sort of move, to catch this monster.

As the crown to his long list of impressive tournament finishes, Chris Ferguson is a World Series of Poker main event champion. He has also been the National Heads Up Champion from NBC’s poker broadcast series.

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Playing online poker is great. You can sit in the comfort of your own home while wheeling and dealing with other players with names such as JazzyJacks78 or StraightKingHigh13. However one big difference between online poker, and poker at a table with real people, is that bluffing takes on a whole different scheme. When facing friends and strangers across the green felt table of a face to face poker game you can read their reactions and you can learn their habits. Yet when facing someone across the world wide web at best you might be working with a fuzzy picture from their last birthday party. So what is someone who relies on the bluff do in a situation where bluffing seems unreal at best?

The truth of the matter is that bluffing in online poker games is just as valid as it is in face to face games. There are some changes that need to be made, but with a true understanding of the game, these changes should be easy to master. In fact chances are that you have been bluffed more than once yourself if you have any online poker experience at all. Just because you can’t see a person does not mean the rules of psychology stopped. In fact it is quite possible that someone playing online poker may be more vulnerable to a bluff than in a face to face game. To really understand bluffing in an online game two factors need to be understood. First the people playing the game, second the game itself. With knowledge of these two factors, almost anyone can on occasion pull off a successful bluff. The trick is knowing when and how to do it in the online environment.

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