Are you headed to the World Series of Poker this year? If so, let's talk about a few plays that will be more effective at the WSOP this year.
1. C-bet and double-barrel more
Let’s say you raise 
from the hijack, and both the button and big blind call.
The flop comes 
. It checks to you, you continuation bet 35% of the pot, the button calls, and the big blind folds.
The turn is the 
.
You should be double-barreling here much more at this year’s World Series than you would have last year.
Why?
Because people are cold-calling preflop with way more hands than they used to. A lot of players have tried to play disciplined poker for 20 years. It hasn’t worked out for them, and now they’re done with that – they want to gamble.
If you bet small multiway, and they’re in position with some kind of backdoor draw or high card they don’t want to release, they’re going to call the flop.
That means the real continuation bet is often going to be on the turn.
When nothing meaningfully changes, you can fire again. That is when they’ll finally let go of all the garbage they floated with on the flop.
2. Squeeze for value wider
Let’s say you’re about 60 big blinds deep in the small blind with 
.
It folds around to the hijack, who has 70 big blinds and opens to two big blinds. The cutoff and button both call, and they each have around 80 big blinds.
You should consider making a large squeeze from the small blind, to around 2x the pot.
Why?
Because now that nobody wants to fold anything, you’re very likely to get that large squeeze called by worse aces and worse jacks that you dominate.
When you do hit top pair or pick up a strong draw, you can apply serious pressure because people do not want to fold anymore. If you miss completely, you can give up more often because you’re going to get floated a ton.
The adjustment is simple: value squeeze wider, punish loose calls, and don’t feel obligated to keep blasting every time you miss.
3. Three-bet more from the big blind
Another play you can use more often at this year’s WSOP is three-betting from the big blind with moderate-value hands when you’re around 40 to 60 big blinds deep.
If the hijack, cutoff, or button opens, hands like 
, 
, and 
become great candidates to three-bet more often.
When you get called and go heads-up out of position, fire small on the flop. Around one-third pot is usually enough.
Here’s what happens.
A lot of players have become allergic to folding. They will flat your three-bet preflop because they are offended that you think you can build the pot against them when they have position.
Then, when you bet small on the flop, they are offended again that you think they would fold to such a tiny bet.
This creates great opportunities when you have moderate value.
Often, you can bet small on the flop, check the turn, and let them jam their mediocre draws, floats, and random nonsense into you. When you have the right hand to call, you can pick up a very nice pot.
Alex Fitzgerald is a best-selling author published by D&B Poker. Check out Alex’s most recent book, ‘How to Beat Players Who Never Fold.’
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