How To Play A No Limit Holdem Tournament
Tournament play comes in two primary flavors: Single table sit and go tournaments and multi table tournaments. Commonly abbreviated as STT and MTT respectively. Some players choose to specialize in tournament play because the entry fee to potential payoff ration is attractive.
Single table tournaments are often called sit and go’s. Typically these are held in online poker rooms only. Once a table is filled the tournament begins. There are full tables with 8 to 11 players and short handed tables of six players available at most virtual poker rooms.
Sit and gos’ are an art unto themselves with many players making their living in this fashion.
Multiple table tournaments are the focus of our discussion here today. Whether on land or on line an announcement and registration period precedes the beginning of play. Play commences at the appointed time after all players have been seated and dealer buttons assigned at each table.
Play continues until only one player is left. Depending on the payout structure a number of players finishing high in the rankings may also be paid, but first place always pays best.
Strategy for multiple table tournaments falls into two main camps. Many successful tournament pros often bust out early on due to aggressive play. They either want a big chip stack to bully the field with or move on to the next challenge. A more conventional approach is to guard your stack and play conservatively in the early stages of the tournament.
Any tournament can be wild in the early stages. One professional arrived late for a major tournament and looked down to find pocket aces in early position. She pushed all in only to have a gambler with a pair of sevens call her and make his set. Her tournament was over in one hand and she did not make a bad play. Such is the nature of tournaments, especially on line and low buy in land based events.
The conventional approach says to fold all but the strongest hands from early position, play jacks or better from middle position, leaving low pairs and drawing hands only for late position in pots that have not been raised. Push in from any position with pocket rockets or cowboys. (AA or KK).
The goal is to build a tight conservative table image. This serves the purposes of guarding your chip stack and sets up a favorable set of circumstances to steal some pots and blinds as the tournament progresses.
During tournaments blinds continually increase forcing players to gamble or get blinded out. When you have only played premium hands for the last few hours your table image is one that lends itself to stealing the blinds from late position with a decent pre-flop raise or taking down a pot with a bluff if your opponent shows weakness.
There are also points in a tournament when the field will play maniacally and other times when action dries up and play is tight. Paying attention to the cadence and flow of play especially after establishing a tight table image will offer opportunities to guard and increase your stack.
On the bubble, where the next player to go out misses the money is a traditional time for tight play. If you have portrayed yourself as a solid tight player now might be a good time to steal some blinds or pick up some smallish pots by betting at them with pot sized wagers.
The beginning of play and play immediately after the bubble are frequently times of wild aggressive play. Tighten down and guard your stack only playing premium hands. By paying attention to the mood of the tournament and profiting from it rather than being swept up in it you are well on your way to placing in the money.
If you happen to be on the short stack don’t panic. Push in with any ace or any two painted cards. If you are about to get blinded out include any king and suited connectors in dire situations. The goal in a multiple table event is to make the pay cut, then take first place. Sounds simple but if you watch tournaments there appear to be plenty of folks who should know better getting sidetracked into personal battles and self promotion. Like they say in New Jersey, forget about it.
So in review, play tight and solid early on to establish an image that will allow you to pillage and rob in later stages. Stick to premium hands to build that image. Let the fish kill each other off early. Heads up and short handed at the final table is a good place to be the maniac. Early stages of play are not. Good luck, and remember that folding is always better than going home out of the money.
