Feared for his loose-aggressive style of play, UltimateBet pro Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp has had an impressive 2009 campaign. Kopp has been on a tear in online tournaments and has recently displayed his talents on the live tournament scene.

The University of Kentucky student had solid finishes during the World Series of Poker in both the Pot-Limit Hold’em World Championship and a final table appearance in a $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. However, his most impressive feat was the deep run he made through the 2009 Main Event. His aggressive play had him at the top of the leaderboard throughout the tournament before a late exit landed him in 12th place, barely missing the cut for the November Nine final table. He answers readers’ questions this month.

I play in a $100 max buy-in NLH game. When I sit down, there are already some very large stacks, and I have just $100. How should I play? 

– Better Than FullFlush, London

You sound somewhat hesitant as to playing against big stacks and the fact that you are starting out short-stacked. First off, check your poker bankroll to ensure that you have the proper amount of buy-ins to play the game (and buy-in) you choose every time before you sit down as this changes due to previous winning or losing sessions. I would suggest 20-30 buy-ins ($2,000-$3,000) if you are playing one table at a time in a casino and even more if you are playing two or more tables on the Internet. This will allow you to play and feel more comfortable from the get-go. Losing a buy-in or enduring several bad beats in a session won’t emotionally wreck or tilt you as much and your poker bankroll won’t be in jeopardy.

In the situation that you described, the general rule of thumb would be to play tight and wait for a good spot to shove it in. Let’s say that the average raise is to $6 or $8 preflop, I would be looking to play hands such as 8-8+ and A-Q+ or shoving two large suited cards if someone aggressive keeps raising and a player or so just calls. This way you can pick up a lot of dead money and should be given credit for playing so tight. Besides playing tight, I would also advise against raising or calling small pairs under 8-8 in early position until you win a few pots or double up. Bigger stacks will be playing in more pots usually and you won’t be hitting a set often enough to make this play profitable if you are worried about losing a buy-in. If you do and miss five or six times, which isn’t even the odds of flopping a set, you have lost half of your buy-in for the session.
 

When I play a small-ball game and someone makes a straight, I think, “I let him get there,” and when I’m aggressive and lose, I think, “I should have kept it small.” How do you balance the two approaches? 

– Dean the Dream, Aberdeen

One of the biggest things I have come to learn in poker is to not be results-oriented 100 percent of the time. You can make a poor play for whatever reason and win but that doesn’t make it the correct play when you win the hand. This is due to the fact that if the hand was played out thousands and thousands of times, it wouldn’t be a profitable one. I suggest that you establish a style and thought process when playing that suits you, is comfortable, and one that you can prove is profitable in the long run after applying it.

For example, sometimes it is profitable to check behind on a flop of A-3-8 rainbow when you have a hand like A-K to get an aggressive opponent to bet out on the turn with a smaller pair or a bluff. From time to time, they will hit trips or two pair on the turn and cost you the pot due to checking the flop. However, I just explained the thought process as to why it’s probably more profitable to check the flop due to what the opponent is likely to do on the turn. More times than not, you will profit from this situation and it is worth the risk of playing a hand slow at times to extract more value in the long run. If you play lots of volume, think, make intelligent decisions, and don’t dwell upon the result of a single hand.
 

What is the standard practice for the pros after they toss their cards (preflop)? Do they try to forget what they had and concentrate on the active players or do they remember (or dwell on) what they tossed? 

– Lagtard, Dundee, UK

Personally, I either play a hand or fold it preflop based on a strategic reasoning in my game plan at the time. I do recall what I folded so that I can play the hand out in my head had I gotten into the pot. When I started out, I would think about what I would have done on each street, my bet-sizing, timing, etc., as practice for future hands. This may sound silly or ridiculous but down the road I noticed that my ability to analyze hands and engage a solid thinking process when in a hand was almost second nature.

When not in the hand, I always watch the opponents in the hand. I tend to watch their timing, bet-sizing, and also listen for verbal cues. If the hand shows down and the cards are turned over, you can then put the information together for when you play in a pot with them in the future. Never dwell on what you folded as far as if you would have flopped well, if you would have won the pot, etc. Remember that when you folded, it should have been for a reason in your game plan or the game flow at that time. Poker is about focusing on the present, not the past. Mistakes will happen and you will NEVER make the correct play 100 percent of the time. Let the past go and get refocused on winning.
 

I like to think of myself as a gentleman’s poker player. My question is one of etiquette. In my online and live tourneys where I’ve called an all-in bet with one or more other players, I’ll check the hand down to the end. I’ve hit top pair, two pair, etc., and kept on tapping. I’ve lost a hand or two when the sets hit. Do the pros do this too? I don’t have an issue betting out with the nuts, but do I need to lower that threshold to keep more pots for myself? 

– Gentleman Jim, Liverpool

Any time that you enter into a pot, you should be expecting to win. I would not advise checking all the way down on dangerous boards where you feel that you have the best hand on the flop. You are still trying to win the pot so bet accordingly, ignoring the fact that someone is all-in. Bet out and get the other caller to fold or continue to contribute to the pot. There is no rule that states you should check it down to knock a guy out. This being said, there are special instances such as the bubble of a tournament that offers a seat into a bigger event where it would be in your interest to check it down regardless of hand strength. Having two hands show down verses the one all-in would be better in hopes that one of the hands knocks out the all-in and ensures you a seat in the bigger event. 
 
When playing in a cash game, I notice sometimes players will just shove all-in with 50 big blinds. What kind of ranges should I be waiting for to call all-in preflop if they are doing this every five or ten hands. 

–        Playing Live at Leeds

Usually when players do this, they won’t have a very strong holding such as K-K or A-A. I have seen it often with very small pairs such as 2-2 through 6-6 or 7-7 and sometimes hands like A-J through A-K. I am not sure as to why these players do this but it is very exploitable. If this is occurring very, very often or every five or ten hands as you state, I am willing to call with 8-8 or better and A-J through A-K because it’s not very likely that they are picking up a premium hand 10-20 percent of the time and will probably be shoving A-10 or worse, including suited connectors even. In the higher stakes cash games this preflop shoving of 50 big blinds or more doesn’t happen often. I feel that this is something that happens in the $0.50-$1 games or lower. To be on the very safe and conservative side I would stick to calling with 8-8+ and A-K until you see them show down hands such as A-J or less, then you can include A-J, A-Q and sometimes even A-10 in your calling range. 

What should you do about hit-and-runners in online cash games? I always find when someone bad beats me for a big pot they leave immediately. Should I try to track them down and play them again or just reload and wait at the table for someone else? 

– Frustrated and Ready to Kill Someone, London

People who hit-and-run are typically not very classy poker players or not familiar with proper poker etiquette. More than likely, they don’t have a proper bankroll and could possibly be playing with the last of the money that they have. By playing poorly and sucking out, they choose to run in hopes of doing the same thing to another player to run some money up fast or to get into a tournament buy-in out of their league. Don’t sweat it! Be the bigger man here, don’t chase them, and reload for the next guy who chooses to sit down. You want to be playing these hit-and-run players because they are probably not as experienced or as well-rounded as you are, and they will provide you plenty of profit in the long term. 

Any advice on multi-tabling? I’ve tried it a couple times, but I don’t seem to be able to play my A-game or exploit people with more than one table going. Any hints or tips?

– Phil H., Unknown Location

Unfortunately, there’s no tip or trick to being able to play more tables other than experience. Like anything in life that you want to get good at, you must put in time and effort. When I first started playing, I didn’t even think about playing more than one table. Once I played for a bit and was to the point of getting bored between hands while still playing my A-game, I decided to add another table. A couple years after playing virtually every day, I found myself playing upwards of 16 at a time while still turning a profit. My advice to you is to definitely not add a second table until you are completely comfortable. Once you decide to take the leap, monitor your performance. If you notice that you are losing focus or are not able to make decisions quick enough, or are losing money, then go back down a table. 
 

I’m curious about breaking into pot-limit Omaha. What is your advice be on how to learn the game and what are some tips about the major differences between PLO and NLH? 

– PLO Novice, Truro, UK

To begin learning PLO I would go to the local bookstore and pick up a few books to grasp the beginning level concepts. Secondly, I would also watch the pros and high-stakes players on UltimateBet. Watching others is an advantage and a cheap way to learn thanks to online poker these days. Start off by playing in a limit lower than you would for no-limit so that you can gain experience but not lose too much money in the worst-case scenario. The major difference is that you get dealt four cards instead of two but HAVE to use two of the four.

Primarily as a no-limit player, I first tried to play Omaha while playing hold’em and would advise against this as a beginner. In Omaha I would see three spades on the flop and then another come off on the turn. While playing hold’em at the same time, I would forget that he didn’t check the flop to hit a flush on the turn or river because he has to use two of his cards so would already be holding this hand strength and the fourth spade was irrelevant. While in hold’em mode I found myself playing hands incorrectly, which was costly. Also, bottom sets and non-nut flush draws are rarely good in PLO unless playing heads-up. Focus on one type of poker at a time until you become comfortably familiar with both.

How aggressive should you be when playing heads-up? Should you be raising pretty much every button? What is the proper raising range out of position? What about continuation bets? What kind of texture are you looking for and how often should you C-bet? 

– Dork in York

When playing heads-up I try to be fairly aggressive, but cautious when needed post-flop due to the texture of the board. I prefer to raise on the button if I am going to play but that doesn’t always mean that I will continuation bet every time because you have to mix up your play. If the opponent is tight, I will become more aggressive and if he’s loose, just the opposite. When raising out of position, I am mixing up a variety of hands depending on the play, the match and lots of other variables. I am rarely going to be raising hands like J-4 or 9-5 out of position. If I haven’t raised out of position in a while I may have A-A or 6-8 suited.

The bottom line is that you want to be able to raise out of position with either one. Don’t only raise when you have a very strong hand or very weak hand bluffing preflop. As stated, the button will be raised heads-up fairly often, and the chance of flopping a pair or better every time isn’t possible so continuation betting in position fairly often is probably a good idea. Flop textures such as three cards to a straight or flush, etc., that have no connection to your hand but are very dangerous might not be the best to continuation bet. Even if you have a hand like jacks and it comes 4-5-6 all clubs and you have no club, it might not be the best time to continuation bet due to the possibility of getting pushed off the pot with a hand having value, so checking for pot control is the best play. A flop like A-5-9 rainbow is a good continuation flop regardless of your hand if you didn’t get reraised preflop because an ace isn’t as likely.

Often, you won’t get check-raised as a bluff to find out if you actually have an ace or not and will take the pot down with no contest. Make sure you mix up your play and keep your opponent guessing. 

– James, Dublin

Believe it or not, the biggest things that I look for aren’t the typical things you find in all of the “poker tell” books. For example, once an old man next to me was shaking when he grabbed his chips and I was sure he had a big hand. After about two hours I realized that he shook every time no matter what hand he had, he just shook. I once noticed someone’s breathing was off and that he had a pulsating vein in his neck mid-pot and thought the exact same thing. I came to find out that this happened every time due to adrenaline and the fact that he was nervous because it was his first live event.

 Don’t let these things fool you. You can still look for these types of tells and may find a real tell from time to time. Personally, I am looking at other things. First, I am watching their timing. Do they take their time and then push their bet out or do they instantly shove it in when they have a real hand?

I also look at their bet-sizing. What portion of the pot are they betting when they bluff or have a real hand? Sometimes inexperienced people will always bet the pot or more hoping that the large amount scares their opponent away.

Lastly, I pay attention to verbal cues. For some reason lots of players want to talk to their opponent during a hand and I have noticed that they only talk when they are strong. On the other hand, there are those who try to verbally entice their opponent into calling to appear strong, but are actually very weak and hoping to get their opponent to fold.