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In the middle and later stages of tournaments, there are often times when you're forced to make a pretty big commitment on a relatively weak holding. These are uncomfortable spots because you never want to risk a large percentage of your chips with a mediocre hand. Things get even more difficult when you're playing from the blinds and out of position.

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The Sit N Go (SNG) is online poker's great gift to the aspiring tournament player. Prior to the SNG, final table experience was hard to come by. You could enter a dozen multi-table tournaments and never find yourself at a final table. Or you could make one or two, only to get knocked out in 8th or 9th place. Adapting to an ever-diminishing number of players at a single table is a crucial skill in tournament poker, and it's a hard experience to find offline without investing a lot of time and money. Online, this experience is a mouse-click away. The SNG's advantages are many. For starters, it's low-cost, or even free. It's also fun, and convenient: You don't need to schedule it -- a SNG starts every time the table fills up -- and it's usually over in less than an hour. It is the flight simulator of Final Table play, and mastering it should be considered mandatory homework for the serious student.

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Many of the people crowding the tournament circuit these days developed their interest in serious poker from watching broadcasts of the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker. With hole cards shown as the hands are played out, viewers get to see how the best players in the world ply their craft. They can then apply the lessons they've learned in their own play.

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I know this newsletter is being written for an online poker site, but I hope that most of you still find time to play live poker. As much as I love online poker, I would never completely give up sitting at a table and getting the chance to size up an opponent. This week's lesson will examine why I think it is a mistake to wear headphones or sunglasses during live play.

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The recent poker explosion on TV and the Internet has created a flood of new players who are serious about developing their game. Sadly for them, television is sending a skewed message. No-Limit Hold 'em is the game of choice when the game is shown on TV, and it's easy to think there is only one game out there. While no one would argue that No-Limit makes for the most exciting television, there are many dangers associated with playing only one game.

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Tournament poker can be very exciting, but like many exciting things in life, it can also be terrifying. There is nothing quite like the thrill of playing at a big money final table. I am often asked how I handle the pressure of playing for such big money.

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I had T3600 to start the hand. The blinds are 50-100 in a NLH tournament. I opened for T300 in middle position with KhKc. Everyone folds to the big blind who calls and he had me covered by a few hundred. He is a regular high limit player, but I felt he might play a little too loose and aggressive. I didn't have much of a read on his hand at this point.

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Before I write about this hand, I want to say that I have as much respect for Layne Flack's NLH game as any other player today. I am presenting this hand because I think it is very instructive, and it was probably as important as any hand at the final table in determining the winner of the 2003 Reno WPT final event.

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I want to deal with an oft misunderstood concept in high limit poker. Although I often make a pure read based on a tell or just a feeling, most of my reads in poker are based on logic. Also, as this hand will illustrate, you don't have to use your read to make a huge fold. Especially in limit, you can use it to limit your losses or maximize your gain in a hand.

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Player B bets and player A calls. Player A is getting 11,900 to 2000 to call. He could be drawing dead, but he is most likely still live. He has played the entire hand assuming that player B has a bad one in the hole and he is right. Player B's hole cards are a 3 and a Q.

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About a year ago, I made what turned out to be a fortuitous decision. I decided to concentrate a much larger portion of my poker time to getting my NLHE tournament game into peak shape. Spurred on in equal parts by some who have foolishly suggested that side game players don't make successful tournament players, a desire to be a part of the next big thing in poker (the WPT), and by the knowledge that the really big scores in poker are to be had in NLHE, I vowed to go to all the major no-limit tournaments... for at least a year and see what happens. Not only would this allow me to sharpen my no-limit skills, but I would have a chance to study up on the new crop of players.

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