My latest poker strategy article, Defending Your Button, is now appearing on CardPlayer.com. If you struggle with deep-stacked play in cash games or in the early stages of a tournament, then this article may help you to gain an understanding of where value comes from in such situations and how to approach them. It addresses a shift in thinking that helped me to appreciate what it was I should be trying to do when playing deep-stacked poker:
I look at the button as a gold mine that you have to share with eight other prospectors. When it’s your turn to reap the gold, you can’t let the others beat you to it. An aggressive player on your right who regularly raises the pot ahead of you needs to be discouraged with frequent calls and re-raises. After a while, he will either stop trying to steal your button or routinely lose money trying to play out of position against you. Either way, you win!
Hope it helps! As always, please leave a comment to let me know what you think. If there’s a topic you’d like to see addressed in a future article, I’m open to suggestions as well.