Notes

7 Easy Tricks to obtain the Most out of Keno.5 METHODS FOR YOU TO Cheat at SLOTS and Why You Shouldn?t Try.Dominating Small-Buy-In Poker Tournaments
Once you dive in to the world of playing keno, you begin looking for tips and strategies. The usefulness of most tips and strategies in a game decided by random chance is bound. If you find yourself hoping for an edge in this kind of game, you need to stop and take a deep breath.

The true magic in playing keno is about how you enjoy the game. There?s a myriad of methods to mix it up. If you don?t like one variation on keno, look for another.

Many keno players don?t realize the overall game is played all over the world in many venues. You may be used to sitting at a video keno machine in a casino. You can play a variation of the overall game on a scratch card you walk past in your neighborhood convenience store.

The old saying ?variety may be the spice of life? must be true for keno fans. When you have only played one version of keno so far in your life, you?re set for a world of new experiences. Here are seven easy tricks to find the most out of keno.

1 ? Shop Around to get the best Keno Odds and Prizes
You cannot play every possible variation of keno on the globe. There are too many. But many people will be able to play keno in more than one venue, including:

Land-based casinos, video keno
Land-based casinos, keno TV
Online casinos
Government lottery keno drawings
Keno scratch tickets
Every casino can set its own keno rules. They are able to add progressive prizes or not. They are able to extend the amount of spots designed for wagers. Online casinos have the same flexibility. It really depends on where they get their gaming systems from.

Government lottery keno games are often less flexible. That?s since they?re less focused on turning a large profit than the casinos.

The first thing you need to do is observe how easy it is for you to find new keno games without going on a global tour. You might have more options available for you than you understand. Each game has its own odds and prizes. Compare their charts and pick the chart you like for playing keno online.

2 ? Only Play the Middle Spot Games
Anyone studying keno odds charts quickly realizes that the four, five, and six-spot games have the very best odds of winning any prize. Some players prefer seven-spot games because the prizes are slightly better.

By limiting the number of spots to play to a small range, it?s simpler to manage expectations. There are fewer probabilities to think about. The wagers all cost exactly the same.

To be perfectly honest, there?s no serious hope of winning the jackpot in a 10-spot or 20-spot keno game. Savvy players aren?t looking for huge amount of money. They just want decent prizes.

The center spot games offer the best risk-reward efficiency. Players are less inclined to go broke than in other games plus they?re more prone to win a prize than in other games.

3 ? Purchase Multiple Drawings in Advance
In casinos, you can purchase a ?multi-race card.? Once you?re playing in government lotteries, they might be called ?multiple drawings? or something else.

Keno Card - Keno Multiple Drawings

The idea is simple. You pay for the next ?X? games beforehand. The venue decides what lengths in advance you can pay. It?s simpler to track losses and winnings also to manage a budget by spending money on games in advance.

4 ? Change Number Picking Methods No More Than Once Per Month
The method that you pick your numbers while playing keno really doesn?t matter. The overall game?s probabilities don?t change.

Some video keno players swear they see patterns in the numbers. And many keno games report ?hot? and ?cold? numbers. Hot numbers have been drawn more frequently than others in recent games and cold numbers have not been drawn much in recent games.

Video keno machines use random number generators to find out results. These RNGs, as they are known, are believed to be very reliable. Computer experts say the RNGs? email address details are ?random enough.?

Older video keno machines could have chips whose algorithms have already been reverse-engineered. An Eastern European gang used a super-computer a few years back to reverse engineer the RNG algorithms on some slots. All things considered, you don?t have a supercomputer or an RNG to review.

Still, if you use lots picking system, stay with it for some weeks before changing it. That is one of the easiest tricks to obtain the most out of keno.

5 ? Use Odds Tables to Choose the Best Pick Limits
Keno has probably the most complicated processes for computing odds and probabilities. The payout odds in keno are capped, and something of the only methods to increase the payout is to increase the wager.

Because the game offers so many options, the probabilities differ from pick level to pick level, and from game variation to game variation. You must study each game?s odds or probabilities chart for the best wagering conditions.

Since you can find 80 numbers available while playing keno, the probability of any one of those numbers being drawn first is 1 in 80. The likelihood of any of the remaining numbers being drawn second is 1 in 79. After the first 19 numbers have been drawn, the likelihood of any remaining number being drawn is 1 in 60.

It sounds like the chances are improving, but they aren?t. Just because a keno game allows players to pick 10, 15, or 20 numbers doesn?t imply that?s an excellent bet. You?re more likely to match just a few of those numbers.

The simplest way to compute your odds would be to say, after 20 numbers have already been drawn, anybody number out of 80 has a 1 in 4 chance of being contained in the winning set.
Any two numbers have a roughly 1 in 16 potential for being included in the winning set. Multiply each ratio by four as you add matching numbers. That gets you near to the correct probability.

Thus, the odds of any five numbers being contained in the 20 drawn numbers are about 1 in 1550.

When experienced keno players look at the odds charts, they quickly settle on games like Pick 4, Pick 5, Pick 6, or Pick 7. They can live with matching three or four of those numbers. They?ll still win decent prizes while playing keno.

6 ? Play a Progressive Keno Game for Several Months
Progressive games award random secondary jackpots when players hit certain combinations. Progressive betting is encouraged in slots and keno however, not in games like blackjack. If the ball player is required to contribute to a progressive jackpot, it?s do not to take that bet.

If the progressive jackpot is awarded from the overall game?s basic wager, then assume the prizes have been calculated into the win ratio for the game. That?s usually acceptable in slots and keno.

Keno Progressive Jackpot Screenshot

Think of the progressive prize as increasing the prize. Unlike traditional lottery games such as Powerball and Mega Millions, keno jackpots don?t roll over from game to game. The amount of players doesn?t affect the size of the prizes either.

Because keno prizes are awarded at a set rate, progressive keno games are preferred to standard keno games. Playing progressive games is one of many easy tricks to find the most out of keno.

7 ? Set a Loss Limit on Keno
If it?s a gambling game, you will lose often. That?s how it goes. A lucky or skillful gambler knows how to play the overall game and how to manage a budget. Budget management is what keeps you in the game when things aren?t going the right path.

Taking a lesson from the stock market, gamblers do well to set a stop-loss limit for themselves. Whatever a player?s bankroll is, if it drops below a particular level, it?s time and energy to take a break.

Playing an easier game provides a more fun experience for most players. Adding extra steps to the decision-making process is too much work, and games are supposed to be fun!

One of the great things about playing keno is everyone can form their own design of play. It makes the game more personal and players feel more directly involved.

Lottery-style games take a lot of the decision-making from the players? hands. Keno may be the odd man out in this family of games. That, above all else, is why the overall game is so popular.

Although some gambling experts caution people not to expect much from playing keno, casinos and lottery authorities have found the game very popular. Players love the task of improving their methods for picking games and numbers.

The complexity of playing keno may be part of its appeal, but players who don?t know the game very well should benefit from keeping things simple.The secretive world of casino cheaters, the seedy underbelly of the gambling industry, is normally associated with poker and table games.

Cheats physically manipulate cards, dice, wheels, and chips to get an unfair advantage on the house. But cheaters have long targeted machine games just like the slots, too. Ever since the first ?one-armed bandits? of old hit saloon floors in SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA at the turn of the 20th century, cheats have endeavored to trigger jackpots and payouts unfairly.

The earliest mechanical slots out there accepted nickels, prompting cheaters to melt down cheap metal and fashion counterfeit coins known as ?slot slugs.? These tricked the game into offering a free spin. When dimes became the coin of preference, they filed down pennies to the circumference of a 10-cent piece, thus ?earning? a nine-cent rebate on every spin.

Slot cheats also liked to drill a hole through genuine coins. They might tie it for some fishing line, play the coin, and allow it fall just far enough to trigger a spin. Then, they might pull it back out and repeat the process to play for free.

Eventually, slot machine manufacturers countered those efforts with a device called the ?coin escalator,? which displayed previously played coins in a window for all to see. Once the operator spotted slugs, filed down pennies, or an insufficient amount of wagers in the coin escalator, they knew a cheater was in their midst.

As the mechanical three-reel slots of old gave way to electronic video slots, coin-based machines were replaced by those which accept cash bills or barcoded casino vouchers. Manufacturers also replaced the drum reel setup with complex random number generators (RNGs) that ?shuffled? the reels into seemingly infinite combinations.

These technological advancements stemmed the tide of slot cheating for some time, but gamblers who make an effort to get over on the home are relentless if nothing else. Cheaters found more creative ways, engaging in a backwards and forwards crusade with the casinos that continues even today.

During the past, I?ve taken enough time to write up guides on the various methods to cheat casino games, including poker, blackjack, roulette, and craps. But I?ve also included very serious reasons why you must never try them. In this guide, you?ll find five methods for you to cheat when playing slots circa 2019 and beyond, along with why readers should never attempt it.

1 ? Flashing a ?Light Wand? to Fool the device?s Payout Sensor and Triggering a Jackpot
If you?ve ever heard of the ?top-bottom joint,? the ?kickstand,? or the ?monkey paw,? congratulations! You understand more about slot machine game cheating than you almost certainly should. Nevertheless, you probably also find out about Tommy Glenn Carmichael, the so-called ?Godfather of SLOT MACHINE GAME Cheats.?

Carmichael, a former television repairman who parlayed his technical skills right into a career as a professional cheat, invented all three of those devices used to fool a mechanical slot?s sensors into unloading its coin hopper on command.

Within an interview with the Los Angeles Times conducted back in 2003, convicted slot thief Jerry Criner spoke of Carmichael in reverent tones:

?A legend. He?s the best mind as far as developing cheating tools.?

As for the man himself, Carmichael told the newspaper he was but a humble tinkerer who never said no to a challenge:

?Work out how a machine counts money and then work your way into the machine. We got to playing around, and I possibly could see where it had been pretty easy to do. Give me a slot machine game and I?ll beat it.?

When the electronic slots and their sensitive sensors used to detect lights and lasers became typical, Carmichael wasted no time in purchasing an IGT brand machine for himself. Almost immediately, his ingenious mind visited work deconstructing the sensor array. Before long, Carmichael had developed his latest cheating tool, the ?light wand.?

Here?s how Carmichael described his light wand epiphany, which occurred as he tricked a casino employee into providing usage of an IGT machine?s inner workings:

?The second I opened it up, I knew how exactly to beat it. He told me so much I thought he had called regulations. I thought he was trying to stall us.?

Mark Robinson, the former manager of the Nevada Gambling Control Board?s Electronic Services Division, told the LA Times:

?The light would shine within and become so bright that the sensor will be blinded, causing the hopper to not realize it was spending the coins.?

Wielding nothing more than a camera battery and a miniaturized lightbulb, Carmichael visited work, bilking casinos from coast to coast out of $10,000 or more per day.

Why You Shouldn?t Fool the Payout Sensors
Like all swindlers, however, Carmichael?s refusal to walk away a ?winner? resulted in his downfall. He was caught deploying a light wand to win jackpots in 1996 and again in 1998, before fleeing NEVADA for Atlantic City. But his reputation preceded him, and private detectives utilized by casinos there quickly spotted Carmichael and took him down.

The feds stripped Carmichael of each last penny from his ill-gotten gains, sentenced him to one year in prison, and placed him on extended probation. That?s reason enough to avoid the light wand ?hack,? as is the method?s relatively outdated practicality in the modern age.

2 ? Recording Spins on a Smartphone to Crack a Slot?s Randomization Pattern
This scam is indeed elegant and effective that casinos and slot machine game manufacturers alike still haven?t been able to stop it.

During the 2000s, international slot makers Novomatic and Aristocrat Leisure began receiving disturbing reports from their respective casino clientele. Apparently, machines from both manufacturers have been observed spending small to medium-sized payouts far more often than their preprogrammed odds should?ve allowed.

Comprehensive reviews and investigations were conducted to audit the machines involved, but engineers and analysts may find no trace of physical manipulation.

In 2011, Novomatic issued the next statement to client casinos to warn them about potential weaknesses in its slots ?pseudo random number generators? (PRNGs):

?Through targeted and prolonged observation of the individual game sequences together with possibly recording individual games, it may be possible to allegedly identify some sort of ?pattern? in the game results.?

As it turns out, a slot?s RNG isn?t technically randomized since it relies on manmade inputs, like the second hand of the device?s internal clock, to create its seemingly random results. From the common player?s perspective, the results will definitely appear random over both short- and long-term sessions.

But as Novomatic admitted in its internal memo, the ?pseudo? nature of a PRNG ensures that detectable patterns could be discerned from the reels? final alignment, provided a player knew what to watch for.

Novomatic SLOTS for Casinos

A professional computer hacker known only as ?Alex? was one particular player, a gifted mathematical mind with the capacity of cracking convoluted coded algorithms in his head. After deciphering the codes behind a specific model of Novomatic slot machine game, then the Aristocrat Mark IV model, Alex designed a computer program to predict exactly when players should press the ?SPIN? button.

Alex formed a team of players and taught them to use iPhone cameras to secretly record several dozen low-stakes spins. This footage was then uploaded to Alex?s computer, which crunched the patterns onscreen to find out, right down to the millisecond, when the ?SPIN? button should be pressed to trigger successful.

From there, all Alex had to accomplish was send an automated text timed with a 0.25-second delay to his cheater?s phone, thus providing the common human?s reaction time as a window. 25 % of a second later, with the stakes now more than doubled, the ball player would press ?SPIN? watching the screen light for a big score.

Why You Shouldn?t Crack a Slot?s Randomization Pattern
Both companies acknowledge that their machines are vulnerable to Alex?s version of slot hacking. But as he described in an interview with Wired magazine in 2017, his scheme isn?t technically considered cheating because nobody physically manipulates the device:

?We, in fact, usually do not meddle with the machines ? there is absolutely no actual hacking taking place. My agents are simply gamers, just like the rest of these. Only they are capable of making better predictions in their betting? Yes, that capability is gained through my technology, it?s true. But why should it be illegal? On the basic level, it?s like using a calculator for counting faster and more accurately, rather than relying on one?s natural capacity.?

Alex himself was never caught, thanks to his identity concealing skills and Russian residency, but several of his ?agents? have already been apprehended worldwide. Are you aware that mastermind himself, Alex failed in convincing Aristocrat to employ him on as a security consultant.

Today, he makes a full time income selling his tech for five-figures a pop on the dark web instead of resort to cheating himself.

So, if you don't?re a savant like him with otherworldly math skills and the ?Rain Man? capability to read PRNGs in your sleep, or have $20,000 to spend on a slot-cheating system, hacking the game isn?t a great idea.

3 ? Using Computers and Advanced Tech Skills to Rig the Machine for Instant Jackpots
Another case of computer engineering knowledge becoming the cheat?s tool of choice involves a good share of mystery a lot more than 20 years later.

From 1996, former locksmith Dennis Nikrasch used the ?brute force? style of computer hacking to essentially break the device?s payout sensors. Utilizing a blocker to screen the surveillance cameras, Nikrasch took significantly less than a minute to pick the lock, open the machine?s interface, and attach a device that manipulated the reels? RNG. Just like that, Nikrasch was gone such as a ghost, leaving his blocker behind to play the game until an inevitable jackpot was triggered shortly thereafter.

Speaking with the NEVADA Sun, former chief of the Enforcement Division of the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) Keith Copher offered begrudging respect when referencing Nikrasch?s scam:

?He had probably the most sophisticated system we?ve ever seen. We don?t know that he?s passed it along, and if he's got, he?d better tell us.?

J. Gregory Damm, the assistant US Attorney who ultimately prosecuted Nikrasch for his litany of crimes, told the newspaper the usage of a proxy helped hinder casino security systems:

?He would be in the casino an extremely short time of time. He would fix the machine, then leave. He wasn?t present once the jackpot was hit.?

Why You Shouldn?t Rig Slot Machines
Nikrasch absconded with an increase of than $6 million in stolen slot funds before his run was cut short, sending him to prison for seven years.

Once again, the biggest reason to avoid this slot cheating method is impracticability, because Nikrasch took his tech tips for the grave.

4 ? Watching for Players Who Leave Money on the device TO HELP YOU Spin for Free
Whether you count this one as cheating is around your personal moral code, but what now ? when a neighboring player leaves a few bucks in the next machine over?

You see them take their Player?s Card, and also leave the casino, so you?re sure they?re not returning for that last dollar or two. Do you slide over and play the free spins?

In the event that you?re like Colorado resident and gambling man ?Dan? (his last name hasn?t been made public), you take your shot at winning a jackpot on the forgetful player?s dime.

Why You Shouldn?t Use Other Players? Money
While gambling in a Central City casino two years ago, Dan saw a fellow slot player leave $2 on a nearby machine. After playing two spins and winning nothing, Dan continued their own game for awhile before security arrived and escorted him to the dreaded back room.

Here?s how Dan described the scene to his local KDVR News station after the ordeal was over:

?There was no intent to steal from anybody. I had no idea. I go upstairs to the 3rd floor into a dirty little room and someone tells me I stole $2 from the casino. They said that they had it all on camera. I was guilty, I assume. You?re definitely not stealing it from the casino because it wasn?t theirs to begin with. You can find certainly times where you can find ?laws,? but they are not morally or ethically correct.?

Dan was charged under Colorado Statute 12-47.1-823(1)(c), which covers various types of casino cheating. In cases like this, the casino claims ownership over any lost, forgotten, or unused funds in its facility, so Dan technically stole $2 from the home and not the other player.

He was arrested, charged with criminal conduct, levied with $250 in fines, forced to cover FBI criminal background checks, positioned on probation, and banned from all Colorado casinos for a full year.

Even though Dan?s case might seem as an outlier, consider that Colorado charged nearly 1,000 players for stealing slot funds in 2017 alone. Similar laws are on the books in Las Vegas and elsewhere, when you visit a few dollars flashing on an unclaimed machine, think twice before trying to show somebody else?s money in your life-changing jackpot moment.

5 ? Counterfeiting Bills or ?Shaving? Coins to Trick the device Into a Free Spin
I covered the idea of counterfeit coin slugs in the introduction, and nowadays, you?ll only find a handful of old-school coin-operated slots in Downtown Las Vegas. It is possible to blame infamous counterfeiter Louis ?The Coin? Colavecchio for that development.

Why You Shouldn?t Counterfeit Bills or Coins
During his reign as the East Coast?s preeminent slot cheat, Colavecchio used genuine steel dies from U.S. Mint printing presses to trick the machines. That ploy finished up producing a seven-year prison bid, leaving the formerly flush ?Coin? Colavecchio penniless and out of options.

After his release, Colavecchio was forced to adjust to a brave new world of cash and voucher-operated slots. Predictably, he tried to expand his operation into counterfeit $100 bills, hoping going to high-stakes machines for six-figure scores.

Louis "The Coin" Colavecchio

And just as predictably, the U.S. Secret Service swooped directly into arrest the now 77-year old Colavecchio in 2018.

Counterfeiting is one of the most serious federal crimes imaginable, and when you add casino surveillance, this cheating recipe just doesn?t accumulate.

Slots probably inspire so many cheating attempts due to the volatile gameplay they provide. When winners will come few in number, and losing by session?s end is really a statistical certainty barring a large jackpot, grinding the slots will get downright depressing in the worst of times.

Cheaters who won't accept the ?boom and bust? dynamic of the slots will always try to gain top of the hand, but as these five entries explain, casinos are always one step ahead of the culprits.I won?t claim to be any sort of poker savant, even though I play the overall game seriously, I?m not a poker pro at all. I make the bulk of my living as an advantage-play casino gambler, battling the house in blackjack and video poker generally. For me, poker is really a way to blow off steam and an escape from the often rote and mechanical world of table game advantage play.

At the poker table, I?m free to mix up my moves, applying creativity in conjunction with strategy to try and outwit my opponents. And while most casino games have long since been mastered through mathematical analysis, Texas hold?em still offers an unpredictable game where random chance, bluffs, and the human element all conspire to influence the results.

Simply put, I really like playing poker for pleasure over profit. Even so, the goal for each poker player is winning ? to win this pot, the next one, and eventually, the entire tournament.

I?ve had the pleasure of winning a tournament or two in my own day, and without a doubt, there?s nothing that can compare with it in the world. The adrenaline rush, the sense of accomplishment, not to mention, the very best prize payout all combine to generate an experience you won?t soon forget.

To help you experience that feeling for yourself, I present my guide to dominating small-buy-in poker tournaments.

Game Selection Is Crucial
?Game selection, although often overlooked, is an important section of your poker education. You might want to avoid a game where in fact the lineup includes a couple of pros. Be skeptical of how tough the overall game you?re in is, and stay away from the toughest game in the house!? ? Phil Hellmuth, 14-time WSOP bracelet winner
On my most recent trip to NEVADA, just a few weeks hence, actually, I happened to reach right as two mid-level tournament series were taking place. I had a choice between playing several prelims at the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza, or the WSOP-C event at the Rio. Both series offer several events that fall in your small-buy-in classification, and both venues are known for running top-notch tournaments.

Thus, I had two seemingly evenly matched series to pick from.

Based on prior experience playing both, however, it didn?t take long at all to decide on the WSOP-C. Affectionately known as ?The Circuit? by touring pros, this offshoot of the larger WSOP travels round the country hosting small-stakes series. Almost all of the prelims are priced at $365, and each stop is capped off by way of a $1,675 Main Event.

Conversely, the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza is an in-house affair, hosted many times each year by the Venetian poker room. But as the buy-ins are almost identical, with a slew of prelims priced at $300 or so and a $1,600 Main Event, tournaments at the Venetian have a tendency to attract tougher tournament players.

Maybe it?s because these guys and gals grind there every evening, developing a roomful of card sharps just waiting for tourists like me to saunter in. Or perhaps the bigger-name pros look down on the WSOP-C because the ?minor leagues,? so that they avoid the Rio before real WSOP arrives. In any case, I?ve found the WSOP-C to offer softer competition, so I chose to play there on the Venetian.

That?s just one example, of course, nonetheless it illustrates the significance of game selection.

During any series or circuit stop, you?ll have a dozen or more prelim events on the schedule. And in a location like Sin City, there?re usually two or three mid-level series occurring at the same time. Without a sensible method of game selection, you can easily put yourself at a disadvantage by just signing up to play much tougher opponents.

In the initial WSOP-C Rio event I entered ? a $365 No Limit hold?em tournament with re-entries and a $250,000 guaranteed prize pool ? I found myself sitting alongside older persons and tourists looking for a good time. Don?t get me wrong, there were a lot of competent players readily available, but on a standard scale, the caliber of competition was rather weak.

Even though the cards didn?t cooperate for me personally on that day, an authentic amateur who just been visiting Vegas that week finished up winning the complete shebang. For $365, Randy Khami outlasted a field of 1 1,074 entries to collect $57,462 in winnings, together with his first WSOP-C gold ring. For an informal player like Khami, who had never cashed for a lot more than $1,400 before, playing contrary to the softer WSOP-C field gave him a chance to live every poker player?s dream.

On the far side of the Strip, a similarly sized prelim event at the Venetian saw professional Jon Turner take the title. Turner, better known as ?PearlJammed? from his days as an online beast, simply added to his a lot more than $2.7 million in live tournament earnings. Met with highly talented pros like Turner, players like myself and Khami will be the proverbial ?dead money? at the table.

Therefore, one of the important steps you can take toward dominating small-buy-in poker tournaments occurs before you ever buy in. Practicing savvy game selection gives you the best possiblity to overcome the chances and wind up enjoying a deep run.

Study Your Structure Sheets Closely
?I was raised playing tournaments with fast structures. It had been fun for me personally as a youngster, just playing was enjoyable so I didn?t mind playing in tournaments with 20-minute levels and huge jumps. I?m not just a kid anymore, though, and I find fast paced structures to obtain boring very quickly. I just don?t benefit from the pre-flop aspects of the game nearly up to the post flop section of the game, but the faster the structure, the less of a chance you must really make use of the weaker players at the table.? ? Daniel ?Kid Poker? Negreanu, the all-time tournament earnings leader with over $36.5 million in live cashes
Another facet of game selection which allows you to maximize your ability while limiting your skill liability is studying structure sheets.

As ?Kid Poker? himself observes, most small-stakes daily or nightly tournaments run by local casinos work with a turbo structure. Quite simply, the starting stacks are on the smaller side (5,000 to 10,000 chips, generally), while the blinds escalate quite rapidly at 15- or 20-minute intervals.

Conversely, a ?major? tournament like a series Main Event or higher-priced WSOP prelim gives players larger stacks (15,000 or 20,000) and longer blind levels (half an hour to one hour).

And within every individual structure, skipping certain blind levels can wreak havoc on the entire gameplay. Once the blinds jump from 400/800 to 600/1,200, for instance, missing out on that 500/1,000 level instantly shrinks your ?effective stack.?

Just in case you?re at night on that poker slang, your effective stack simply measures your chip count against the current big blind.

Let?s say you have 10,000 chips once the big blind is defined at 100. In this case, you?re sitting on 100 big blinds, that is quite comfortable. You have room to maneuver, make creative plays, and mix it up during post-flop rounds without concern with going broke.

But just a few levels later, with the big blind increased to 500, your 10,000 chips now mean just 20 big blinds. You?re still doing fine at this point, but your options are much more limited. Any opening raise you make will utilize a decent chunk of one's stack, so you must be a lot more conservative pre-flop. Players often discuss being ?handcuffed? at the 20 big blind or lower level, making use of their plays reduced to folding or shoving all-in.

Using the same two tournaments mentioned earlier, you can view how a slightly different structure serves to influence the overall game.

In the $365 buy-in WSOP-C event I played, the starting stack was 10,000 chips, and blind levels lasted half an hour each. Level 1 started at 25/50 blinds, and the initial antes kicked in at Level 5, with the blinds sitting at 100/200 and a 25-chip ante. Thus, my 10,000 chips were worth 200 big blinds in the beginning, and 50 big blinds whenever we started anteing up.

But by taking a look at the Venetian structure sheet, you?ll find that a $400 buy-in bought 18,000 starting chips, and the blind levels lasted 40 minutes apiece. The opening blind level was 50/100, and the antes kicked in at Level 4 (100/200/25).

In this case, your 18,000 starting stack was worth 180 big blinds at the outset, slightly less than the WSOP-C event. But when the antes arrived, signaling the real start of any tournament, that same stack held a value of 90 big blinds ? almost double what you?d have in the WSOP-C event.

Had I tell you these calculations beforehand, I probably would?ve hit the Venetian instead. Those tournaments surpass their DeepStack title, letting players have far more wiggle room during the middle and late stages of the game.

Studying structure sheets is an essential poker skill, as you?ll be able to plan ahead to gauge precisely how shallow or deep your stack will be at any stage.

Look, Listen, and Observe
?While live poker gives you the opportunity to take plenty of information regarding your opponents, it also provides you with plenty of down-time where little is happening. If you do not focus well, you'll miss loads of vital information that will help you adjust to your opponents? specific tendencies, allowing you to win a lot more money. When playing poker, switch off the distractions and play poker.? ? Jonathan Little, two-time World Poker Tour champion and writer of Ways of Beat Small Stakes Poker Tournaments
With the pregame prep out of the way, it?s time and energy to tackle some actual poker tips.

One of the leading poker instructional authors of the era and accomplished player in his own right, Jonathan Little lays everything up for grabs in the quote above. Unless you?re ready to play poker, and not just cards, you?ll never prepare yourself to dominate these small-stakes tournaments.

Most players in the present day age arrived at the tournament table with a backpack, a hoodie, and a pair of headphones. These tools are accustomed to make the long days convenient, but for most grinders, they?re also a source of escape.

Let?s face it; Texas hold?em tournaments involve a whole lot of folding, especially in the early stages. With just 10% of hands falling into the ?premium? category, you?ll be ditching a huge amount of 10-2s and 7-3s before the flop. Folding eight out of nine hands throughout a single orbit can be mind-numbing, to say the least, which is where music, texting, and the overhead TVs come into play.

But while your opponent is zoning out, you need to be taking the precise opposite approach. Try to watch every hand play out, even when your cards have long since been mucked.

Watch to see which players are opening many times an orbit, signaling a loose approach to hand selection, and which ones turtle up right into a fold-fest. Following the flop, make an effort to track an opponent?s continuation bet tendencies. Some will fire a c-bet every single time after opening pre-flop, while others will only continue if they have the goods.

And at showdown, always take advantage of the exposed information available to you. Texas hold?em is all about deception, so learning exactly which two cards an opponent held ? and how they played the hand ? is invaluable to the thinking player.

Understanding Pre-Ante and Post-Ante Play
?Tournaments usually have not merely blinds but antes following the first few stages. Which means that there?s more in the pot to begin the hand, and whoever wins the struggle for the antes gets a bigger prize. After the antes kick in, if you can win more than your share of preflop pots, you?ve already accomplished much of what is essential to flourish in tournaments.? ? Nate Meyvis, tournament pro and host of the Thinking Poker podcast
Back the section on studying structure sheets, I paid special focus on once the antes kicked in ? therefore should you.

The first few levels of a small-buy-in tournament are essentially meaningless, because the tiny blinds and insufficient antes produce pots that just aren?t worth fighting over. Even so, you?ll invariably see players fall by the wayside and go bust prior to the antes ever start.

I understand this because I was one them.

During my most recent visit to the WSOP-C Rio, I succumbed to the same danger I?m warning you about right now ? playing too many hands through the pre-ante period. When I sat down to my first table, I was surrounded by players who be generously referred to as ?casual? players. They were grandparents, tourists, and cash game grinders who just didn?t appear to pose a threat at the time.

My plan was as follows. Mix it up early with speculative hands, play a loose aggressive style, and try to take full advantage of my seemingly overmatched opponents. On the very first deal, I picked up A-10 off suit and played it aggressively, especially after flopping a 10-high board. Unfortunately for me personally, my foe found two pair on the turn, and within one hand, my 10,000-chip starting stack was carved right down to 8,250. I finished up chasing from there, attempting to catch up, until I was the first one eliminated from that seemingly soft table.

The problem with overplaying the pre-ante levels is readily apparent, but when i proved, even decent players can fall prey. Basically, until the whole table is forced to fork out, the pre-flop pot just doesn?t contain enough chips to justify chasing it aggressively.

Let?s say you?re sitting on that 10,000 stack in Level 3, with the blinds at 75-150 no ante. The pre-flop pot holds just 225 in the first place, and even if somebody makes the standard 350 opening raise and catches a caller, the pot will only have 775 shared. But more often than not, you?ll be opening for 350 just to win 225, which doesn?t really accumulate in terms of risk versus reward.

Fast forward two levels to when the first antes have arrived, and the math changes considerably. With blinds of 100/200 and a 25-chip ante, every pre-flop pot (assuming a full nine-handed table) has 525 sitting in the middle. Here, a standard opening raise of 450 offers you a shot to claim 525 chips without a fight, forming a positive risk-to-reward ratio.

For this reason, many of the more skilled players and pros don?t even bother to contest the pre-ante levels. By skipping the pre-ante play altogether, they start the overall game competing for pots that truly have some value in accordance with their stack size.

I?m not an advocate of skipping levels, and I always show up promptly to play from the start time whenever possible. But still smarting from my early bust-outs at the Rio, I recognize the importance of playing a snug, tight game with antes in play.

Additional Resources
The strategic approaches needed to dominate the center and late stages of a small-buy-in tournament are about as diverse as it gets. Between different playing styles, in-game circumstances, bankroll considerations, and a complete host of external factors, playing properly is a matter of perspective. Due to the truth that I?m not a pro poker player, I figure the simplest way that you should perfect your mid- and endgame play is by learning from the very best. To that end, I recommend Jonathan Little?s seminal book about them: Approaches for Beating Small Stakes Poker Tournaments. You can examine it out here, but suffice it to state, Little may be the leading authority on teaching recreational players how exactly to take their game to another level.

He?s written more than a dozen books on poker instruction, but this one targets the daily/nightly and prelim events that millions of players call home.

Other books to look at are the Harrington on Hold?em series by WSOP legend Dan Harrington, Ace on the River by bracelet winner Barry Greenstein, and the Thinking Poker podcast by Nate Meyvis. I?d also check out poker tutorial platforms like Upswing Poker, Run It Up, and Run It Once, which were pioneered by top-tier tournament pros.

Dominating poker tournaments with a minimal buy-in is a good goal to be able to eventually become profitable in events with bigger buy-ins. Use this guide to assist you start winning additional money in low buy-in poker tournaments.
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