I took most of 2009 off from tournament poker, since the market was so busy and profitable that I didn’t have time to play much.  I really enjoy playing in pro-level tournaments, because poker at those levels is an entirely different game.

I’ve picked up a few things by playing with pros and I will share them with you.

What pros do differently than amateurs:

1. Pros don’t talk once they are in a hand. It gives away too much information.  The best players are quiet.  They never talk about hands afterward with other players.  Never.  They just play.  The semi-good players do a lot of talking about “I had odds to call, or he had such and such.”  I’ve never see these guys that jabber on and on last very long in the tournaments. The best players never do that.  They just ruthlessly, emotionlessly play.   Even when betting out chips, say “raise” or “all-in.”  Don’t even count your chips for your opponent when he asks for your chip count.  Let the dealer do it.  Why bother giving away information?  At the highest levels of the game, there is a huge premium in your opponents not being able to put you on a hand.  Don’t talk when in a hand.  Don’t even chat or make small talk after a hand, or comment on other guys’ hands either.  Just don’t talk.  Don’t make idle small talk about sports or the topic du jour, either.  It distracts you from the game.
2. Pros bet robotically, the same way every time they bet.  One of the most effective techniques I saw was at the final table of a Borgata Friday tournament that I took 4^th place in.  The biggest stack was in a hood and glasses and he was a damn robot.  He pulled his chips from his stack the exact same way every single bet.  He used the same hand, took from the stack the same way, bet the same amount and said nothing.  This was very effective.  Look at cards robotically, for the same period of time.  When thinking about a good or a bad hand, make it the same amount of time, unless it’s to call an all-in or big bet, of course.  Take time even with bad hands that you’ve already decided to fold.  Keep opponents guessing, and keep their blood pressure high.  Be robotic, even in how you fold your hands.  Make it a habit so that it is just second nature.
3. Pros take it slow.  Slowing down helps a lot.  It gives you more time to actually think.  It gives your impatient opponents to the left of you time to give tells about their intentions. Even with crappy hands pre-flop, take time, so you can figure out these tells.  Then observe what the players do.  It’s very valuable to know if the next two players after you are going to fold; it effectively gives you the button more than once per round.  Slow down on big decisions, too. Slow down on obvious decisions, too, so opponents can’t get reads on you.  If you fold so fast, then opponents can piece together the pre-flop action and figure out that you are making continuation bets and steals.  Give nothing.  Take it slow.
4. Pros think!  When you are taking time to make a decision, think.  Don’t just waste the time posturing.  Think through the hand.  Which leads to:
5. Pros have what I call a “Crucial Hand Algorithm.”  For every big bet they have to call or any all-in bet, they have a systematic set of questions they ask themselves when making the decision.  They are not just staring at you trying to get a read.  They are thinking very systematically, especially on crucial, high-pressure, tournament-changing hands. Here’s the way I’m doing this now: First, I do a “strategic review” of the tournament setting.  At this point in the tournament, if you lose these chips, can you play on?  What is your “M”?  Are you in a pot with a tough opponent, someone that can stack you?  Are there other weak opponents at your table you can get chips from later?  Will you be crippled if you play this hand?  Does doubling up really help you that much, changing your strategic position in the tournament?  Where is the bubble?  Do you have chips to handle the rising blinds and antes without winning this hand?  Then after strategic review, I do a “hand replay.”  Replay the hand in your mind, like a re-run, starting from the preflop betting and positions.  Then the flop betting.  Then the turn.  He may be a big stack bullying the table, but did he raise pre-flop AND on the flop and turn?  What hands could he have and how will they connect with the board?  Is it possible you are drawing dead already, such as a paired board on a flush draw, or flush draw on a straight draw?  What is the nuts?  Is it plausible that the opponent has the cards to connect with the nuts?  Has he given any physical tells that indicate he wants a call or not?  If you are thinking of going over the top of a big bet, is it credible that you have him beat?  Is it possible that he has the nuts and knows it and you are drawing dead?  Work through the crucial hand algorithm carefully before making a decision.
6. Pro players change gears.  In deep stack tournaments, there is a lot of limping early on when blinds are low.  There are very few aggressive pre-flop raises, but there can be aggression post-flop.  In deep stack tournaments, there can be a lot of post-flop play early on.  Good players, once they get a big stack, wield it to punish the table unmercifully, but if someone plays back, they can lay down hands. Position play after the flop is even more subtle and powerful than pre-flop, and equally important.  Bet sizing is very important.  Post-flop play is another whole dimension of the game.  The best players can play any two cards, and limp a lot early in deep stack tournaments, which makes them very hard to read.