hellmuth's 15 starting hands

[bigdog111]

tight playing

try playing that 2or3 handed and ill take all the blinds, it great for a final table

 

[Jarod1231]

try playing that 2or3 handed and ill take all the blinds, it great for a final table

Anybody who wont play any hand heads up is likely to lose every heads up game they ever play... as the number of players at a table decreases your number of playable hands should increase until you reach heads up where you will play any two cards...

 

[riffpoker]

Too predictable. Good advice if you want to win small pots and lose big ones.

 

[Grinderinoz]

His stratergy may depend on the structure of the tourney - 60 minute levels in a live event are fine - but a 10 or 15 min level online structure paints a different picture.

 

[nugsmoke]

ya its a good strategy but you want to be in more pots than that so people think you are reckless but when a lot of money goes into the middle you want to have a premium hand. But if you dont push the action you wont get action on your big hands. peace out

 

[Tbirdbully]

This is a good strategy for out.mid of position play, however your starting hands should open a bit in LP. You wouldn't want to fold a kq kj A10 AJ on button or cutoff, if your first one in, should raise. As someone mentioned this will give more potential value having a big hand in this position because they don't always put you on a monster.

 

[Heatherbrianne1]

I like hellmuth's strategy but, i usually only go all in if i have a pocket pair higher than 10 lol.. so many times gone all in with low pocket pairs and been screwed over!.. Hellmuth plays a strick and tough stragey that may not always work all the time

 

[Samango]

try playing that 2or3 handed and ill take all the blinds, it great for a final table

I can't think of a worse strategy for a final table.
Playable hands few and far between while the blinds are getting higher, a rigid predictable strategy is the last thing you want.
Jared1231 has it right - you should be playing more and more hands here as the number of players, and therefore the number of possible superior hands, decreases

 

[shortshanks]

Is this strategy just a tournament strategy or is it meant to apply to cash games as well?

 

[PoochMasterFlex]

i think it is meant to be played more towards cash games. i tried the strategy twice at 1 2 nl. first time at taj i won 135 in 4 hours and the second time at harrahs i got crushed for 350 when my KK got killed by A9 and having my 15 dollar raise called by 7 5 off when i had queens and he flopped the straight. i need to find a medium between small ball and this strategy as small ball gets me on tilt and drawn out on too easily.

 

[WORM]

Hellmuth is one of the 5 greatest players in the world so if he says it then I'll agree.

 

[5TR8 FLUSH]

What if you don't hit any big hands all tourney?

You will have to play very loose once your under 10BB. I also agree that he is one of the greatest, but not the best. I play more loose than that, but still keep a very tight image, and pays off most of the times.

 

[left52side]

Well I would say just simply by judging his success and the amount of braclets he has,
I tmust be a pretty good stradegy that has worked for him quite well.

 

[jolietdusty]

I think sometimes your better off playing bigger connector and suited such as KQ QJ than playing the small pocket pairs. If you play the small pocket pairs for the most part you only have 2 good cards and anything else can be a scare card

 

[lov_my_wife]

I think this very much depends on the type of player you are and how this would fit into your strategy. You cant just use this for all players cause some players wouldnt get much out of these hands anyway

 

[DURRRRACELL]

not good strategy. A good poker player can make a hand from anything. I guess the 15 strategy is ok if u r new to the game.

 

[TexasKid]

Hellmuth's book will teach you how to consistently win freerolls and consistently lose money.

Against the weakest fields the strategy works fine, but if you're playing for actual money then you become far too predictable following this outline. Eventually you'll find yourself varying your opening range according to your position and opponents, not according to the Hellmouth.

 

[TexasKid]

Hellmuth is one of the 5 greatest players in the world so if he says it then I'll agree.

I would strongly disagree with that. He hasn't had much success in big tournaments over recent years, and he's never had much success in big cash games. You can point to his bracelets, but those are mostly won from the weakest fields at the wsop -- the low BI NL tournaments. He's consistently good at beating weak players, but not the pros. The primary reason he's so often thought of as one of the greatest players of the game is because he has the ego of Nero. Literally. Look at his 2009 WSOP entrance.