Poker Tournament Strategy

July 12, 2005

As the World Series of Poker is going on now, I thought a column about tournament poker was in order. Enjoy!

It seems that everybody is playing in no-limit Texas holdem tournaments. Of course the exploding television coverage is bringing new players into the poker game on a daily basis, which in turn leads to higher ratings and more poker tournaments on television. When will it end? Not anytime soon. With this constant influx of new players, I am often asked about "correct" tournament play.

Determining correct tournament play starts with some self-analysis. You must ask yourself the following questions. What is my ultimate goal in the poker tournament? Will I be happy by placing in the money, making the final table or do I have to win to be happy? Am I willing to take the chances of exiting early that are necessary to put me in a position to win? If you have recently started playing tournaments, your goal should be to place in the money. Of course, we always want to win, but a strategy designed to win at all costs involves taking many calculated risks with little or no advantage. You must amass a large chip stack to place highly in a tournament.

If your goal is to place as highly as possible, hopefully in the money, than you should play extremely tight, especially early in the tournament. Simply don't enter any pots when you aren't sure you have the best hand. Most poker tournaments have a blind structure that allows you to go a long time early in the tournament without playing a hand before the blinds get too big.

The biggest difference between a normal ring game and a tournament is that once your chips are gone, you are out of the tournament. In a regular ring game you have the option to buy more chips at any time. This makes tournament strategy a little different. Some players simply want to place in the money while others play to win. The natural question is why doesn't everyone play to win? The answer has to do with the variance associated with two different playing styles.

Many players who are playing to win will get their money in with even the slightest advantage, sometimes as low as a 52% or 53% chance to win any given hand. If things break their way they can accumulate a large stack of chips, which is needed to win. Getting all of your money in the pot in marginal situations such as these often leads to busting out of a tournament early if things don't go your way.

Players who just want to get into the money usually play much tighter and try to get better odds before they get their money in the pot, often as high as 80% or 85%. The problem with this approach is that the blinds usually eat a large part of your stack between these opportunities.

The correct strategy to become a successful tournament player is probably somewhere in between these two styles. As always you should strive to bet when you are a favorite to win (have the best of it), but in close situations in a tournament it may be best to hold back unless you are getting short stacked. If your stack gets too low you will be forced to choose a good starting hand and probably bet all of your chips and hope no one else has a better hand.

In the early stages of a tournament before the blinds get too high I recommend playing very tight and only enter the pot with your best hands. If the opportunity to get all of your money in with at least one other person while you have AA, KK or maybe QQ then by all means take it. If you are able to double-up early in a tournament it not only gives you extra chips it also can be a tremendous psychological advantage by having a large stack. As you go deeper into the tournament, the larger the stack you have the more you may be able to force your opponents with fewer chips to lay down their hands instead of risking all of their chips against you.

Most poker tournaments are no-limit hold'em, which brings up the need to discuss a few important points. Making just one mistake can end your tournament, because at any time all of your chips can end up in the pot. For this reason it is important to play to the best of your abilities at all times. You must learn as much about your opponents play as possible. Always pay attention and do your best not to lose concentration for even a second. Good luck in your tournament adventures.

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