Poker Tournament Strategy
Some poker players go into situations more blind than they think. Yes, there is a general strategy and order to things, but different types of games require wildly different strategy at times. What flies in a cash game is unheard of in a tournament, and it goes even deeper than that. Different tournaments themselves have their own set of strategies to follow. And even further still, the different stages of those PokerStars tournaments should be approached and played differently. So let’s start with a single-table tournament, and focus on the early rounds to see how you should be approaching the game.
This form of tournament is always extremely popular, either online or in casinos. They also are usually satellite fodder for the bigger tournaments, so there’s more at stake than just taking the purse. The first rounds of these tournaments is critical to each player. They’re tone setters and learning sessions.
In these early stages, what you’re going to notice is that the blinds, as they should be, are of minimal consequence. They’re going to be pretty tiny. Depending on what type of stack you’re bringing to the table, your best bet is to play tight. First find out how quickly the blinds will increase (and if that’s based on number of hands or a specific duration). Also, when I say how much you’re bringing to the table, I mean that for every player. Obviously everyone starts out with the same amount, but if you’re beginning the tournament with 2,000 chips, your margin of error (especially if the blinds stagnate for a while) is going to be greater than if you started out with 1,000 chips. So the flexibility allowed also will affect how aggressive you want to play.
I’m never a fan of limping. I firmly believe in the “if you’re calling you should be raising” mentality. But in the early rounds, a decent pair is worth contributing to see if you catch a set on the flop, at which case it opens you up to bet the pot a little looser. But play tight on PokerStars.com and play smart – look for the players just asking to be trapped. They may have doubled up against someone else, but you can tell by their betting patterns they’re wild, and if you play smart, you can catch them almost every time.
Aside from that, stick to what you’ve learned and know. When you have a hand you statistically think is a winner, and you’ve put your opponents on a conquerable range, then bet as you would in any poker situation. Yes, you want to ultimately survive the early rounds, but it doesn’t hurt when you position yourself as a chip leader early on, either. Just don’t take any stupid chances to get to that point.