So, practically speaking, how can this be accomplished? Well, there are a few shortcuts to building an aggressive image despite not really risking a whole lot:

Raise a lot in late position

The fewer people you have behind you, the higher the chance you have of being able to steal the blinds. This is especially the case when it folds to you in the small blind. From that spot, I like to raise with a very wide range of hands. Same goes for when it folds to you on the button. Be careful with button raises though. That is such a transparent play. In other words, most people almost expect you to raise the button with a very wide range, so sometimes it’s smart to actually only raise the button with a tight range. The “new button” is the “hijack”, which is two positions to the right of the button. From here, you can make a lot of raises but still get credit for probably having a decent hand.

Bet at a lot of flops in un-raised pots

If one or two players limp into the pot while I am on the big blind, I like to bet out at most flops regardless of whether it helped my hand. In pots like that, players will almost always give up if they miss the flop. And more often than not, players miss the flop. So take advantage of the fact that you are first to act and lead out for a small bet.

Continuation bet almost always

When you raise preflop and get a caller from the blinds, you should almost always bet after they check it to you on the flop. I’d recommend “continuation betting” (they call it that because you are continuing your role as the aggressor) about 80% of the time. Don’t give players free cards. Screw ‘em. By continuation betting frequently, you set up an aggressive image at the table that will induce people to playing back at you.

Re-raise preflop when the stacks are deep

A very strong play to make when the stacks are fairly deep (say, 50 big blinds or more) is to re-raise preflop with a wide range of hands against the right opponents. The “right” opponents in this case are players who aren’t too tight and aren’t too loose. Look for guys that are sort of active, but will roll over easily as well. Re-raise them preflop sometimes with air. This will give your legitimate re-raises more credibility down the road.

40+ Big Blinds

When the stacks are this deep, look to see the flop for about 3 big blinds preflop. This means if no one has raised, you should raise. If someone has already raised, just call, don’t re-raise. The idea is to see a flop cheaply and try to set. When playing these hands solely for their set-flopping value, you really shouldn’t call a preflop raise for more than 10% of your stack. You’ll flop a set about 1/7 times, so you want to be calling off much less than 1/7th of your stack in hopes of flopping a set.

However, don’t be afraid to expand the value of these hands by stabbing at the pot in the right situations even if you fail to flop a set. It’s important to recoup some of the value you’re giving up from failing to flop a set 6 out of 7 times.

20-40 Big Blinds

This is where small pairs become tricky to play. You can raise preflop in most instances, but if you are at a table where a lot of re-raising takes place, you can consider just folding these hands preflop, especially if you are in early position. Small pairs can become expensive if you raise preflop, miss the flop, continuation bet anyway, and get raised by an opponent. Be careful in these instances. Small pairs are a good hand to not continuation bet with on occasion. You already have a pair meaning your hand has some showdown value. By always continuation betting with these hands, you’re effectively turning them into a bluff.

10-20 Big Blinds

Players make a lot of mistakes with small pairs with this stack size. In early position, it is advisable to just open-fold small pairs. That’s a play many are unable to make and it costs them a lot in the long run. In late position, you should raise. With 20 big blinds, it could be okay to raise and fold to a re-raise. However, with 10, you should be raising all-in. How you play small pairs with this stack size depends a lot on the other players at your table. If there are players being very aggressive and raising a lot of pots, you can consider re-raising all-in with a small pair against them. If the table is really tight, be careful and don’t overvalue these hands too much. To reiterate, folding preflop, especially in early position, is usually okay.

Less than 10 Big Blinds

Shove preflop. Easy peasy.

50+ Big Blinds

Usually the stacks are only this deep in the early stages of a tournament. Ace-King is less valuable at this point than it will be in the later stages. As a general rule, I don’t think three-betting (that is to say re-raising someone’s raise, thus making a “third” bet) with Ace-King is an absolute must when the stacks are this deep. There are some situations where you will three bet and others where you won’t.

When to Three-Bet

• You’re still in early position and you want to dissuade a bunch of callers behind you.
• The table is very active (Ace-King does better in a pot contested between just a couple of players).
• The original raisor is opening with a very loose range.

When not to Three-Bet

• The table is playing tight and straight-forward (by flat-calling Ace-King you create trapping value against players with smaller Aces when an Ace flops).
• You’re in late position and the remaining players fold a lot.

The key to playing Ace-King when the stacks are deep(ish) is not to over-commit yourself to the pot. Rather than looking to double-up, you should be looking to win a medium-sized pot at a showdown. By playing this hand with a “double-up” mentality, you’re liable to get all of your chips in against Aces, Kings, or a set, as most people will fold anything else when the stacks are this deep.

30-40 Big Blinds

In this range, you can get Ace-King all-in preflop and feel good about it. Make a standard raise. If someone re-raises you, it would be correct to move all-in against just about anyone who isn’t super, super tight and passive. If you do not get re-raised and have to play this hand after the flop, you should continuation bet about 50-75% of the size of the pot regardless of whether the flop helps you or not. Often times you will take it down after the flop even if you didn’t make a pair. If you do make a pair, you can look to play for all of your chips. If you do not make a pair and someone raises your flop bet, unfortunately you have no choice but to fold.

You can consider not three-betting while you are this deep. The stacks are kind of weird for a three-bet with this hand. Consider just flat-calling some raises in hopes that someone behind you will re-raise.

16-30 Big Blinds

In this range you’re looking to three-bet all-in, or effectively three-bet all-in. What I mean by that is if someone raises to 3 big blinds, you want to re-raise to 10-11 big blinds with this hand thus signaling that you’re not going away. Never, never re-raise with Ace-King with this stack size only to fold later in the hand. If you re-raise with this stack size, all of your chips are going in on the flop regardless.

Less than 15 Big Blinds

Shove all-in preflop. About as easy of a decision as you can have at the poker table.

EPT San Remo

This event has only been held for a couple of years, but in its most recent running, it drew a very healthy field size of 1,178. It is held in the days leading up the Grand Final costs just half as much to enter, €5,000. The large number of Italians in this event make it a juicy one. All things considered, Italian players are generally do not make very tough poker competition.

EPT Grand Final

Despite having the largest buy-in of any EPT event, €10,000, the season finale in Monte Carlo is about the softest event on the schedule. First, it attracts a very large field. You can expect more than 800 players to participate in this tournament. When it comes to spotting soft tournament fields, the more players the better. This is one of the two most prestigious annual poker tournaments in Europe, so there’s an increased number of casual players hoping to make a big splash into the poker world.

EPT German Open

One of the most popular events on the EPT schedule is the German Open. This event typically draws 600-700 players and has a buy-in of €5,000. It is a fairly easy EPT event because it attracts a lot of fairly inexperienced German players many of whom are participating in their first live tournament.

EPT Prague

While not a particularly popular EPT event, the tournament in Prague is still pretty juicy because of the local fish. Poker is still new to most Czechs, so you’re likely to bump into some homegrown fish in this event. It’s not the best tournament though because the prize pool is fairly small compared to other events.

EPT London

This can be a pretty tough tournament. It has a buy-in of £5,000 and doesn’t attract as many players as you might think given that it is held in one of Europe’s largest areas. Plus, since London is a desirable destination to a lot of people, many sharky poker players who are too lazy to travel to a place like San Remo, Italy might decide to go to London since it seems more conventional.

Scandinavian Open

With a 50,000 Danish Kroner buy-in, this tournament, held in Copenhagen, is pretty tough. The field size is smaller than most EPT events and a lot of the Scandinavian players are really good. There is a stereotype in the poker world that Scandinavian players are really aggressive and make for tough opponents. This poker tournament on their home turf is no cakewalk.

Barcelona Open

The EPT season traditionally commences with a €8,000 buy-in event in Barcelona. This larger buy-in means less fishy players in the field. Additionally, since it is the first event of the season, many players show up to this event with a lot of focus hoping to get off on the right foot and potentially make a run at winning EPT Player of the Year. This event is very popular among American players. Any European poker tournament that attracts a lot of Americans is bound to be pretty tough.

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure

This $10,000 buy-in event is held in the Bahamas and is the only EPT event held outside of continental Europe. It is a very tough event filled almost entirely with internet qualifiers. In general, internet players are tougher than live players since they have so much more practice. Since this event takes place in the Bahamas, where there is literally zero organic poker traffic (Bahamians aren’t allowed to gamble), the only people in this tournament are players who traveled to the Bahamas to participate. Anyone who takes poker seriously enough to travel all the way to a remote island is guaranteed to be a pretty decent player. Don’t let the large field size fool you; the PCA is a very tough poker tournament.

Early Levels

The early levels of a tournament are the least important. What I mean by this is that your value in the tournament, and thus the importance of your decisions, are worth less than what they will be later in the tournament. Suppose the buy-in is €5,000 and you estimate that you have a 20% edge over the field. This means that when you sit down in the tournament, you’re worth €6,000. So, in a worst case scenario, you would lose €6,000 in value (but busting out), and in a best case scenario, you might increase your value up to €15,000 or so. Basically, you’re not going to be making any life changing decisions in these levels. With that in mind, a solid approach is to play tight and don’t get caught up in trying to force any action. Making it through these levels while just maintaining your starting stack is perfectly fine. Only go after the chips they’re basically giving to you.

Early Ante Levels

When antes are introduced to the tournament, the dynamic of the game changes. It is at this point that busting out of the tournament begins to become a more distinct possibility as usually the average stack is down to 50 big blinds or less. Because of the antes, stealing the blinds in these levels is more valuable. The antes essentially amount to an extra dead big blind in each pot. A winning approach to take in these levels where the ante is in play but the stacks are still somewhat deep is to open up your game a little more. You should have built a tight image in the early levels, so when you start raising with more frequency in these levels, you’re likely to get a of credit. Make sure to continuation bet on almost all flops in which an opponent calls your raise. Usually the aggressor gets the spoils in these levels.

The Bubble

Your chip stack is either going to be healthy or precarious near the bubble. How you play depends on your stack. If you’re under 20 big blinds, there is nothing wrong with playing very tight in order to secure an in the money finish. Of course, don’t play too tight if you can’t afford to be blinded off for the rest of the event. If you have a lot of chips, the bubble levels are a great opportunity to exploit players trying to squeak their way into the money. Dial up the aggression and watch your stack grow effortlessly.

In the Money, Before Final Table

These are very important levels where many key decisions will be made. Unlike the early levels, your thoughts and actions in these levels could affect your equity in the tournament by perhaps €100,000 or more. Be careful not to put yourself in situations that will require very tough decisions. This means don’t play out of position often and don’t try to build a big pot with hands that have good showdown value but not necessarily good all-in value like top pair, mediocre kicker.

Final Table

This is where all the money is made. Notice the difference between busting out 7th instead of 9th at the final table. It should be more money than most make in a year. For that reason, I advocate a very tight approach to a final table up to the point that you are the short stack. Yes, that’s right, I think purposefully playing final tables with the goal in mind of becoming the short stack is profitable. The end result is that usually you make it to four-handed on a bit of a short stack but are just a mere double-up away from being right back in the thick of contention. Now, obviously, don’t fold premium hands like Ace-King when another player moves all-in. I’m not saying play stupid, I’m just saying play tight. The value of simply surviving the tournament at this point is so large that there’s no sense in taking thin gambles for a significant portion of your stack.

Where did this pile of wealth go? To little-known 26 year old Dutchman Pieter de Korver. Previously, de Korver only had two cashes on his live tournament poker resume, none for more than €10,000.

There were seven different countries represented at the final table. Only Germany could lay claim to having more than one finalist in this massive tournament. Here are the results from the final table:

1st: Pieter de Korver - Netherlands - €2,300,000
2nd: Matt Woodward - USA - €1,300,000
3rd: Mikhail Tulchinskiy - Russia - €800,000
4th: Dag Martin Mikkelsen - Norway - €600,000
5th: Eric Qu - France - €470,000
6th: Alem Shah - Germany - €350,000
7th: Daniel Zink - Germany - €250,000
8th: Peter Traply - Hungary - €170,000

In all, season five of the European Poker Tour was a huge success. It has clearly surpassed the primarily US-based World Poker Tour in terms of significance. Over 7,900 players participated in this season of the EPT. Over €54 million changed hands this year, far more than the previous record of €38 million in season four.

Season six of the EPT will start in the fall following the conclusion of the World Series of Poker. One thing is for sure, it’ll be pretty impressive if season six’s numbers can top those of season five!

Times have changed.

This week, the WPT Championship, a $25,000 buy-in event that used to be (and maybe still is) considered the second most prestigious tournament in the world next to the WSOP Main Event has attracted just 337 players. In the glory days of this event, over 600 players participated. So where did everyone go? The answer to that question is San Remo, Italy.

In just its second year on the EPT schedule, the event in San Remo lured an astounding 1,178 players to a venue not exactly on the beaten path (relative to Vegas, anyway).

How can this be explained?

There are probably a few reasons why EPT San Remo has drawn overwhelmingly larger interest than the WPT Championship. First, the world’s economy is in a deep recession. Many players probably find the $6,600 San Remo buy-in to be a much more practical option than the $25,000 buy-in WPT event. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the San Remo event was promoted heavily through online poker satellites. Players could either win a seat or buy-in directly through PokerStars, the poker room that sponsors the EPT.

Most U.S.-based cardrooms no longer accept direct registrations from online poker rooms due to legal issues. In Italy, however, this is not a problem. Players who won a seat to EPT San Remo were able to be registered for the event by PokerStars. And of course, even if sites could have directly registered players for the WPT tournament, it’s a lot easier for people to win a seat to a $6,600 tournament than a $25,000 one.

This domination of the WPT by the EPT is a symbolic nail in the coffin of the WPT’s glory days. Despite having a buy-in of almost one-fourth the size, the San Remo top-prize nearly eclipsed the WPT Championship’s top prize ($1.9M vs. $2.1M).

I believe the EPT has already surpassed the WPT in terms of significance as a poker tournament tour. Within a year, this line of thinking will likely be commonplace in the poker world.

The EPT Grand Final saw a boost in it’s participation in season two when 298 players came together for the championship. A streak of young champions was initiated in this tournament when online sensation Jeff “yellowsub” Williams (pictured left) won the event for €900,000 at just 19 years of age. Since then, Williams has enjoyed continued success in the poker world including a 2nd place finish in a $1,000 rebuy event at least year’s WSOP for $406,000.

Season three is when the EPT Grand Final really kicked into gear. The field size more than doubled from the year before when 706 players came together for 2007’s event. Gavin Griffin (pictured right) was just 25 when he won that event along with a cool €1,825,010. Griffin is the only poker player who can lay claim to having won a WSOP event, a World Poker Tour event, as well as an EPT event.

At last year’s Grand Final, the field size grew once again, this time to 842 players. Once again, a youngster emerged with a huge payday. Canadian Glen Chorny was just twenty-two at the time of his €2,020,000 score.

There’s no telling if the EPT Grand Final will make it four-for-four on increasing its field size from year to year. A global economic recession certainly stands poised to diminish participation this year, but at the same time, poker has managed to stay pretty recession-proof thus far.

Whoever makes it to Monte Carlo next month for this year’s Grand Final, one thing is for sure: there will be plenty of skilled young players hoping to make it four in a row for the under-30 crowd in Europe’s premier tournament!

Scandinavian Players

In general, players from Scandinavian countries are known for playing relentlessly aggressive. Many of the best players in the world are from these countries. Patrik Antonius and Ilari Sahamies are Finnish. Annette Obrestad and Trond Erik Eidsvig are Norwegian. Erik “Erik123″ Sagstrom is Swedish. Gus Hansen and Soren Kongsgaard are Danish. All of these players have gained notoriety for their ultra-aggressive style of play. “Unknown” Scandinavians are also typically aggressive since they tune into the same learning channels are their more successful peers.

American Players

American players are kind of a mixed bag. Some Americans are pretty new to the poker scene while others have been playing for a very long time. Plenty of Americans, such as Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and Mike Matusow are not endlessly aggressive. Sure, they’re active players, but they aren’t constantly making huge bluffs for their whole stack. Americans tend to be more middle-of-the-road type of players who lack the courage to play completely erratic but have the pride not to play super-tight.

Canadian Players

Most of the successful Canadian players have a very strong mathematical sense for the game. A lot of them who have had success on the EPT, such as Mike McDonald and Glen Chorny, came up in the same school of having math serve as a fundamental basis for all of their decision making. Canadian players could best be summed up by the word “solid”. They won’t be the most aggressive ones at the table, but when their chips are going into the pot, you had better believe they’ve got the best of it.

Spanish and Italian Players

These players are perhaps the ones with the highest propensity to chase draws. The theme here is that they don’t like to fold. When you’re involved in a pot with a Spanish or Italian player, make sure to bet a little more than you normally would.

German Players

Like Americans, Germans are kind of a mixed bag. Some are very aggressive (Johannes Strassmann) while others are active, but sensible (Florian Langmann, Sebastian Ruthenberg). Most of the successful German players are very young, so like most young players, they don’t shy away from the action. The key is to find out how long they’ve been playing poker. New players who qualified through an online satellite might be pretty tight, while experienced Germans buying in directly will almost certainly be looking to establish themselves as very aggressive.

French Players

French players are known for being very, very active at the tables. They hate folding, even if their hand is terrible. If you flop a really strong hand against a French player, bet, bet, and bet again. There’s no need to get cute or try to trap them. Just play straightforward and take as much as you can.

With such a great structure, the strategy one should bring to the table for the early levels in an EPT event differs from how one might play, say, a $20+$2 online poker tournament.

There are a couple styles and approaches one can employ for the early levels of an EPT tournament:

Active Opportunism

Since the blinds are low, some people like to use a style of playing a lot of hands in the early levels. The logic is that you might be able to see a flop for really cheap and flop a monster against someone holding a premium pocket pair (like Aces or Kings). In my experience, this strategy usually sounds a lot rosier than it really is. What typically happens it that you wind up bleeding your stack down to 8,000-9,000 on account of playing a little too haplessly. It is imperative for players who use this style to have good discipline. It can be tempting to try to dig your way out of a small hole by digging even deeper. The early levels of an EPT event are not the time to give away a significant portion of your stack in a marginal spot.

Selective Opportunism

I believe this is the best strategy to use early in an EPT event and the strategy I would recommend for others to use. Selective opportunism means striking a good balance between “taking shots” and playing really tight. With this style, you’ll be seeing more flops than you will at the later stages of the tournament, but you’re not letting it get carried away.

A few examples of ways to do this are:

• Call raises from the big-blind with Ace-suited hands.
• See a generous amount of flops in late position.
• Keep pots small pre-flop with small- to medium-sized pocket pairs in hopes of winning a huge pot with a set.

This strategy differs from active opportunism in that you’re still going to be folding most of the time in early position and aren’t taking any floaters with stuff like Nine-Six suited or other similarly tempting, but ultimately junk hands.

Mr. Tight

This isn’t a bad strategy. Players inexperienced to live poker who are playing in their first EPT event following an online qualification would be wise to use this strategy. Essentially, you’re folding almost all hands except:

• Pocket pairs to try to flop a set.
• Broadway hands in late position.

Otherwise, the name of the game with this strategy is fold, fold, fold. There’s nothing wrong with playing tight in these levels. Remember, some players like Phil Hellmuth are notorious for not even participating in the first couple levels of most tournaments. It doesn’t get much tighter than that!