“This book is a dangerous weapon in the poker world. A detailed strategy for future tournament-poker champions.”

—JosephHachem,2005WorldSeriesofPokerChampion

“This book is going to liven up a lot of ‘dead’ money.”

—MikeSexton,WPThost;authorofShuffle Up and Deal

“Aggressive players win tournaments. KillPHil provides an ultra- ag-gressive style that can be followed by anyone. It’s a winning formula that’s going to give the top pros trouble.”

—JoshArieh,2005WSOPPot-limitOmahaChampion; 3rdplace2004WSOPMainEvent

“It’s like giving the gun to the rabbit.” —Marcelluske,winnerofWPTandHallofFametitles

“ KillPHil is not a poker strategy book, but rather a tournament strat-egy book … And this book provides a wonderful approach for exactly that.”

—SteveRosenbloom,ESPN.comcommentator,Chicago Sun- Timescolumnist,andauthorofThe Best Hand I Ever Played

“As an old-school guy, I found a lot of the concepts discussed in KillPHil helpful as far as adapting some of my tournament game to the modern style. I’ve known Blair and Lee for years as tough players, and they’ve given up a lot of valuable information in their book.”

—VinceBurgio,1994WSOPSeven-CardStudSplit Champion,Card Playermagazinecolumnist;authorof Pizza, Pasta, and Poker

“ KillPHil is a well-written poker book that will likely raise a newbie to being competitive at no-limit hold ’em tournament play faster than any other method.”

—BobCiaffone,authorofImprove Your Poker; co-authorof Pot-Limit and No-Limit Poker; Card Player columnist

“ KillPHil teaches the inside secrets that the pros don’t want you to know.”

—MelJudah,1989and1997WSOPSeven-CardStud Champion,2003WPTlegendsofPokerChampion

“Tournament poker has changed immensely since I won the WSOP and it will continue to evolve. KillPHil provides the tools to stay ahead of the curve.”

—MansourMatloubi,1990WSOPMainEventChampion

“As a tournament director, I’ve had a bird’s-eye view of Blair Rodman’s strong play for years, and I recently watched Lee Nelson put KillPHil concepts in action in a dominating performance in winning the 2006 Aus-sie Millions. KillPHil is a must read for modern no-limit tournament players.”

—MattSavage,2004WSOPtournamentdirector

“Not only does this book introduce a quick and easy way to learn strategy on how to give yourself a chance at winning in the big tourneys, it also explains the logic and gives a frighteningly honest insight to how the top pros think.”

—DavidColclough,2003EuropeanPokerPlayeroftheYear

“I begged Lee and Blair not to write this book. There are a lot of books out there, but this one reveals secrets that pros really don’t want players to know.”

—“Crocodile”BillyArgyros,Australiantournamentpro

“A must read, especially for those of you just getting into the poker tourna-ment scene.”

—MasonMalmuth,publisherTwoPlusTwo

Kill PhilThe Fast Track to Success in

No-limit hold ’Em Poker Tournaments

Blair Rodmanlee Nelson and Steven heston

Foreword by Phil Hellmuth, Jr.

Huntington PressLas Vegas Nevada

Contents

Foreword—OneofthePhilsFiresBack.............................. xi

Introduction to the New Edition and Important Strategy Updates...................................... 1 The Mathematics Behind Kill Phil...................................... 9 Let’s Kill Phil...................................................................... 15

Part OneBeginning Considerations1 TheHistoryofPokerTournaments.................................... 312 UnderstandingNo-limitHold’Em................................... 373 TheBenefitsofBig-PotPoker............................................. 534 CharacteristicsofWinningNo-limit TournamentPlayers............................................................. 59

Part TwoThe Kill Phil Beginner Strategies5 TheBasisForTheKillPhilStrategies................................. 676 KillPhilRookie................................................................... 737 KillPhilBasic...................................................................... 77

f • Kill Phil

Part ThreeThe Kill Phil Intermediate Strategies8 KillPhilBasicPlus............................................................ 1119 Fine-TuningKillPhilBasicPlus....................................... 129

Part FourAdvanced Kill Phil Strategies10 KillPhilExpert.................................................................. 15311 KillPhilinPractice............................................................ 17512 Attitudesandlatitudes..................................................... 19713 PhilisDead;longlivePhil............................................. 227

Appendix I PokerHands...................................................................... 231Appendix II BasicsofNo-limitTexasHold’Em................................. 233Appendix III HowNo-limitHold’EmTournamentsWork................ 237Appendix IV Glossary............................................................................. 239Appendix V Pre-flopMatch-Ups.......................................................... 253Appendix VI Post-flopMatch-Ups......................................................... 255Appendix VII ProbabilityofWinningaShowdown withA♦K♥vs.BlackPairs................................................ 257Appendix VIII Outs................................................................................... 259Appendix IX PairProbability.................................................................. 261Appendix X DealFormula..................................................................... 263Appendix XI RecommendedReadingandWebsites.............................. 265Appendix XII TheKillPhilStrategyCards.............................................. 269Index....................................................................................... 281

FoREwoRdBy Phil hEllmuTh, JR.

one of the Phils Fires BackFirst of all, let me—Phil Hellmuth, Jr.—say this, “Do

nottakethetitleofthisbookliterally!Noonewantsthatfatetobefall anyof thePhils.Rather, theauthorswantyou tobeatusPhilsoutofourchipsatthepokertables.”

iadmitiwasamused,andflattered,wheniheardthatabookwithsuchatitlewouldsoonbecirculatingthroughthepokerworld.“Kill Phil”obviouslyrefers tometosomeextent,butwithPhil“Unabomber”laak,PhilGordon,andespeciallyyoungphenomPhiliveyalsosharingthename,iwasn’tsurewhatportionoftheattributionicouldassume.

Tobehonest,iwouldprefer that thisbookhadfoundnopublisher.imean,whowantsacrediblebookouttherebytough-as-nailspokerplayers(BlairRodmanandleeNelson)tellingtheworldexactlyhowtobeatyou?Thestrategytheypresenthereissimpleandeffective.it’sbasicallyanextensionof one of the tactics that David Sklansky presented in hisbook,Advanced Texas Hold ’Em Tournament Strategy.

Thetacticsareaboutputtingpressureonthegreatplay-ersbymovingthemall-inbeforetheflop.inthisway,you’re

h • Kill Phil

forcingthemtocommitalltheirchips,whichissomethingthatnoneofthegreatplayerseverwantstodo.Personally,iwillgotogreatlengthstoavoidputtingallofmychipsatriskinanyhand,becausewheni’mall-in,thenit’spossibleformetobeeliminated.

in2004iwasevenexploringthetheoryoffoldinghandswhereiwasactuallya4½-1favorite.Forexample,ifoldedpocketqueensinthemaineventoftheWSOP(WorldSeriesofPoker)eventhoughithoughtmyopponenthadasmallerpair.inthatparticularcase,iwasright:Myopponenthadpocketsevens,givingmea17%chancetobeeliminated.ifi’mgoingthatfartoavoidbeingall-in,thenit’scorrectforyoutomoveall-inonmealmosteveryhand.Evenwhenigaveupthetacticoffoldinga4½-1favorite(ihavetoputthechipsinsometime!),iwasstillgoingtogreatlengthstoavoidmovingall-in.

inmanyofthetournamentsthati’vewon,i’vebeenall-in—andcalled—lessthanthreetimes,andi’mproudofthisdistinction.RodmanandNelsonunderstandthisandthey’reteachingyou toputmeall-in, so that ican foldonemorestrong hand—and you can win the pot by bluffing me. ifenoughpeople read thisbook, theni’llhave tochangemytactics,thetacticsthathaveworkedsowellforsolong,andthe“Kill Phil”titlewillhaveearnedrealmeaning:itwillhaveforcedmetochangemygame!

Whatwasitodowheniwasaskedtowriteaforewordorjacketblurbforthisbook?ignoreitsexistence?Saynoandwalkaway?Afterall, itdidhavemynameon it,andwhattheheck,i’mapromoter!Soichosetoreaditoverandthendecidewhattodo.ifitwasgood,thenmaybeiwouldrecom-mendit.

Withallkindsofbooksoutthereonthesubjectofpokerstrategy,icannotandwillnotrecommendtoomanyofthem.(Ofcourse,irecommendthebooksthatihavewritten!)Toooften,agoodwriter,butmediocrepokerplayer,haswritten

i • Kill Phil

abookthathassomegoodpoints,butalotofbadpointsaswell.RodmanandNelsontrulyhavebeenthroughthewarsandunderstand thegame.Soeven though the titleof thisbookisabitunfriendlytome,i’mrecommendingthatyoubuyit.

Whenyou’vecompletedyourpokereducation,bringonyourbestgame!i’llbewaitingforyouatthebiggestandmostprestigiouspokertournamentsintheworld.Justdon’ttakethetitleliterally!

Goodluck,PhilHellmuth,Jr.

introduction to the New Edition and

important Strategy updates

Kill Phil(KP)waspublishedin2006.Atthattime,itwasimpossibletoenvisionthechangesthatwouldoccur intheworldofpokerinthenextthree-plusyears.Tothisday,whenatournamentplayeratourtablepushesall-in,alaKill Phil,otherplayersat the table stareatus, like itwasourdoing!Thetruthis,theall-inmoveisaviablestrategy,andacceptedpokerwisdomwasheadedinthatdirection,KPornoKP.

We released Kill Phil before the flood of modern-erapokerbookshad reached themarket and thepoker explo-sionhitfullswing.Atthetime,wewereabitapprehensiveaboutunleashingtheKPstrategiesonthepokerworld.Weaskedourselves:Whilethesestrategiesarethegreatequalizerfor tournamentnovices, ispublicizing themand “dumbingdown”tournamentpokertherightthingtodo?

infact,whileKPsoldmorethan30,000copiesandmanyplayers,rookieandexperienced,usedthestrategiesandcon-ceptstoimprovetheirresults,thephenomenonandevolutionofno-limithold’emwerebiggerthananyonebook.Theall-inmove,especiallyatlaterstagesofno-limittournaments,is

2 • Kill Phil

nowutilizedasamatterofcourse.KPdidn’tbringthisabout;itwasjustabellwetherofthingstocome.

Fromtheadventofpokertournamentsintheearly’70suntil the popularity explosion fueled by the internet crazeandhole-cardcameratookholdin2003,advancementinthestrategies of tournamentpokerhad come about very slow-ly. Since the early 2000s, however, books, televised poker,andinternetforumsandteachingsiteshavepropelledpokerknowledgeforwardinhyperspeed.Today’slow-rungtourna-mentspecialistwouldlikelyhavebeenastarinthe’70sand’80s.Astuteplayers attempt to stayon the cutting edgeofevolvingtrendsandstrategies.

For example, pre-2003, if a player went all-in with astack of any reasonable size, he’d generally only get calledbyplayerswithatophand.Thiswasa functionof thefactthatplayerswouldonlymoveinwithverystronghands.To-day,move-inrangesaremuchwiderandcallingrangeshaveadjusted accordingly. Young online-honed players who’veplayedmillionsofhandsoftournamentpokeronlinearenowenteringlivetournamentsandplayinguber-aggressivepoker.inexorably,new-schoolpoker,characterizedbyloose-aggres-sivesmall-ballplayandtight-aggressivelong-ballstrategies,is crowding out old-school poker. Old-school players whoareeitherunwillingorincapableofadjustingtothemoderngamewillmostassuredlystruggleinthecurrentclimate.

The original KP move-in strategies were based on thecallingrangesweestimatedatthattime.Whilegeneralizedcallingrangestoday(2009)aresignificantlywiderthantheywereatthetimeofthefirstedition,revampingthestrategiesisn’t the solution.Wider calling rangeswill lead toplayerstighteningtheirall-inrequirements,andsoon.ifwestartedtryingtochangethestrategiestokeepupwiththeevolvingtrends,wemightchaseourtailsuntilwecamefullcircletothepre-2003dynamic.The solution aswe see it is to giveyousomeguidelinestobringthestrategiesuptothepresent,

3 • Kill Phil

butbeawarethattrendswillcontinuetoevolve.Topplayersconstantlymonitorchangingconditions.

Hereareoursuggestions.For new players:Stickwith theRookie strategy aspre-

sented.Thisshouldstillgiveyouthebestchanceforsuccessuntilyougainsomeexperienceandmoveontothemoread-vancedstrategies.

For intermediate and advanced players: The play of AAandKKwasamajorpointofdiscussionwhenwedevelopedthebasicandadvancedstrategies.Ouroriginal ideawas togiveplayersa reasonablechancetogarnersomechipswiththosepowerfulandinfrequenthandsbyraisinglessthanall-in.However,inthemodernclimate,all-inmovestendtobeviewedwithmoresuspicionthansmallerraises,sowesuggestalteringtheplayofthesehandsasfollows.

Early in a tournament with huge stacks, if your oppo-nentshaven’tyetpeggedyouasaKPplayer,thestrategyaspresentedonpg.73-76 isstillviable, thoughnotnecessar-ilythebestcourseofaction.inthelatterstagesorifyou’rerecognizedasaKP’er,justmoveinwithyouracesandkingsratherthanmessingaroundwithasmallerraise.Yourchanc-esofgettingcalledaremuchgreatertodaythanatthetimeofthefirstedition,somoveinandhopetogetaction.

An advanced adaptation to the new style of hyper-ag-gressiveplayistooccasionallylimpinwithAAafteracoupleofmid-position raisers if youhave someaggressiveplayersyettoactwholikelycan’tresistputtinginabigraisewheneveryoneappearstobeweak.Youcanthencomeoverthetopandputthemtoatoughdecision.Theymightthinkyou’remakingaplayatthemandcallyoudownwithsmalltome-diumpairsorhandsasweakasAJorAT.

AplaythatwelikemakingwithAAorKKwhenshort-stacked(CSiof7orless)islimpingfrommiddletolateposi-tionandjustcallingaraisepre-flop.Wethencheckontheflopandcallanall-inbetormoveinoveranybet.ifourop-

4 • Kill Phil

ponentchecksbackontheflop,wepushall-inontheturn.Thismaybeinterpretedasabluffandcalledbyaweakerhand.We’rewillingtoacceptgreaterriskswhenshort-stackedinexchangeforagreaterpossibilityofdoublingupandgarner-ingadecentstacksize.

WhenwedevelopedtheOnlineStrategy,wedidsowiththeunderstandingthatonlineplayersweremuchlooserandcalledwithmorehands thandid liveplayers.The influxofonlineplayersintolivetournamentshascausedashifttowardtheonlinedynamic.OursuggestionatthepresenttimeistoleanheavilytowardtheOnlineStrategyinlivetournaments.Theessential differences are thatGroup2hands, and to alesserdegreeGroup3hands,aregivengreatervalue,whilesuitedconnectorsaredownplayed.

Anotheradjustmentcanbemadeintheareaofdefend-ingagainstlate-positionraises,employedbyaggressiveplay-erswithaconsiderablywiderrangeofhandsthanatthetimeofthefirstedition.Youmightconsideraddingsuitedcon-nectorsand1-gapsuitedconnectorstoyourre-raisearsenalagainst suspicious late-position raises if you have enoughchipsthatyouretainfoldequity.Forourpurposes,wecon-sider fold equity as offering our opponent less than 1.5/1oddstomakethecall.

Asyourexperienceandskillatplaying theplayer (pgs.114-117) increase, the more success you’ll have when youusethesevariations.Whilevariationsmakeasimplestrategymorecomplex,playersworkveryhardtoimprovetheirgamethese days and if you want to retain your respective edge,youneedtofollowsuit.However,fortheplayerwhosimplywantsastrategythatgiveshimareasonablechanceofsuccesswithoutrequiringamajoreffort,thestrategiesaspresentedstillgiveyouabetterchancethananythingelseoutthere.

While we received some criticism when the book wasreleasedthatweweresimplytellingplayerstobecomepush-monkeys,notonlywasthatneverourintention,butit’snot

5 • Kill Phil

true. in fact, that criticism often came from players whohadn’treadthebookandwouldlikelybenefitfromsomeoftheconceptswecover.

Kill Philisalearningplatformthat’sdifferentfromotherteachingapproachesinthatwecomeatthegamefromthetop down. Other books give pre-flop starting-hand charts,butoncetheygettopost-flopplay,theybecomehopelesslyconfusing to the rookie.Players adopting that approach tolearningthegamehavelittlechanceofsuccessuntilthey’vepaidforlotsofexpensivereal-lifelessons.Kill Philprovidesamethodthatgivesanewplayerarealisticchanceofsuccess,while gaining real-time experience at the tables to observeandlearnfromgoodplayers.

Opponents’reactionstoKillPhilpractitionershavebeenvaried and often comical. Some players become frustratedtothepointoflosingtheircoolandmakinghugemistakes.Blair vividly remembers an online player who berated himendlessly in the chat while he was experimenting with thestrategies, then decided to teach him a lesson by calling ahugeall-inwithQ3!

Similarly,BlairwasonaradioshowwithGavinSmith,oneof the topplayerswho’sknown forplayingmanypotsandoutplayingopponentspost-flop.BlairaskedGavinhowhe’d react to a KP player at his table. “i guess i’d have totightenupandstopsplashingaround.”Amazinghowacom-plete novice could force a top player to change his game.Powerfulstuff,indeed!

AfterthepublicationofKill Phil,wedidnumerousin-terviewsandradioshows.Oneofthequestionswefrequent-lyheardwashowtocounteractaKPplayer.itwouldhavebeensillytopresentanimmediatesolutiontotheproblemswecreatedforopponentsinKill Phil.However,whileBlairchosenottogetinvolvedinwritingafollow-uppokerbook,in2007lee teamedupwithmath-modeling expertTysenStreibandKill Philco-authorSteveHestontowriteKill Ev-

6 • Kill Phil

eryone,whichpresentstheanswerstomanyquestionsraisedby Kill Phil, and much more. After reading Kill Phil andgainingsomeplayingexperience,wesuggestyouadvancebyreading Kill Everyone. it targets intermediate to advancedplayers and is replete with useful information about unex-ploitableequilibriumstrategiesformulti-tabletournaments,Sit-and-Go’s, and satellite tournaments. Kill Phil and Kill Everyonetogetherareapowerfultandemthatneedstobeoneverytournamentplayer’sbookshelf.

WhileKill Philwasbeingpreparedforpublication,oth-erpokerbookswerehittingthemarket,notablyDanHar-rington’sHarrington on Hold ’Em.SomeoftheconceptswecoveredweresimultaneouslybeingtreatedbyHarrington,sosimilarconceptshaddifferentnames.Whatwecall“CSi”hecalls “M.”likewise, our “PowerRe-Raise” ishis “SqueezePlay.”WhileMandsqueezeplayhavebecometheacceptedpokerterms,we’vedecidednottochangetheKPnomencla-ture,sinceourreadersarefamiliarwiththeKPterminology.Justbeawarethatthey’rethesameconcepts.

Ourforum,KillPhilPoker.com,cameonlineshortlyafterthepublicationofthebook.Abunchofnewplayerstooktothebookandsharedtheirideasandprogressontheforum.Many of them developed into skilled players with notablesuccesses.Ourforummembersareverywillingtosharetheirexperiencesandhelpnewmemberswiththeirpokereduca-tion.Theyevenputtogetheraseriesofprivatesmall-buy-inonlinetournamentsthatarefunandeducational.Theyhavebecomesomeofthetoughesttournamentsaround!Checkitout—it’sacoolplacetohangoutontheNet.

Finally, one more key change in this second edition istheinclusionofthestrategiesintheKillPhilStrategyCardformat,whichyoucanfindinAppendixXii.Aftermuchdis-cussion,wedecidedtodothisforacoupleofreasons.First,itaddssignificantvaluetoyourinvestmentinthisbook.Butmoreimportant,itgivesyouanalternateandpossiblymore

7 • Kill Phil

familiarmethodformemorizingandapplyingthestrategies.When Kill Philwaspublished, the formatting in thebookwasthecommonstyleofthetime.Soonafter,however,adif-ferentmethod—usinghandvaluesinsteadofhandgroups—becamethestandard,andwhenSteveHestonformulatedthestrategycards,heusedthatmethodtolayoutthestrategies.Thisisthemethodusedinmostoftoday’spokerliterature.Experiment with both methods and use whichever worksbestforyou.

SteveHestonplayedavital role in thedevelopmentoftheKillPhilstrategies(aswellastheaccompanyingKillPhilstrategycards).Forthefirstedition,Stevewasconcernedthathisassociationwithagamblingprojectmighthaveanegativeeffectonhisreputationasamathprofessoratamajoruniver-sity,soheaskedustodownplayhisrole.However,sincethenhe’s changed his stance and the value of his contributionswerestrongenoughtoincludehimonthecoverofthesecondeditionasanauthor.

SteveHeston’sexplanationofthemathbehindtheKillPhilstrategiesfollows.

Blairandleedidn’tjustpulltheKillPhilstrategiesoutof thin air. Well, actually they did, until they enlisted myhelp! While Blair and lee were confident that their com-binedpokerknowledgeandexperienceenabledthemtoputtogetherhighlyeffectivestrategies,theywantedtoreallynailitandrequestedmyassistance.

WhenwewroteKill Phil,therewasgrowinginterestinno-limithold ’em,but fewbooks forbeginnerswereavail-

ThE maThEmaTiCS BEhiNd Kill Phil

9 • Kill Phil

able.No-limit cashgameshaddriedupmany yearsprevi-ously.Thishappenedbecausecashgamestypicallyuselargestacks,more than50 times theblinds.Thecorrect strategyistoplayextremelytightwhenthemoneyisthisdeep.ToquotepokerexpertMasonMalmuth,itbecameasinterestingaswatchingpaintdry.Butallthischangedwiththepopu-larityofhold’emtournamentsandonlinepoker.Thesenewgames are fast-paced and always end up short-stacked. Sobeginnerscanplayrealno-limitpokerwithoutinvestingalotoftimeormoney.

Players responded enthusiastically to the first editionofKill Phil.inextremecases,beginnershavepostedtoourforums (www.KillPhilPoker.com) that they actually wontournamentprizesonthefirstdaytheypurchasedthebook!Expertshavealsorenderedgenerouspraise.Theyacknowl-edgethatourpush-or-foldstrategiesareeffectiveforbegin-nersandthattheyinvariablyusesimilarstrategiesthemselveswhen stacks are small. indeed, this book documents caseswhereprofessionalshaveactuallyplayedslightlyinaccuratelyintheendstages,becausetheyhavelessexperienceinthosesituations.

Alongwiththelaurels,afewmisconceptionsaboutKill Philhavealsoemerged.Curiously,thesehavebeenheldbyplayers who aren’t complete novices, but not yet experts.Somethinkourstrategiesinvolvemovingin,or“doingtheall-inrhumba,”indiscriminately.Thiswouldindeedbesui-cidal.

FortunatelyKillPhilstrategiesarehighlyselective.Mostimportantly,theywin.Onenotedgamingauthorhadthepa-tience to testourmechanical strategieson500single-tabletournaments, and he showed a tidy profit at small stakes.Thisisn’tamatterofstatisticalsignificance.Whenyouputthestrategyintopractice,you’llroutinelyseelow-limitplay-erscallwithworsehandsandhigh-limitplayersfoldworsehands.That’swhenyouknowthestrategyisworking.

10 • Kill Phil

Perhaps some of these misconceptions arose becausereaders didn’t appreciate the underlying math. The biggestsurpriseofallhasbeenthatsomereadersactuallywantthegory mathematical details! These readers understand thatpokerisagameofmath,andplayerswhoapplygametheoryandoptimizationhaveadecidedadvantageoverthosewhodon’t.Oursubsequentbook,Kill Everyone,explainsmoreoftheunderlyingequilibriumconceptsandgivessophisticatedanalysesoftournamentsituations.

An importantmathematicalpoint is that althoughKill Phil uses a nonrandom strategy, your opponents won’t beable to read your hands. This occurs because the strategymixespowerfulhandslikeAKwithbluffinghandslike54s.Offhand, it seems foolish tousea strategy thatbluffswithsuch weak hands as 54s, much less publish it and informyour opponents! Presumably, opponents could beat you bysimplycallingwithhandsasweakas64s.Unfortunatelyforthem, it isn’tquite so easy.Whenyoumove in, they can’ttellwhetheryouhaveAA,AK,or thebluffinghands.Thestrategyismathematicallycalibratedtobalancethesehands,soopponentscannevertellwhetheryouarereallybluffingornot.Theonlydefenseistocallwithareallygoodhand.Youropponentswon’thavereallygoodhandsveryoften,soyou’llironically avoid confrontations by being selectively aggres-sive.ifyouwantpeace,youmustprepareforwar.

The exact optimal (equilibrium) strategy for no-limithold’emisn’tsolvablewithcurrentorforeseeablecomputertechnology.Evenifwecouldsolveit,thelengthandcom-plexityofsuchastrategywouldrequireabooksoheavyyoucouldn’tliftit.Besides,theoptimalstrategyagainstanexpertopponentisdefinitelynotthebeststrategyagainstyouraver-agetournamentopponent.Sowhatshouldwedo?

ForKill Phil,weassumedplausibleopponentstrategiesbasedonourtournamentexperienceandcomputationalex-periments. We also made a computational compromise by

11 • Kill Phil

assuminganinfinitenumberofdecks.Thisisslightlyinac-curate,becausetheinfinite-deckassumptiondoesn’taccountforeffectsofremoval.Forexample, inareal52-carddeck,it’s slightly less likely for your opponent to hold an ace ifyou already hold one yourself. But the inaccuracies of ourassumptionareminoranditmakesthepokerproblemcom-putationallytractable.

Also,wechosetheraisingandre-raisinghandstomaxi-mize the expected profits against the range of opponenthands.Thisdependsonthenumberofplayersandpotoddsinadditiontoopponents’strategies.inpractice,youshouldblufflessagainstlooseopponentswhocalltoomuchandcallmore against loose opponents who have low raising stan-dards.Butoverall,thestrategyworksquitewell.

Computerswereuseful incraftingother importantde-tailsoftheKillPhilstrategy.Forexample,KQisrankedtwohandgroupsbelowasimilarhand,AQ.ThisisbecauseKQperformsparticularlypoorlyagainstotherhighhands.inpar-ticularitgetsdominatedbybothAKandAQ,themostlikelyhandsforyouropponenttocall.Toillustrate,supposeyouropponentwillcallwithAJand77orbetter.Againsthim,KQactuallyhasslightlylesspotequitythanKJ.inotherwords,KQisarguablyworsethanKJ.Thereforeweranked it twofullcategoriesbelowAQ.

Calculations also emphasize the need to loosen up inshort-handedsituations.Forexample,supposeyou’reheads-upwithaneffectivestacksizeoftentimestheblinds.Andsupposeyouropponentwillcallwithanypairandanytwocardstenorhigher;that’s18%ofhands.Thatmeansyoucansuccessfullystealtheblinds82%ofthetime.inordertobreakeven,youmustexpecttoloselessthan.82timestheblindsonthose18%ofhandswhereyougetcalled.Onthoseocca-sions,you’llcontributeyourstackof10timestheblindstobuildapotof21timestheblinds.ifyourpotequityis26%,you’llexpecttolose4.54timestheblinds.Fortunately,this

12 • Kill Phil

happensonly18%of the time, so thecontribution toyourexpectedlossisonly.82timestheblinds,exactlyoffsettingthegainsfromstealingtheblinds.Therefore,youonlyneed26%potequitytomakeastealworthwhile.Eventheworsthandshaveatleast27%equityagainstyouropponentscall-ingrange,soyoucanprofitablyraisewithanyhand.AsKill Everyoneexplains,incertaintournamentsituationsitcanbeoptimalforyouropponentstoplaytightandcallwithonly18%ofhands. in these situations you should literally raisewithanytwocards.TheKillPhilstrategyincorporatestheseinsights by loosening up dramatically in short-stack andshort-handedgames.

A few critics have been disappointed by the simplifiedphilosophybehindKill Phil.Theyworry thatourstrategieswon’tenablestudentstoascendtohigherskilllevels.Somedemanding readers have even complained that this bookwon’t literally guarantee youwill beatPhilHellmuth.Thisreflectsamisunderstandingofhowtousethebook.

ThegoalofKill Phil isnottousemechanicalstrategiesforever.Thecarefulreaderwillfindanumberofplaceswhereweadvocateexpandedstrategiesthatdemandskillandjudg-ment,evenforbeginners.Frankly,wefindvirtuallyallotherno-limithold’embookstobeincomplete.Thebestonesgivesoundstarting-handadviceandgeneralguidance.But theyinvariablyencouragestudentstoinvestmoneyinhandsthatcanleavetheminveryuncomfortableandpotentiallycostlypots.Ourbasicstrategiesareeasytouseinstressfultourna-ment situations andprovide a “safeharbor” to avoid trickyspots.Thebeginnercantakeourintermediateandadvancedadvicetodeviatefromthesestrategies.Readerswillsoonlearntohavemorefunandearnmoreprofitsbymixingsmall-ballpokerintotheirperceptionsofopponents.We’reproudthatmanystudentshavecometotheKillPhilPoker.comforumsandbecomeformidableplayers.

Ofcourse,learningexpertpokerisfraughtwithperilsas

13 • Kill Phil

wellasprofits.Onthisnote,wemustrelatethestoryofourpublisherAnthonyCurtis.Anthonyisarespectedgamblingexpertandhaswonmanylargeprizesinblackjack,crap,andother types of tournaments. You can imagine our surprisewhenwewent toYouTubeandsawourpublisher inabighand with notorious poker expert Sammy Farha (“Farha’s33’sCrackAA’s!!!”).

Unfortunately, Anthony had yet to fully learn the Kill Phil deviations and chose the wrong time to get creative.Curtisraisedroughly10%ofhisstackwithpocketaces.Thisviolatesourrecommendationtoraise16%ofyourstack.Far-hainstantlyknewthatAnthonyhadalargepairandcalledwithpocketthrees.Farharealizedhisownhandwasinferior,buthealsosuspectedthatAnthonywouldbeunabletogetawayfromhisaces.UnfortunatelyforCurtis,athreecameontheflopandFarhabustedCurtis’aceswithhisset.impor-tantly,Farhawouldnothavecalledabetof16%ofAnthony’sstack.HewouldhaveknownwhatCurtisheld, butwouldhavebeenunabletoprofit.

Thisdemonstratesamoraltothestory:Thereisanun-derlyingmathematicallogictoourstrategies.Youcanlosealotofmoneybyimprovisingyourownstrategiesbeforeap-preciatingthislogic.Solearnthebasicstrategiesfirst,thenenjoyyourselfwithadvancedtactics.

Poker is like sex—everyone thinks they’re the best at it, but only a few actually know what they’re doing.

—layneFlack

Poker,baby!No longerdoes thementionof thisgameevoke images of smokyback rooms, card sharps, and low-lifes. Nowadays, bring up the subject of poker to nearlyanyoneandyou’llwinduptalkingaboutno-limithold ’em(NlH), the World Poker Tour (WPT), the World SeriesofPoker(WSOP),oroneofthemanyothertelevisedpokershows.Big-nameplayersofthedayhavebecomeTVstars.Winanationallytelevisedtournamentandsuddenlyevery-one knows your name. The biggest names, like Gus Han-sen,Howardlederer,DanielNegreanu,AnnieDuke,andofcourse,the“Phils”—Hellmuth,ivey,etc.—arelivingthelivesofcelebrities.TheyhangwithHollywoodstars,getpreferredtreatment, sign autographs, and garner lucrative endorse-mentdeals.

No less than Ben Affleck and Tobey Maguire havewon big-time poker tournaments. Affleck pocketed a cool

lET’S Kill Phil

15 • Kill Phil

$350,000 for winning a major event in los Angeles, andlordknowsheneeds themoney!Almost anyday inl.A.you’llfindabig-name star inoneof thehugecard rooms.Thestar-studdedcastplayinginthelasttwoWorldSeriesinlasVegaswouldmakeafilmproducerdrool:JamesWoods,leonardo DiCaprio, Gabe Kaplan, Matt Damon, and, ofcourse,BenAffleck.in2005,JenniferTilleybeat600otherladies to win a coveted bracelet and more than $158,000.There’sevenaTVshowdedicatedentirelytocelebritypoker.

Themoney involved inpoker today is staggering.Firstprizeatthe2008WSOPmaineventwasmorethan$9mil-lion!Noothersportingeventcomesclose.Winningpoker’sWorldSeriesisworthmorethanwinningWimbledon,theMasters, and theKentuckyDerby combined!Players fromallpartsoftheglobevieformultiplehundredsofthousandsofdollarseveryweekinpokertournamentsaroundtheworld.TVaudiences thriveon theexcitement, ashiddencamerasthat reveal the players’ cards allow the viewers to get intothegame. it’s like theultimate “Survivor” show, asplayersuseeverytrickinthebooktosendtheircompetitionhome.Thehundredsofthousandsofdollars(sometimesamillionormore) in cashdramatically stackedupon thegreen-felttables goes to the last man (or woman) left standing—it’saseductivearena.Meanwhile,onlinetournamentscannowattractmorethan8,000playersatatime,andtheycontinuetogrow.Bigmoney,moviestars,glamorousvenues,televi-sion—nowonderpokerisexploding.

Andthephenomenonshowsnosignsofslowingdown.Today,anestimated50millionAmericansplaypoker.ThisAmericanpastimehasbecomeaworldwidemania,especiallywhenplayed in the formthat’sall the rage—no-limithold’em. This is the game played in virtually all major tourna-mentstoday.Teachingyouhowtocompeteinno-limithold’emtournamentsisthefocusofthisbook.Butnotjust com-pete;you’llalsolearnhowtowin!That’sright.Assiduously

16 • Kill Phil

applied,theprinciplesyoulearnherewillgiveyouarealshotatthebigmoney.

Onceyou’ve cultivated thenecessary skills, the tourna-ments you see on TV aren’t out of reach. There’s no spe-cialqualifying.Youdon’thavetobedraftedorinvited.Allittakesisthemoneytoenterandthegutstositdownandplay.Comingupwiththemoneyisyourjob.Providingyouwithanapproachtoplayingthatwillgiveyouachance,regardlessofyourlevelofexperience,isours.

Thinkaboutthebig-nameplayersyou’veseenonTV.Dothey really have that big an edge over a player who’s rela-tivelynewtothegame?Certainly,theyhaveanadvantageinknowledgeandexperience.Butbecauseofthefundamentalnatureofno-limit tournaments, if youknowhow to tailoryourgametoyourownlevelofexperience,youcancompeteintheno-limitarenawithaveryrealchanceofsuccess.Theapplicationof certainkey concepts allows youfirst to leveltheplayingfield,thenmovetoapointwhereyoubecomeaplayertobefeared—especiallybythebestplayers!imaginewalkinguptoatableandhearingaplayeryourecognizefromTVsaysomethinglike,“Oh,no,notyou.”Wouldn’tthatbefun?it’spossible,becauseit’sthestyle ofplaythattheyfear.Thestyleyou’lllearnfromreadingthisbook.Weshowyouthetypeofplayertopproslovetoseeattheirtable,andthetypethattheyhate.Thenweshowyouhowtobecometherealthreatthattheydetest.

is itagimmick,nothingbutanover-simplifiedanswertoacomplexquestion?Yesandno.Simplestrategieswon’tgiveyoualong-termedgeagainstthebest.Butidiosyncrasiesintournamentno-limitpokeropenthedoorforaninexperi-encedplayerwho’sbeenproperlytrained.

We begin with Kill Phil Rookie, a simplified strategyforthosewho’veneverplayedatournamentbefore.Wethenmoveon toKillPhilBasic.Armedwith thebasic strategyalone, even a completenovicehas adecent shot at getting

17 • Kill Phil

inthemoney.later,weimproveonbasicbyincorporatingsomepowerfulpokerconcepts.Understandingandmodify-ingyourgameinaccordancewiththeseconceptswillmakeyou an above averageplayer.Finally,we cover somehigh-levelplaysandstrategies.Mastereverythinginthisbookandyoucouldbethenextsuperstar!

who is Kill Phil For?Kill Philisfortournamentplayersofalllevels.Complete novices benefit from a strategy that offers a

genuine chance of success while they acquire the valuablereal-time experience needed to make consistent profits intournamentplay.Beginnersalsobenefitfromprimersonthemechanicsofno-limithold’emandtournamentsingeneral,aswellasthesectionsonrulesandethics.

Players who’ve had some experience, but little success,gain from the more advanced strategies, which could putthemoverthetopontheirwaytosuccess.

“Old-school-style”playerswho’vebeenstruggling learnhowtotransformtheirgamestothemodernstyleofplay.

Playerswhoarecompetent in the small-ball arena,butarehavingproblemswiththenuancesoflongballmayfindthestrategiesenlightening.

Evenalreadysuccessfulplayerscanfindvaluablenuggetsofinformation.

Regardless of your current level of expertise, the manypointersthroughoutthisbookcanhelpyougainperspectiveandaddammunitiontoyourplayingarsenal.

These pages contain strategies for both online and liveplay.ifyou’reexclusivelyanonlineplayer,thestrategiespre-sentedallowyoutosuccessfullymodifyyourplayingstyletoadapttolive-tournamentplay.

18 • Kill Phil

who’s Phil?“Phil”isourcodenameforanyaccomplishedtournament

player.Certainly,severalpokersuperstarsarenamedPhil—PhilHellmuth,ivey,laak,andGordonamongthem—butwe’velumpedallthebestplayersintothePhilcategory.Wehadtocallthemsomething.Plus,wethoughtitmadeforadamnfunnytitle.

ManyofthePhilswithwhomweconfidedourplansforthisbookbeggedustoabort.Theirfearsweregenuine,be-causethisstrategyhurtsthebestplayersthemost.Theirlife-blood, the timid inexperienced player, suddenly becomes athreat.That’stheessenceofKill Phil—preybecomespredatorandviceversa.

how This Book Came aboutBlairRodmanhasbeenafull-timeprofessionalgambler

formorethan25yearsandhasexperiencedsuccessinmanydifferentareasofthegamblingworld.He’sanaccomplishedblackjackplayer,wasamemberofStanfordWong’sfamousgambling-tournamentteaminthe’80sandpartofahighlysuccessfulsports-bettinggroupformorethan10years,andhasin-depthknowledgeandexperienceinmanyotherareasofcasinoadvantageplay.Buthisfirstloveis,andalwayshasbeen,poker—bothasatournamentandlive-gameplayer.in2007,hewonhisfirst WorldSeries ofPoker bracelet and$707,000.

lee Nelson is a retired doctor whose medical fields ofinterestarenutritionandprostatecancer;he’stheauthorofthebookProstate Cancer Prevention and Cure.Overthepastsixyears,leehasperformedinpokertournamentswithre-markableconsistency,makingfinaltableswithsuchregular-ityininternationaltournamentsthathe’snowknownbythenickname“FinalTable.”Hewonthe2006AussieMillionsMain Event and its grand prize of Aus$1,295,800 (aboutUS$1,000,000).

19 • Kill Phil

SteveHeston,aprofessoroffinanceataprestigiousEastCoastuniversity,developedoptionandquantitative-invest-ment models used on Wall Street. His research includesgametheory.

Blair Rodman met lee Nelson through HuntingtonPress publisher Anthony Curtis. Blair and Anthony havebeenfriendsandgamblingpartnersforyears,whileleehadauthoredhisprostate-cancer-preventionbookforHunting-tonPress.Anthonyknewleeoriginallythroughpokerandwhenleedecidedtoauthorabookonpokertournaments,hecametoHPforpublishing.Whatleedidn’tknowwasthatAnthonywasalreadytalkingtoBlairaboutapokerbook(Blair and lee knew each other by reputation only at thispoint).AnthonytoldleeaboutBlair’sideasanditwasde-cidedthatBlairRodmanandleeNelsonshouldmeet.

it didn’t take long for the two authors to come to theconclusionthat,together,theycouldproduceaworkontour-namentpoker thatwould rival anythingdoneby theotherprofessionalplayers.Theysettoworkontheproject,puttingtogetheracomprehensiveoutlineonno-limithold’empokertournaments.

Time was of the essence, as it was obvious that therewouldsoonbeawaveofbooksonthemarket.infact,notlong after serious work began, the authors realized that amasterworkonthesubjectwouldtakefartoolongtocom-plete,giventhatthefloodofnewpokerbookshadalreadybe-gun.Bothconcludedthattheirwork,regardlessofitsmerits,wouldgetlostintheshuffle.Onthevergeofabandoningtheproject,Blairproposedanalternative—asimplemethodthatwouldencouragenoviceplayers toparticipate immediately,allowingthemtoaccumulatevaluablereal-actionexperience,while maintaining a reasonable chance of success—in es-sence,asimple,buteffective,basicstrategyforno-limithold’emtournaments.

ThisapproachfitinperfectlywiththeHuntingtonPress

20 • Kill Phil

philosophy.Whileothergambling-publishingcompaniesof-tenfocusontheeliteplayer,overtheyearsHPhascateredtothemanyoccasionalgamblersthathaveneitherthetimenor inclination tobecome experts, but stillwant tohave afightingchance.infairness,thefundamentalsofano-limittournamentbasicstrategyhadbeentouchedonbefore,mostnotablybyDavidSklanskyinTournament Poker for Advanced Players.However,theideahadn’tbeenthoroughlyexplored.

Anoutlinewaspreparedandtheauthorsspentseveralin-tensiveweeksperfectingthestrategies.Blairhasalonghistoryasablackjackplayer;consequently,theKillPhilbasicstrate-gyissimilarinmanywaystoblackjackbasicstrategy.ittakesabout as long to assimilate andmemorize and is adaptabletostrategycards,whichcanbeusedaslearningaidsorevenbrought along to the table.likeblackjack, it greatly evenstheoddsandallowsbeginnerstobecompetitive,thoughitdoesn’tyieldalong-termadvantage.Butjustasblackjackba-sicstrategyprovidesagatewaytothatgame’spowerfulcountstrategies,sotoodoestheKillPhilbasicstrategyleadtomorepowerfulandwinningstrategiesfortournamentpoker.

more helpThepokerworldischangingsorapidlythatanybookis

subjecttobecomeoutdatedquickly.KillPhilprinciplesarebeingemployedeffectivelyintournamentsbymoreandmoreplayerseveryday.inorder tokeepour followersabreastofhowthesechangesrelatetotheKillPhilstrategyaspresent-edinthisbook,theauthorswillmaintainawebsiteatKillPhilPoker.com,whichwill provide articles, blogs fromourtournaments,amessageboard,andotherinterestingfeaturespertainingtotheworldofpoker.

Additionally, as a supplement to this book, condensedversionsof theKillPhil strategies are available onportablestrategycards(seead,backofbook).Thecardsreferencethe

21 • Kill Phil

Rookie,Basic,andAdvancedstrategies,andcanbetakenwithyoutoconsultoruseatthetournamenttable.There’salsoanonlinecardforusewhenplayingcomputertournaments.

ThE ESSENCE oF Kill PhilWhileno-limithold’emisagameofinfinitecomplexi-

ties,itcanbereasonablybrokendownintotwomaintacticalelements:“smallball”and“longball.”

• Smallballersaresingleshitters.Theychipawaywithavarietyofintricatestrategies.it’sastylethatrequiresagreatdealofeffortandmanyhoursofexperienceatthetablestoreachproficiency.Smallballersareinvolvedinalotofpots,waiting for the fattest opportunities. if someone presentsone,they’repoisedtogoforthekill.Theprimaryprovinceforsmallballisaftertheflop.

• longball,alsoknownas“big-potpoker,”isanalogoustohome-runhitting.it’sanapproachthat’smucheasiertolearnandimplement.itdoesn’ttakeyearsofstudyandex-periencetorearbackandswingwitheverythingyou’vegot.long-balltacticsareusuallyemployedbeforetheflop.

inNlHcashgames,wheretheblindsarerelativelysmallcompared to the average amount of money that can be atstake, smallball isoneof theprimaryweaponsofwinningplayers.Forexample,ina25-50no-limitgame,mostplayerswillhaveatleast$5,000,ormorethan66timesthetotaloftheblinds,infrontofthem.Thisleadstoalotofpost-flopplay, as winning just the blinds is essentially insignificant.intournaments, longballhasamuchbiggerrole,especial-ly late inanevent.Earlyon intournaments, there’s lotsofplaypost-flop,becausetheblindsatthatpointaregenerallysmallcomparedtoplayers’stacks.Similartocashgames,thisissmall-balltime.However,unlikecashgames,inordertobring about a conclusion of a tournament in a reasonableamountoftime,theblindsincreaseatsetintervals.Asatour-

22 • Kill Phil

namentprogresses,theblinds(andantes,whicharegenerallyinstitutedfairlyearlyon)becomemuchmoresignificant.

Forexample,atthestartoftheseconddayofthecham-pionshipeventinthe2004WorldSeriesofPoker,the250-500blind/100antestructuremeantthatifanaveragestackdidn’tplayahand,itwouldbegonein12rounds.inthistypeofsituation,thestruggleforthepre-floppotbecomesmuchmoreimportantandlongballisamuchmoreviablestrategy.Bythetimethetournament isdowntothefinal table, theblindsandantesareusuallysohighthatall-inmovespre-flopbecomethenorm.it’snotuncommontowatchafinaltableforanhourormorewithoutseeingasingleflop.

So,iftherearetwodistinctareasofskillinno-limithold’emtournamentsandexpertplayersarewell-versedinboth,whichshouldtheaspiringplayerfocusonfirst?let’slook.

Small Ball …• iscomplexanddifficulttomaster.Thebestplayershave

yearsoftheexperiencenecessarytoexcelinthisarena.• isprimarilyemployedattheearlierlevelsofatourna-

ment,whenpressurefromblindsislightandinexperiencedplayerscansimplychoosenottogetinvolvedwithoutamon-sterhand.

• isnotmandatoryforsuccessinno-limithold’emtour-naments.

long Ball …• isformulaicandmucheasiertolearn.• is theprevalent strategy late in tournaments,when it

mattersmost.• canbeastand-alonestrategy.• gives the tournament novice the best chance to “get

lucky.”

23 • Kill Phil

The Ball is in your CourtTheanswerisclear.No-limithold’emtournamentsare

unique in the poker world, because they offer the noviceplayerarealchanceatsuccess—providedhe’sequippedwiththerighteasy-to-wieldweapon.inthisbook,weprovideyouwiththatweapon,alongwithinstructionsonhowtouseit.

Does this mean that small ball is an unnecessary skill?Absolutelynot.Small-ballexpertsareable touse their tal-entstoamasschipsattheearlylevelsofatournament,takenfromthelessskilledopponentswhochoosetotradepuncheswiththem.Thegreatthingaboutourmethodisthatitgivesyoutheopportunitytospendhoursatthetableobservingthesmall-ball experts atwork—soakingupknowledgewithouthaving to sparwith them.Combine this valuable exposurewithastudyofsmallballfromsomeoftheexcellentpokerbooksnowhittingthemarketandeventuallyyou’llbereadyto join the fray.Beforeyou stickyour toe in,however, re-member that sharks swim in shallowwaterand it’s easy togetbit.

CalliNg all PlayERSPlayersofdifferingskillandexperiencelevelswillextract

valuefromthisbookindifferentways.Absolutebeginnerscanbuildaground-upstrategystart-

ingrighthere—it’snotnecessarythatyoureadanotherpok-er book first. in fact, you could hold your own in a pokertournamenttomorrow,simplybyskippingtoChapter6andlearningthesimplifiedstrategy,“KillPhilRookie.”

ifyourgoalistobecomeanaccomplishedplayer,togetaperspectiveonthesubject,youshouldbeginbyreadingtheintroductorytopicsinParti,aswellasthesectionson“Rules”(pg.209),“Ethics”(pg.221),and“BasicsofNo-limitTexasHold ’Em” (Appendix ii). Then move on to Part ii, “TheKillPhilBeginnerStrategies,”whichisthefoundationofKill

24 • Kill Phil

Phil.With a reasonable amountof study, you shouldhavelittletroublebecomingproficientinitsuse.

For online play, we’ve altered the strategy somewhatto account for the different style you encounter there. Theinternet is a wonderful place to hone your game; many oftoday’syoungstarsbeganplayingonline.ifthat’syourpre-ferredarena,practiceKillPhilwithitscyber-adjustmentsinsmall-buy-intournamentsuntilyou’recomfortablewiththatstrategy.

Onceyou’readeptatusingthebasicstrategy,weurgeyoutomoveontothepowerfulconceptsinthe“KillPhilBasicPlus”(Chapter8).ThetechniquesdiscussedaddmuchtotheKillPhilstrategy’seffectiveness,aswellasageneralunder-standingofthedynamicsofno-limithold’emtournaments.

Theconceptscoveredin“KillPhilExpert”(Chapter10),combinedwithanincreasingunderstandingofpost-flopplaygainedthroughstudyandobservation,putsyouwellontheroadtobecomingasuccessfulno-limithold’emtournamentplayer.Thesampletournament inChapter11helpsyoutounderstandhowmanyoftheconceptsworkinrealtourna-mentsituations.

Sit-n-Go’s,or“SNGs,”havebecomeverypopular,espe-ciallyontheinternet.They’resimilartoone-tablesatellites,which are prominent at major bricks-and-mortar tourna-ments.Forthoseinterestedinthisvariationoftournament,we’veincludedadviceonhowtotweakthestrategyforbestresults.Severaloftheplayerswhotestedthestrategiesforusexperiencedsuccessinthisarea.

Andinamildlyironicturn,it’sourfirmbeliefthatoneof the prime benefactors of the Kill Phil strategies will beoneof themostexperienced subsetsof thepokeruniverse.Manyveteranold-schoolplayersarenolongerseeingthere-sultstheyoncesawintournamentplay.Whiletheirsmall-ballskillsareintact,they’refailingtoadjusttothedirectionthegamehastaken.Ateverytournamentthesedays,more

25 • Kill Phil

andmoreplayersareeffectivelyemployingvariationsoftheKillPhilstrategy,andthosewhodon’tadjustarebeingleftinthedust.

Blairisaprimeexample.Hewastheepitomeoftheold-schoolplayer,havingcompetedintournamentsalmostsincetheir inception.Whilehesawachangetakingplace inthewaytournamentswerebeingplayed,hecouldn’tputhisfin-geronituntilrecently.Hischangeinphilosophycoincidedwith his dramatically improved results beginning in 2004.Theexerciseofwritingthisbookcrystallizedtheseideasandhis success has been ongoing. Players against whom Blairhascompetedforyearsnowremarkonhisrevampedstyle—thoughtheydon’tnecessarilygraspit.Otherold-schoolplay-ers canmake similar changes throughanunderstandingoftheprinciplesdiscussedinthisbook.

Warning:PlayingtheunaugmentedKillPhilrequiresanuncommonlevelofpatience.Rememberthatthestrategyisdesignedtogiveanewplayer thebestchanceofsuccess,agoal best achieved by avoiding unfamiliar (and dangerous)situations.Enteringthesmall-ballfraybeforeyouhavesuffi-cientexperiencetosidestepthepitfallsisarecipefordisaster.Accordingly,Kill Phillersmust throwawaymanytemptingstartinghandsintheearlygoing.

it’sadifficultthingtodo;foldinghandsasstrongasQQ,JJ,orAKinunraisedpotspre-flopisboundtofrustrateyou.likewise,ouradvicetomakeoversizedraiseswithAAandKKwillfostercommentsandpuzzledlooksfromopponents.Somewhoarefrustratedbyyourstylemightevenmakede-risiveremarks.Evenworse,thisstyleofplaywon’tlookany-thinglikewhatyou’veseenonTV!

Keepthreethingsinmind.First,theTVplayersare,forthemostpart,extremelyexperiencedandtheirgameshaveevolvedimmensely.Second,whatyouseeonTVisfinal-ta-blepoker,whichisvastlydifferentfromtheearlygame.Andthird,theactionlevelonTVistheresultofeditingtofeature

26 • Kill Phil

bighands.Someoneisn’treallygoingall-inwith96off-suiteveryhand.

Still,mostnewplayerswantactionandallthesethingsmaytemptyoutowadeintothesmall-ballarenabeforeyou’reready.Don’tdoit.Thetimeforthatwillcome(weprovideareadinglistintheAppendixthatyoucanusetolearn),butattheoutset,don’tgettoofarawayfromtheKillPhilstrat-egyaswritten.Asabonus,manyoftheKillPhil long-ballstrategieswillremainthecornerstoneofyourapproachtothegame,regardlessofyourlevelofadvancement.

Another warning: Poker is jargon-intensive. There’s areasonforthis,asthedescriptivenatureofthelexiconfacili-tatesanefficientconveyanceofideas.Butifyoudon’tknowitgoingin,you’llbelost.Manypokertermsareincludedinthisbook’sextensiveGlossary.Somehavebeengivenquotemarkswhentheyfirstappear inthetext,andafewareac-companiedbybriefparentheticalexplanations.Most,how-ever, simplyappearnaturally. if youencounter a term thatyoudon’tunderstand, takeamoment toconsult theGlos-sary. Doing so enhances your overall understanding of thetext,aswellasbetterpreparesyouforliveplay.

No doubt many of you will be content with the occa-sional successesandmoments in the sun thatKill Phil canhelpbringyourway.Otherswilluse it as aplatform fromwhichtobuildaworld-classgame.Whateveryourobjective,remember to enjoy the challenges, rewards, and entertain-ment that poker can provide—not to mention the rush ofbaggingyourselfaPhil.

a FiNal woRdit’sabsolutelycriticalthatyoupayattentiontoandgrasp

thisseminalpoint:KillPhilisnotapokerstrategy,it’satour-nament strategy. if someone reacts to your play by saying,“That’snotpoker!”,simplyacknowledgethathe’sright.

27 • Kill Phil

Therearefewtrueexpertsinboththecashandtourna-ment arenas.They’re related, but separate, skills.There aretournaments in many gambling games—blackjack, craps,baccarat,evenkeno.Theproperstrategyinthesetournamentsisoftenadistantrelativeofproperplayinanon-tournamentsetting.Tournamentsareadisciplineuntothemselves.Whileyoumaynotbeasskilledapokerplayerasyouropponents,it’sverylikelythatyou’llbecomeabettertournamentplay-er—andthat’swhatgetsthemoney.