Tournament Poker Strategy
- Tournament Poker Strategy
- Tournament Poker Strategies
- Poker Tournament Strategy 2019
- Tournament Poker Strategy
- 6 Essential Tips for Dealing with Downswings in Poker Tournaments Downswings in poker tournaments are inevitable. Here’s how to deal with tough times as an MTT player. Live poker strategy. Crush Live Poker Games with These 8 Battle-Tested Tactics Take your poker skills to the tables and dominate the action with these tips and tricks.
- Poker Tournament Strategy 4: Ladder At The Final Table If I am lucky enough to take a big stack to the final table, I continue with my aggression – to a point. I am willing to open and 3-bet light just as before, but I am less willing to get all in light for a couple of reasons.
One way is to find a video poker strategy chart for the specific game featured in a tournament. Some of the main video poker variations, like Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker, and Deuces Wild, have strategy charts all over the internet. Another way to practice is by using a training program, which points out correct and incorrect decisions as you play.
Poker Tournament Strategy
Whether you’re playing micro stakes tournaments or the Sunday Million – you need to know what you’re doing to have a chance at winning. That seems obvious right? But trust me, there are too many players entering tournaments with no clue. That’s great news for you though cos it mean’s poker is not dead, despite what you hear. This article is going to give you poker tournament strategy tips that can be used to increase your cash rate, final tables and wins.
Don’t stop stealing the blinds
Tournament poker regs seem to nit it up and count on making it deep with premium hands. Don’t be one of them. Stay active, keep stealing the blinds from late position and don’t give up. A lot of poker sites are advocating the slow down approach but that’s what your opponents want. Regs are playing too many tables, not paying enough attention and missing profitable spots to steal the blinds. Tournament poker will always reward those who are able to consistently steal blinds and keep their stack alive. The fact that people are defending their blinds loosely should not make you fold more often in late position. Why? You have position. You have the advantage in a hand, even if your hand is weaker. Never forget that.
Pre-flop bet sizing
Consistency is very important when it comes to raising pre-flop. It’s fine if you want to make it 2.5x then stick with that. Please don’t change it based on hand strength. It’s 2020 and even the most basic of poker players will notice and instantly tag you. If you are a poker training video membership member, you’ll know my preference re’ pre-flop bet sizing but I will re-iterate it here non-members.
Early Position Min Raise
When I’m raising from early position, I lack information on the rest of the table. I want to open raise if I play but I also want to steal cheaply and/or keep the pot smaller against my opponents that flat in position. I also have no problem with it folding to the big blind and them calling a min raise. In fact, I welcome it. I will have position, a better hand and have increased the pot a little. My hand range is likely to be stronger than theirs and I have the pre-flop aggression.
Middle Position 2.2x
With fewer opponents behind us, I am happy to increase the sizing a bit and play a slightly bigger pot against the blinds. I don’t want to raise too much as I am still potentially acting first post-flop if someone in position calls. I am also slightly dissuading the blinds to call which is no bad thing in tournaments. I am likely to have a wider range from here so I have no problem with them just folding.
Late Position 2.5x
This may seem counter intuitive to some. Why raise more with a wider range? I want to play bigger pots when I have positional advantage. Sure, sometimes I will be light but sometimes I will be strong too. I want to charge the blinds more than the minimum to play against my wider range. By making it 2.5x I am also protecting myself against 3 bet bluffs a little more. Consider a min raise from the button. The big blind is far more likely to 3 bet bluff that than a bigger raise.
Notice – my pre-flop raises changes based on position – it doesn’t change based on hand strength. Therefore, it is logically consistent as I am raising 2.5x from late position with A-A and K-6s.
Defend the big blind
Everyone and their dog are loving the small ball approach these days. The standard small raise is popular and with good reason – it works. One of the results of this is that you have to defend your big blind more. It means calling raises with hands you won’t necessarily want to but pot odds and solid poker tournament strategy dictate you must. Let’s look at a quick example to illustrate this.
Blinds – 600/1,200 (antes 120)
Player A- 42,500
You – 36,900
It folds to Player A on the button. He is a capable tournament player. He raises to 2,500. The small blind folds and the action is on you. Before even looking at your hand, let’s do some poker maths.
Pot – (1,080 antes, 1,800 in blinds + 2,500) = 5,380
Cost to call – 1,300
Equity needed to call – 19.4%
As you can see, you need to defend super wide in this spot. You just can’t afford to fold too many hands when you are getting these kind of prices in big blind.
3 Bet with 30 bbs +
Tournament poker is often playing shorter stacks and less “poker” playing but that doesn’t mean you must play shove or fold poker. You don’t want to 3 bet bluff with short effective stacks cos it means the 4 bet from your opponent will always be all in. With slightly deeper stacks though (30 bbs+), you can afford to 3 bet bluff and take away a lot of pots. Poker tournament strategy is usually to attack short stacks. Screw that, 3 bet bluff the bigger stacks. I find that the big stacks are just as protective as the shorter stacks, if not more. It also means you can potentially get the last bet in if they decide to 4 bet. Good spots for 3 betting are when the raise has come from middle or late position.
CAUTION – Avoid 3 bet bluffing when they are raising from under the gun or UTG +1 as their range is likely to be tighter.
Learn continuation betting strategy
This article is dedicated to poker tournament strategy, not continuation betting but the fact is, c betting is an important part of tournament poker. You need to understand which boards favour your perceived range and what favours your opponent. A lot of players waste chips throwing out foolish continuation bets. You need to appreciate board texture, number of opponents and stack sizes when choosing whether to continuation bet or not. If you want more help with continuation betting, check out our article on the do’s and don’ts of continuation betting.
Isolate the limper(s)
An oldie but goody. Raising over a limper or limpers is still a very profitable play. It’s crazy to think there are still players that adopt this limp in mentality, but it’s great for us. If people want to try and limp into the pot with pocket 3s or A-9 offsuit, that’s fine, we will take their blinds all day. In some scenarios, it may seem prudent to over-limp but most of the time, just raise it 4x and win it. If they call, you can often just win it with a flop bet anyway. It’s a great way to build a stack in tournament poker and is also good for your table image as people. This might help you get paid later in the tournament.
Practice heads up poker
Many tournaments end in deals being done but what if yours doesn’t? What if you’re against a tough player or someone unwilling to deal. You need to know how to play 1 on 1. After all, if you want to win the tournament you have to beat the last opponent. Heads up is a great poker format. Some basic heads up tips are below:
- Raise every button
- Bet most flops
- Check raise more
- Bluff catch 2nd pair down
- Stay on top of your opponent, don’t let up
- Don’t show bluffs
Join Poker Training Video Membership
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Rebuy tournaments are much different than freezeouts. Players don’t worry about surviving in the rebuy period (at the start). They know they can pay for a new set of chips, so they play with aggression.
Many players play loosely, hoping to get lucky and build up a big chip stack for the middle part of the tournament. Unlimited rebuys take this to its logical conclusion. Players are known to see 80% of the flops, hoping to catch a flop. Daniel Negreanu is known to have used 48 rebuys in one WSOP unlimited rebuy event back in 2006.
Many players don’t have that money to spend, so they play a semi-loose style. They want to have a decent hand, but they may not be as selective as they would be in a freeze-out event. Don’t play the hand you have almost no chance of winning. Don’t make massive overbids.
Tournament Poker Strategy
Play like you might in a cash game where you know you can buy more chips, but you’d just as soon not. Add-on events have a similar strategy because players know they have a chance to refill and replenish their chip count.
Tournament Poker Strategies
Freeroll Strategy
When you play an freeroll tournament, you’re certain to see a lot of fish. Bluffing has limited effect. They got into the tournament for free and they’re willing to take the chance they’ll double up and have the big chip stack at the table.
In this situation, it’s better to play tight and only get into the action when you have confidence you’re ahead. Let the fish eat one another and try to catch the surviving big fish later.
Sound Strategy Decisions
Poker Tournament Strategy 2019
The one strategy which is always in fashion is to play the odds and make sound decisions. When players are ahead most of the time as they bet into the pot, they’re going to be successful online poker players. Learn strong and weak poker hands, then learn everything in between.
Tournament Poker Strategy
Know the pot odds when you decide to call or, better yet, raise. Individual tournaments and single hands may not go your way, but when you put yourself in the best position to win consistently, you’ll succeed over the long term. Playing intelligently doesn’t assure you win any given hand, but smart players are winning players.