How to Win at Tournament Poker, Part 2

by Chris Ferguson

Last week I talked about not adjusting for tournament play, answered three specific tournament questions, and stressed that there is little difference between tournament strategy and ring game strategy. This week, I would like to expand on that by answering a fourth question, and address the two situations where it's right to deviate from simply playing your best game.

The fourth question: Surely the different payout structure between ring games and tournaments means something, doesn't it?

Yes, tournaments differ from live action in that you are rewarded for how long you last, rather than for how many chips you accumulate.

In ring game poker, the chips you save by folding are just as valuable as the chips you win by playing. In tournament play, the chips you save are actually more valuable.

Consider a typical $1,000 buy-in tournament with 100 players, where first place is worth $40,000 out of a total prize pool of $100,000.

At the beginning of the tournament everyone has 1,000 in chips with a value of $1,000. The eventual winner will have 100,000 in chips and, in live action, would be entitled to a prize of $100,000. In a tournament, that same $100,000 is worth only $40,000, meaning that, at the end, each 1,000 in chips is only worth $400. As your stack grows, the value of each additional chip decreases, which means you want to be slightly more averse to taking unnecessary risks in tournaments than you might be in live action. (And if you are at all averse to taking risks in live action, you're probably playing over your bankroll.) Don't overcompensate for tournament play. Most people would be better off making no changes at all, rather than the changes that they do make.

Having said all this, there are two cases where adjusting will help:

1. When you are just out of the money.

If you are short stacked, you need to be very careful when committing your chips, especially with a call.

If you have a large stack, look for opportunities to push the short and medium stacks around - especially the medium stacks. These players will be a lot less likely to want a confrontation with you, and it should be open season on their blinds and antes.

If you have a medium or small stack, you need to be a bit more careful. Remember, though, that the other players - even the larger stacks - don't want to tangle with you. They just want to steal from you without a fight. Be prepared to push them around a little, and even to push back occasionally when they try to bully you. This often turns into a game of Chicken between the bigger stacks to determine which large stack will let the other steal most of the blinds.

2. At the final table.

Very little adjustment is necessary until you are one player away from the final table. Here, again, you should tighten up slightly because this is the next point where the payout structure handsomely rewards outlasting other players.

Look for opportunities to push around the other players, and the smaller stacks in particular. This is good advice throughout the final table.

What about heads up?

There are no more tournament adjustments necessary. You are essentially playing a winner take all freeze-out for the difference between first and second place.

Remember: Tournament adjustments should be subtle. It is rare that your play would be dramatically different in a tournament. When in doubt, just play your best game. And if you never adjust from that, you've got a great shot of winning, no matter what game you're playing.

How To Win At Tournament Poker

by Chris Ferguson

People often ask very specific questions about how to be a winning tournament player:

How many chips am I supposed to have after the first two levels?
Should I play a lot of hands early while the blinds are small, then tighten up later as the blinds increase?
I seem to always finish on the bubble. Should I tighten up more as I get close to the money, or try to accumulate more chips early on?
Surprisingly, all three questions have the same answer:

Stop trying to force things to happen. Just concentrate on playing solid poker, and let the chips fall where they may.

In fact, that's the best answer for almost any specific tournament question. Here is a more useful question:

How much of a difference is there between ring game strategy and tournament strategy?

The answer: Not as much as you think.

Before you worry about adjusting for tournaments, concentrate on adjusting for the other players. The most important skill in poker is the ability to react to a wide range of opponents playing a wide range of styles. Players who can do this will thrive in both ring games and tournaments alike.

Many of the most costly tournament mistakes are the result of players over-adjusting for tournament play. Let's look at these questions again:

How many chips am I supposed to have after the first two levels?

The short answer is: As many as you can get.

Play your cards. Play your opponents. Do not try to force action simply because you think you "need" to have a certain number of chips to have a chance of winning. You should be thinking about accumulating more chips, while trying to conserve the chips you already have. The more chips you have, the better your chances of winning. The fewer chips you have, the worse your chances.

Forget about reaching some magical number. There is no amount below which you have no shot, nor is there any amount above which you can be guaranteed a victory. A chip and a chair is enough to win, and enough to beat you. Getting fixated on a specific number is a good way to ensure failure. Next question:

Should I play a lot of hands early while the blinds are small, and then tighten up later as the blinds increase?

Your play shouldn't change much as the tournament progresses. Gear your play to take maximum advantage of your opponents, irrespective of how far along the tournament is. Most players are too loose in the early stages of a tournament. Rather than become one of these players, adjust for their play instead:

Attempt to steal the blinds less often
Call more raises
Re-raise more frequently
Likewise, when opponents typically tighten up later on, you should steal more often and be less inclined to get involved in opened pots. Again, this should be a reaction to the way your opponents are playing, not an action based on any particular stage of the tournament.

Last question: I seem to always finish on the bubble. Should I tighten up more as I get close to the money to avoid this, or try to accumulate more chips early on?

Usually the people asking this question are already tightening up too soon before reaching the money. In other words, they are over-adjusting to tournament play. Not only is it incorrect to tighten up considerably before you are two or three players from the money, doing so is the surest way to finish on or near the bubble. Just play your best, most aggressive game, and try not to let your stack dwindle to a point where you can't protect your hand with a pre-flop all-in raise. If you do, your opponents will be getting the right pot odds to call, even with weak hands. Look for opportunities to make a move before you let this happen, even if it means raising with less than desirable holdings.

NO LIMIT HOLD 'EM POKER THOUGHTS

As we embark on an interesting night of non-league, multi tournament (hopefully) poker this week, I want to share some thoughts I have, as well as some quotes from an article I read last week from Chris Ferguson.

I don’t know if anyone has ever noticed, but I don’t play a lot of hands (in No Limit Hold ‘Em, I rarely see more than 34% of the flops), and when it’s time to play, it’s time to play. Now keep in mind, by no means am I saying what you are about to read is the CORRECT way to play no limit Texas Hold ‘Em. What I’m saying is, it’s the way I feel most comfortable playing.

I watch players limp into pots, and call other people’s bets all night long, hoping to get lucky, catch a card or two and take back some chips. The way I see it, these players are just dying a slow death and eventually they will run into a trap and be gone. Usually this style, unless they just catch a great run of cards, doesn’t yield enough big pots to get them into the final group.

If it’s your turn to act, and no one has raised the pot in a No Limit game, raise. If you’re not willing to raise, you probably should fold. Why give the big blind a free look? Why give other marginal hands the chance to catch cards and take chips away from you? By raising, generally the middle of the pact hands will fold and you reduce the number of players in the hand that you have to beat.

Now I know we all see on TV how sneaky and tricky the pros try to be on TV, setting their traps and looking like they are so slick and so smart, and while I acknowledge that at certain times it’s possible to set someone up, and they never see it coming and you can win a monster pot, that is the exception rather than the rule. You do need to vary your play, and sometimes you can limp in with a pair of Kings, but if that flop comes out A-9-8 suited, and two players bet, you are going to have to have enough discipline to fold and get out of the way.

The question then becomes, how much do I raise. I try to almost always raise the same amount, so as not to give any insight to my hand, but there are other factors that some into play as well. Depending on what type of player still has to act, I may want some action thinking I can out play (or out draw them), and therefore not make a huge raise, or I may simply just want the hand over right there and then and make a larger bet. You need to be aware of the stack sizes still left to act, a large stack may take a flyer on your raise regardless of what he has if there is a chance you can be bullied out of a hand, and also know where the tournament is round wise and blind wise. As we get closer and closer to the final 5 or 6, players generally get more conservative and take fewer risks hoping to just hang on and let other people knock players out and move up on the point list and the money list. Be aware of everything.

Know your opponents, be aware of position, be aware of stack size, and know your odds.

According to Chris Ferguson;


“You always want to make your opponents' decisions as difficult as possible. In choosing the size of your raise, you want to give the big blind a tough decision between calling or folding if the rest of the table folds around to him.

Raising from early position is to advertise a very strong hand - one that can beat the seven or more other players who still have to act. Since you are representing such strength, it doesn't take much of a raise to convince the big blind to fold. Also, since your hand is so strong, you actually don't mind a call from the big blind anyway. The real reason for a small raise is that you have so many players acting after you, any of whom might wake up with a monster and re-raise you.

When you raise in late position, you're representing a hand that can beat the two or three remaining hands. This gives you a lot more freedom to raise with marginal hands, but your raise must be bigger or the big blind can call too easily. Another reason to raise more from late position is that you're trying to put pressure on the big blind to fold, not call and, more importantly, you don't have as many remaining opponents who can re-raise you.

If you're representing a big hand by raising from early position, it stands to reason that you'll only get played with by huge hands. Why risk four, five or more bets to win only one and a half bets in the blinds when you're often going to be running into monsters along the way? If you're holding A-Q rather than A-A and a player comes over the top, you can lay it down without having risked much.

Some beginners raise more with their strongest hands to build a bigger pot or raise less with these monsters to get more action. Instead, I recommend that you play your starting hands the same way no matter what you have. With A-A or A-J, raise the same amount so you're not telegraphing the strength of your hand to watchful opponents. An exception would be if you know your opponents aren't paying attention and you feel sure that you can manipulate them.

Again, I’m no expert, and I know I have plenty of weaknesses, especially when it comes to playing to conservative post flop, and trying to avoid showdowns, and generally not maximizing the value of a pot when I have a winning hand. That’s probably an article better written by Rich or Jay, who have no fear and have had more success than I have. But when it comes to pre-flop play, and making strong reads and strong lay downs, and avoiding potential traps and bad beats, I think myself and Neil do a terrific job at minimizing risk, and accumulating chips.