The most popular form of poker is the No Limit Texas Hold’em Tournament. It is a game where you can live and die each hand. The tournament starts with many and is played until just one remains. There is no feeling like being the last person remaining, having outlasted and defeated all the other players to take down the top prize. Nowhere else in poker do you have that feeling of finality, elation and accomplishment. All the greatest poker players have won major poker tournaments. Most of the poker coverage on TV shows the top poker tournaments from around the world. So it is no wonder that most casual and serious players focus their attention on poker tournaments.
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The same dynamic that makes the tournament the most exhilarating experience also makes it the most exasperating. There is only one winner, with roughly 10-15% of players making the money and everyone else losing all their money. With everyone starting with the same dream, it makes the process of finishing on top at the end very challenging.
Those who have played numerous tournaments know that both skill and lady luck play significant roles in doing well in any particular tournament. There are unavoidable situations that arise in a tournament where your better hand will be beaten by the cards that come. There are times where you are likely to face a coin flip (near fifty-fifty situation) with a big pair versus overcards. You can’t only play skillfully, you must also rely on the luck of the cards that day. It is something all tournament players need to accept. Once you do, you can then focus on how to put yourself in the best possible situation to succeed.
Tournament Success
There are a number of elements to understand if you are to do well in a poker tournament.
- 1. Competition – What is your competition? What is the buy-in and how does that reflect on your likely competition, their experience and likely style of play? The lower the buy-in the less experienced and savvy your opponent is likely to be. The lower buy-in tournament is filled with inexperienced and more unpredictable players who may overplay any hand or bleed chips by making too many calls.
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2. Size – How many people are playing in the tournament. The larger the field, the more patient you need to be as the tournament will take longer to progress and reach the money. Large tournaments are more like marathons, than races or sprints. You must pace yourself according to the size of the field so you can maintain your attention and focus throughout.
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3. Blind Structure – Knowing the blind structure can help you to determine how aggressively you need to play at what points. If a tournament has a slow structure, you can afford to play tight and be patient. If the tournament has a faster structure, like a turbo, then you will be forced to make more moves to accumulate more chips to keep ahead of the increasing blinds. In the faster structures you can’t be as selective with your starting hands.
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4. Go against the herd – Experienced tournament pros will reveal that playing the opposite to how most of the others players at your table play is often a winning strategy in poker. If everyone at your table is playing really tight and folding to any aggression, it can be very profitable to play looser, bluff more and generally play more aggressively. Conversely, if your table is full of loose and aggressive players, it behooves you to tighten up and only play hands with stronger values. Your opposite strategy counteracts and takes advantage of your opponents so pay close attention to how the majority of your opponents at the table are playing.
General Real Money Tournament Strategy
Although each tournament has its own specific details, they usually run at least several hours long if you last until the latter stages of the tournament. The forced small and big blinds increase over time, which forces action if you are to avoid being blinded out. In the mid stages of the tournament, additional antes are introduced that changes the hand dynamics. The pressure increases as you reach the money as every player remaining wants to make the money. The push for the final table where the greatest monetary rewards lay also creates another unique period. Each of these tournament stages present different dynamics that will influence how you choose to play. Let’s look more closely at the different stages of tournaments.
Early stage of a tournament
At the beginning of a tournament, every player starts with an equal amount of starting chips. They can be patient and disciplined in selecting which starting hands to play because their chip stack size is large in relation to the blinds. As there is relatively little money going in pre-flop, there is less incentive to try to steal it. Most players will choose to play only their best hands, and play pretty tight overall, at this beginning stage. Because most players don’t want the embarrassment of going out so early in a tournament, they avoid taking big risks without a really strong hand. A few players may play much more aggressively to try to take advantage of the aforementioned more timid players in hopes of getting a big stack early so they can bully players later. Some players will look to play a few more hands early on in un-raised pots to potentially trap over-aggressive opponents if you flop a strong hand. Pay attention to the different types of players at your table, noting their tendencies for when you play future hands with them later in the tournament. Most players play a consistent style, so look to type them early.
Middle stage of a tournament
In the middle stages of the tournament, the blind structure increases and antes are usually introduced. As the blinds increase, each pot represents a larger percentage of your chip stack and it is worth fighting for more. During this stage fewer players limp into pots. Players will raise and three bet more often, often leading to less post flop action as players are less willing to commit too much of their stack. Only those with bigger chip stacks can afford to play more loosely with marginal hands.
Position becomes a much more significant factor. Players in late position will raise often to try to grow their stack from stealing the blinds. Players are more cautious to call out of position as each call represents a bigger portion of your stack. For instance, most players will look to steal once per round to maintain their stack size in the face of the increased blinds and antes. Those players who have accumulated larger chip stacks from early in the tournament will look to bully the other players by raising frequently to apply pressure to all the smaller stacks. The smaller stacks, with 6-10 big blinds left will be looking to shove over the top of opening raises, to get their money in while they have fold equity. If they let themselves get too short, most stacks will call with weaker hands to try to eliminate the shorty.
Final stages of a tournament
The final stages of the tournament can really be divided into three parts. The first of these parts is approaching the money bubble. Players have played for hours and really want to make the money by any means to see a return on their investment. This results in many players with short and medium stacks playing quite conservatively to ensure they make the money. They are afraid to waste the deep run taking chances at this stage. The blinds are high relative to their stack size. The players with the large chip stacks, on the other hand, are looking to capitalize on their cautiousness and will try to make a lot of moves to get chips in order to make a deep run once they reach in the money.
After the money bubble bursts and everyone is in the money, the play loosens up as players realize they have to accumulate a significant chip stack if they are to reach the final table where the big money is located. Many shorter stacks will push in soon after reaching the money hoping to double up or bust out and collect their winnings. Identifying who is playing for the win and who is looking to slightly move up the cash pay scale is important. Paying attention to the various pay jumps though is important to understand each player’s motivations.
The third part of the final stage of a tournament is the final table. The greatest glory and prizes are awarded to those who make it to the final table. But even at the final table, the reality is the prizepool is usually weighted so heavily to the top three spots that making the final table isn’t sufficient for a really big score. Playing to win is the key objective. Any player who makes the final table should have picked up considerable history and player tendencies from their opponents that they can use to their advantage. Fatigue from the hours of play can often come into play too. One common element you will find behind successful tournament poker players is aggression.
Tournament Overview
Tournaments take hours to play. Learn to pace yourself for the different stages and opponents you will face. Look to hydrate and energize yourself accordingly. It is rare that in a tournament you will be dealt enough premium hands to win the tournament based on your sheer hand strength. The savvy tournament player realizes you can’t just play ABC poker. You need to make moves to steal pots or occasionally bluff in order to accumulate enough chips to survive the unlucky hands and situations you are certain to face in a tournament. Over the long haul, every player will face the same amount of good and bad luck, so keep it in perspective if you get unlucky and bust.
Experienced poker pros realize that you need to play many poker tournaments for your skill to come to the forefront and fade the luck element. If you are determined to reach the heights of poker by outlasting everyone and winning a real money poker tournament, keep the proper perspective and make the necessary adjustments to put yourself in the best position to succeed. Poker is a never ending process of self-improvement, so take each tournament experience and learn what you can from it.