Poker is a game of thought, deception, and strategy, so even before I sit down for a tournament, I like to be prepared for anything. There are times when the cards aren’t going to agree with you, and you’ve just got to play through it, but there are also times when you know you’ve got a monster hand and you need to know how to take as much advantage as possible.
One of the first orders of business to attend to when you’re dealt a monster hand is making it known to the rest of the table that you’re holding something worth playing. There are theories that “slow-playing” a monster hand will increase the number of players that will play against you, but in the long run you might not win as much and in Texas Holdem especially, winning one big pot can take you a long way. Also, the cards that are shown off the flop and beyond can hurt you.
Even though monster hands are a great asset, in tournament play folding one in the beginning isn’t such a bad idea. This lets you watch the rest of the table giving you the knowledge of being able to read the other players. By using this technique early enough, you can almost anticipate who your opponents will be later in the game and how they will play against you.
When you are dealt a monster hand, try to identify who will play against you. At a typical table there is usually only one or two other players that are willing to play along with your monster hand once you’ve made it clear that you’ve got something big. If you manage to identify the playing styles of your opponents early, your chances of winning the table increase dramatically.
There are a couple of ways to play a monster hand once you’ve figured out who you are playing against. You can slow-play it, by trying to slowly draw in a bigger pot from everyone at the table. The alternative way is to use your opponents. Let them think they can beat you and trick them into slow-playing you. This could increase the pot to a huge amount by the river landing you a big pot. This is a little bit more difficult because you are tricking your opponent into thinking they have control. In a sense, they do, but because of your monster hand, you could still walk away with the pot that they filled.
If you know you’ve got a monster hand, and your chances of winning at the moment are high, you should bet enough to let them know that you’ve got something, but try and show that your hand can be beat. One thing to always keep in mind is that almost every monster hand can be beat. No matter what you’re holding, there is a chance that another player is holding something that will beat you. Because of this, you need to play the monster hand as smart as possible. Use it as an asset, but don’t rely on being dealt great cards every time.