Poker tournaments offer a chance to win a large sum of money for a small, and known, fee and can be an enjoyable alternative to cash Poker. However the strategy required to be successful in a tournament can differ significantly from that of the equivalent cash game.
Poker tournaments work by eliminating players who lose all their chips. To ensure that a Poker tournament ends within a reasonable time the blinds/antes are increased at regular intervals. Your objective in a Poker tournament should therefore be to accumulate chips while minimizing your chances of being eliminated.
Before the Tournament
Before entering a Poker tournament make sure you know the way it is organized; if it is a 'freezeout' then it will cost you only the initial fee. If the Poker tournament allows re-buys or add-ons then you need to know the exact rules and costs of each of your options.
In your first few tournaments it will probably be sensible to forgo all these options, play your best game with your starting chips, and gain as much experience as possible at minimum cost.
As a general rule it is mathematically sound to re-buy at any stage providing that you are not out-classed by the opposition (and the cost is not a major concern). This is true even if all the other players at the table have far more chips than you.
Make sure you know how many prizes there are and whether the Poker tournament is played to a finish or ends at a fixed time. The correct strategy when you get down to the last few players or the last few hands can lead to some plays which would be irrational in any other circumstances.
Also check the blind/ante structure; know how it changes and how frequently it changes during the tournament. The blinds typically double at fixed intervals of between 20 and 40 minutes.
The Early Stages
In the early stages of a Poker tournament keep the following points in mind:
If it is a 'freezeout' tournament a lot of players will play tight in the early stages not wanting to be eliminated quickly. Some players will however be aggressive looking to build a big stack quickly with a fall back of a return to the cash games if things don't go to plan. Selective aggression against the tight players can be effective in this situation.
If re-buys are allowed, the play in the early stages will tend to be a lot looser. A lot of the players will be prepared, and even expect, to re-buy and they will play marginal hands aggressively trying to build a big stack early. Players who are not going to re-buy will play a lot more cautiously.
At the start of a tournament the cost of the blinds will be relatively low in respect of the average stack size and will become even lower if re-buys are allowed. This allows you to play much more marginal hands than normal. It is worth risking a small part of your stack (say 5% or less) to see the flop with small pairs, suited connectors and other marginal hands to have the chance to double your stack if you hit big on the flop.
By the same token it can be right to play good hands relatively conservatively pre-flop. If you hold AK in late position and there are several callers it is often better just to flat call. You know if you raise you will not get the other players to fold. By flat calling you minimise your loss if the flop is not to your liking and you have the benefit of disguise if you hit the flop big.
If you are by nature an aggressive player then use the early stages to try and build a substantial stack. This risks early elimination but when successful it will give you sufficient chips to survive the first few blind increases even if the cards turn against you.
If your natural game is passive or middle of the road then the best strategy is to try for a steady accumulation of chips. Play looser than normal pre-flop providing that the cost is small in relation to your stack but play slightly tighter than normal post-flop. This generally means not putting in that extra bet or raise when you think, but are not sure, that you are ahead - the saving of a bet when you lose the pot is worth more to you than the extra bet you could potentially win.
Finally in the early stages do not be concerned with eliminating other players. You are too far from the prize list to worry about how many players are left. It is more important to concentrate on keeping your stack in good condition.
The Middle/Late Stages
In the middle and later stages of a Poker tournament the structure of the game gradually changes and the strategy necessary changes too:
As the blinds increase they represent an increasing percentage of the average stack. Winning the blinds therefore becomes more significant and the first player into the pot will normally enter with a raise rather than a flat call.
The converse of this is that it now costs a significant proportion of the average stack to call a raise. Therefore the quality of hand needed to call a raise increases. The result of this is that a lot of hands go raise, all fold and you can go several hands without even seeing a flop.
As players are eliminated the game in the middle/late stages will be played most of the time with less than a full table. This, and the increasing blinds, means that unless a players is winning hands at regular intervals even a big stack can be quickly depleted. To counter this all players, regardless of their normal style, have to play very aggressively.
So the general strategy in the middle/late stages is to increasingly loosen the requirements for an opening raise and to tighten up the requirements for calling. Your objective should be to win, on average, the blinds once per round.
The Final Stage
If all goes well you will survive to the point where you are down to the last few players and almost in the prize money.
At this stage the blinds will be so high that virtually all the players left will have stacks at or below the critical size. In addition you will be playing the game increasingly short-handed which means that you can see fewer and fewer hands before your stack is anted away.
You need at this stage to know exactly how near the prize money you are and how many chips each of your opponents has. If you have an average or large stack the correct strategy is still to be ultra aggressive in raising but conservative in calling. However when you have fewer than average chips it can be right to adopt a tighter strategy.
