Knock Out Poker Tips to Win More Sit n' Goes

Knock out poker is not much different from regular no limit holdem poker except for the fact that you get paid for actually knocking another player out of the game.  You get a bounty for breaking the other guy or girl. Because of the nature of knockout holdem, it is becoming very popular and offers excellent opportunities to players who understand that being aggressive can really pay off.  Let's face it, the whole idea of winning poker is to push the other guy or girl off the table.  To knock them out of the game. marked cards

Last night, I won a satellite sit n' go that started with one hundred and sixteen players.  When it got down to the last player and me I realized why he'd gotten to the final table and why we were facing each other one on one.  He was cool and kept his composure no matter what.  He had about 115,000 chips and I started with about 116,000.  We battled for quite a while and I finally started to wear him down.  As I did, he got even more conservative and tougher to catch no matter if I slowplayed, check raised or whatever.

Instead of pushing him out of the game, he actually made a comeback after being down to 53,000 chips.  He almost got back to even with me before the blinds and more slow playing finally did him in.  I had to adjust to him and understand that he would bend, but not break.  That is one tough player to take on.  In the end, his biggest mistake was being too conservative and not raising on the big blind and only calling on the small blind.infrared marked cards

The whole key to his success wasn't bluffing or any fancy moves, just that he played good basic poker and didn't let a bad beat rattle him.  These types of players are the toughest to beat for one reason.  He didn't let his emotions change his methods, except to become a little more careful and to bet a little less. Emotions are the biggest factor in winning poker, both your emotions and the other guys.  Why, you ask?  Because your emotions set the tone for your attitude and your attitude determines how you play.

Wake up in the morning feeling cocky and take that 'chip on your shoulder' attitude to the table and the other players will read it and soon set you up with some check raising and slow playing that will suck your chips out while you prove how tough, brave, and foolish you are.  On the other hand, wake up in the morning and feel apathetic and like you just don't care about things and see how that lackluster and non aggressive behavior doesn't pay off.

We all know that tilt is an emotional response to a bad beat.  Going on tilt is a very dangerous condition in a game or tournament.  If you are ever going to get an easy shot at knocking out another player, then it is probably when he or she is on tilt.  Therefore, you don't ever want to go on tilt and you do want your opponent to tilt.

In my opinion, other than learning the basic statistics of cards and the nuances of betting, learning to control your emotions and the emotions of your opponents is the most important skill in poker, especially knockout where the easiest way to beat your opponent is to set him or her on tilt first, then deliver the knockout blow.