the phil ivey tourney style/ strategy...

[elmitchbo]

i considered trying to hijack davidross' atlantis thread with this post, but i decided i would get more discussion in a new thread.

if you haven't read the atlantis trip thread go check it out, it's an awesome post. one of the highlights is the time davidross spent at the table with phil ivey. the things he said about the way phil played have me thinking.

phil played alot of hands. he never open limped, but would frequently limp behind other limpers in late postion, would call raises frequently, and would bet out on almost any flop that was checked to him. this is the style of play i've been trying to use/learn, but obviously i'm no phil ivey....

one main question i have is his hand range given the prior stipulations.

1. if he never open limps does that mean he plays super tight in EP and MP? does he just lay down 'limpable' hands like suited connectors, suited aces, little pairs,etc. or does he just go ahead and raise with those hands? some combination of the two?

2. what kind of hands does he look for when he sees a few limpers in fromt of him? i assume it would be the normal implied odds-multi way type hands, but i don't really know. maybe he could play just about anything because...

3. if a flop is checked to him he bets at it. it seems that cards don't matter much in that situation. if you get in behind some limpers and they miss their flop, it's like free money. if you get played back at you make a decision to play or fold. (that decision seems to be the real skill in this type of playing style.) it makes sense to get in behind some limpers, or even call a raise, in position because you can win the hand so many ways. you can flop a monster, you can pick up a draw that lets you continue, or you can take the pot away because eveyone missed.

at the final few tables of the WSOP the 'bet at every flop ' thing really seemed to backfire. he bled alot of chips having to fold after someone came over the top of his flop bluff. never the less, that mentality seems to work for the most part.

anybody have thoughts on the style, the hand ranges, or anything else that would help? am i on the right track with the limp behind stuff? and for david, or anyone else that knows, how often does he reraise preflop?