If you’re having trouble racking up W’s in tournaments or money in the cash games, you might want to get back to the basics instead of keeping the kinks in your game. I’m not much of a fan of Phil Hellmuth, but he gives strong fundamental advice to beginners that holds true no matter what.
Be patient and play premium hands. That simple. This might not be the recipe for exciting play or early huge chip stacks, but every time I’ve taken a step back and applied what I term the Phil Hellmuth method (although I’m sure others have instructed on it), my game has become a lot simpler and I end up lasting a lot longer in tournaments. I haven’t always been dominating but the wild swings in my chip count go out the window and I’m usually playing above the curve. Of course, this doesn’t make you immune from bad beats or coin flips, but at least your always right there whereas wild play can have you unknowingly way behind.
Another drawback is you become much more predictable. However, at the same time, your cards and plays become much more respected and you know if a smarter, more savvy player is coming back at you, then you can be confident they have something huge.
This style is also well suited even if you’re playing decently with an aggressive and/or loose game and you’re simply looking to change the pace to keep your opponents off balance. The great thing about the conservative approach is you’re probably going to maintain what you have, if not slowly build on your chip stack. If you’ve zoomed out to a tremendous lead like Demetrius Nobles did in the WSOP, then this is the way to play. Huge chip stacks in huge tournaments don’t last if you keep playing aggressive early. The odds are going to come back and get you eventually. Now Demetrius also played recklessly and well horrible, but even better aggressive play can lead you into the sand trap with a huge field ahead of you.
Tags: aggressive play, big chip stack, conservative play, demetrius nobles, phil-hellmuth, poker