Throw traditional poker strategy out the window when playing Poker Night at the Inventory! After just 8 hours of play per my steam account page (actually more like 4 hours playing and a bunch of hours idling while doing other stuff) I was able to find weaknesses in all of the characters poker styles and capitalize on them.
Having won all of the TF2 items and achieving 12 of the 17 achievements I have decided to let you in on my winning strategy.
The Basics
This ain’t pokerstars.com! You are playing against the computer not humans. Bluffing in it’s traditional sense won’t work however playing bad cards is not a bad idea.
- Early in the game when the blinds are small, stay in. Don’t worry about your cards as it almost doesn’t mater.
- Call small bets – although the amount of the bet may not dictate the quality of the cards the competition has calling gives you a shot at catching a pair or even winning with an ace.
- Win big early by raising a pre-flop raise! If you have good cards [an ace and anything higher than an 8, high suited connectors (9-10 of the same suite) or a pair] raise small bets. It is very common to see one of our competitors raise and then upon being re-raised, fold. But if he does call don’t worry you have decent cards and the odds are goo that he doesn’t.
- Raise post flop with decent cards. Once you get to the flop and someone raises, re-raise. It doesn’t matter if you have nothing but an ace you will either win or the pot will build for a hopeful showdown.
- Over bet with a good hand. If you are holding a pair of 10’s and a 10 flops take a chance! Many of my showdowns came when I went all in with a small straight or trips. Going against the rules of poker one of your competitors may call your all in with crap. I don’t suggest this if you are the short stack and are playing for the Heavys’ “Iron Curtain” but if you have a lot of chips take the chance.
- Impose your will – When you are the big stack raise them to death! Good cards=big raise. This consistently won me BIG pots. Remember they are not real players and will call or sometimes re-raise with crap.
If you’re playing primarily to win the TF2 unlock-able items then wait for the game to start and if the Heavy, Strongbad, Max or Tycho don’t offer up their item due to lack of funds simply exit the game and start again. I’m not sure if this works the first couple of rounds as I played a couple of games first but after a few games it seems as though every 1-3 reloads had me playing for an unlock-able weapon.
You could even go so far as to go all in on the first hand. If you fail, re-start. Your stats won’t be all that great but then again who cares if you get the items. I chose to play it somewhat like a real poker game and use the strategies above and it worked very well.
Being somewhat of an achievement freak I am going to play until I unlock the rest of the achievements but at that point, unless more commentary is added I will be bored of both the game and the table talk.
Good luck and if you found a similar or better strategy don’t be shy. Post it!
