One of the great moments in a No-Limit Hold’em tournament comes when you hear a player announce that they are “on the radio.” It is a signal that the player has made it to the money in the tournament, and they are now subject to rules variations that may be the difference between first and second place in the tournament. These rules variations occur when players switch places on the table, which can happen when a player is busted on a hand, disinterested in a hand, or leaving the game for another reason. radio silence can frequently be the most important tell in poker.
Players who are radio silent for an extended period of time often have a tendency to relax and play passively, waiting for a strong hand to engage. Once a strong hand arrives, they will attempt to steal the pot with a very wide range of hands. Because they never say anything, there is often a lot of information present that you can use to your advantage.
One of the most common radio silence occurrences is when a player is chip leader (or equivalent) in a tournament and wins a pot with a bet out of position. When this happens, instead of a standard raise, the player will often attempt to let the pot build to a point where they would be ready to raise on the next hand. It is important to pay attention to such kinds of occurrence because they often indicate Metals or Coins/Hands in the loading phase for an upcoming big bet. When players spend some time away from the radio silent, they often regain the ability to concentrate and Saliently analyze each new hand that comes up.
Contrary to the belief of many players, there is generally not a one size fits all when selecting an appropriate starting hand to play. Indeed, it is just as likely that you will be led into a raise with a wide range of hands as you are out of position with hands like Queen Seven or Ascot. If you sense an automatic raise from a player that is not known for being a maniac, for example, you can safely check to see if it means they have a big hand, like AK or AQ. However you will often still want to be betting heavily, especially if you have been consistently losing. You want to always be aware of the raiser, and be prepared for a raise from any position.
When you are not sure that you will make a raise, you should also not be rushing into a pot with Egp88 pairs. When you have about a 12% chance of winning, with a 6% chance of an all in, this is still a good spot to lead out with a standard bet, or an all in wager. However, if you are not even sure if you have the best hand, you should not be playing. Remember, poker is about picking the battles you are going to win and playing when you have a significant edge.
Many players lose the majority of their chips learning basic strategy, and then they wonder why they lose. This happens so often I have often wondered why these players don’t take a look at a stat or table of odds whenever they play a hand. You will find that a true percentage is on the WPT Stars Online Hand Ranking All-in Site. When I have seen a playerUSD 300 raise in to a pre-flop raise of 5,000, I am 99% certain the player does not have any kind of a big hand, and more than likely has sitting on a high pocket pair.
Playing against the right player can sometimes be very simple. However, the player should also know that if they are playing against a maniac they are going to lose big time, very quickly. If you are not lucky enough to be heads-up, I strongly suggest playing tight and not going to the flop unless you have a premium hand. I don’t care if you see five players on the flop. Go to the river with pocket 2’s or higher. Be aggressive against the right player. If you are not fortunate enough to be heads-up, play aggressively and you will be the one that takes down the big pots to take you deeper into the tournament.