OK. My trip to Florida is over (and my Mom is doing fine). I can finally get back to playing poker and teaching poker, both of which I have done hardly any of in recent months. And just in time for the World Series of Poker.

Actually, there are not now three tournaments in town, with Bellagio going head-to-head withe WSOP (though the Bellagio is 100% no limit) and the Venetian running a series of deep stack smaller buy-in events daily. Combined with all of the action at the Rio and around town, it is a great time to be a poker player in Las Vegas.

I know I promised a while back to talk abut freeroll tournaments and the like, and I will get to it. But today I wanted to discuss the concept of baseline.

Maybe that’s the wrong word for it, but its the one I use to mean your basic, no-frills, most fundamentally sound ABC poker game. You need this as a bedrock foundation for the rest of your play. Running bad? Play baseline. Game got tough? Play baseline. Need to vary your game? First decide the baseline play and then determine why you should use a variant this time.

So what is your baseline game? First, you need a nice tight preflop strategy. Pick one of the books that you trust and use that. Jones, Sklansky, Krieger, others all give you roughly the same idea. In a baseline, though, I recommend you stop the strategy at the middle position plays and use that for all positions after early. Avoid blind steals and the like.

After the flop, try playing straightforwardly as a baseline. Bet good hands, check and call with draws, rarely if ever bluff, and fold if you think you are behind (of course, always follow pot odds). Your decisions should be easier in general (of course you will still have some) because you are playing only good hands. Raise if you think you are ahead.

On the turn and river, play the same way. Bet if you make your hand, or if you think your hand may be good. If you get to the river, call most of the time because limit poker is not designed to reward heroic laydowns.

Playing a baseline game will not make you much money, if any, against all but the softest company. Interestingly, many people including middle limit players, play as if it will. They just sit and play baseline day after day and win a little or break even. But you do need to understand how and when to play baseline, and, if you decide to not to on any given situation, you should be able o say why you deviated.

You know my baseline UTG is A-A through 10-10, A-K, and A-Q. If you suddenly see me limp UTG with Ah 6h, you can bet i have reason and can explain it. I may be wrong in my reason, or I may be right and it still may not work, but at least I know why I am doing it. And it’s not because I am bored, or stuck, or angry, or overdue.

Please, develop and maintain a baseline game. Play it when you need a touchstone or foundation.