The tournament is one of the most popular variants of poker. It is also heavily broadcasted on television, which introduces the world of poker to new players. Through poker tournaments, players win titles and a massive amount of bankroll. But qualifying to the final table is not that easy.
A tournament has a fixed start and end, which means that players cannot exit the game whenever they wish to. As compared to a cash game, the blind levels in a tournament increase at a predefined frequency. One of the basics of playing a tournament is to not run out of chips. On the occasion that a player has no more chips, he is eliminated and cannot re-enter the game. But there are a few tournaments that allow players to buy back in. Players can buy their chip stack with a fixed buy-in amount.
When the tournament ends, but there is only one player at the table, that player is declared as the winner and receives the bulk of the prize money.
Here are a few tips and tricks that will help you perform well at tournaments:
It is essential to monitor the ratio between how much it costs to play a hand and the chip stack. This is known as the M ratio. If you have a healthy M ratio at the start of the tournament, betting with medium hands is not a good strategy. It is advised to only play hand When you have steady hands or have a positional advantage over your opponents.
Stealing and protecting the blinds is a tactic that should be implemented at later stages in the tournament when they have a large stack.
Once you cross the early stages of the game, you are in for some action. You need to consider your opponent's stack sizes before getting into the pot. An opponent who has a stack size larger than yours will quickly call all your moves as you don't seem much of a threat to him.
An opponent with a medium-sized stack will mostly play post-flop aggressively. Such opponents actively participate in the pot. Such opponents wouldn't easily fold to raises.
If at any moment in the game, you are against an opponent who has the same stack size as you, he will only get involved in a hand against you if he wants to protect his blinds or if he has premium hands. This is where you should be very cautious of your opponent's stack sizes.
On the occasion that the blinds have a stack size more extensive than yours, trying to steal them without seeing the flop is an essential strategy in tournament poker. But few things needed to be considered when opting such a tactic.
Consider a scenario where you are in a late position and all the players before you have folded. If the players who will act after you are all short-stacked, then you can use the above tactic, but you need to be aware if you can make another move when faced with a 3bet.
Now consider a scenario where you in the small or big blinds and have a strong stack. In such a case you shouldn't hesitate when faced with a three-bet. Your opponents would mostly bet wide to try and steal your blinds and might lay down their cards. Here you should bet all in and not even three-bet.
If you have the highest chips at the table, you are the chip leader. This gives you an advantage over other players, and you can easily bully the opponents with short or medium stacked chips. You should try to steal as many blinds as possible. Opponents with medium stacks would be hesitant to get involved in hands with you. But, the short-stacked opponents would only get involved if they have premium hands. If you reach the heads-up (when there are only two players at the table) and still have a higher stack than your opponents, you will be automatically ahead.
When there are only two players left at the table in a tournament, it is called a heads-up. It is essential that you stay focussed. To use this to your advantage, you must learn some of the nuances of playing heads-up. This will help you win more at the tournament. A lot of skill is involved in playing Heads-Up, and if you do your research and improve this aspect of your game, you will have higher returns on your investments.
Poker tournaments are fun and are full of people who may not be as dedicated as you in improving their skills. You must use this to your advantage.
