Game
Tournament poker represents one of the easiest and quickest ways to make money in the game. Even the newest players can enter tournaments for free and cashout for thousands of dollars. Most online poker rooms offer so called multi-table tournaments which have massive cash pools and intense competition. Many players fail to take advantage of these games however, because they are unaware of the appropriate strategy to use.
In the beginning stages of the tournament, what is most important for survival is to only play premium hands. This is because in every hand you will be competing with at least 8 or 9 other players. The increase in numbers makes it much more likely someone will always have a premium hand preflop like AK or AA. The biggest mistake to make at this stage is calling to see the flop with rag ace hands like A5 or A4. Even suited, these hands are very poor to play, simply because you will always be up against one or more players with a better Ace kicker. The best you can hope for is to hit the nut flush or two pair at minimum. However because the probability of this happening is so small, you will not be getting the correct pot odds to call to see the flop. Especially with a small chipstack, you cannot afford to make such loose calls.
Middle Stage Strategy is the stage you need/should accumulate the most chips. Consequently, you should play much more aggressive in these situations and regular steal blinds in later positions or be value shoving with quality draws. You can also open your starting hand range up preflop to hands such as small pocket pairs or suited connectors. Value betting, cbetting and bluffing are common practice during the middle stage, so don’t be afraid to make some risky calls or all in bets. Short stack opponents will regularly be going all in with less than premium hands – usually hands like JQ or A7 suited, so don’t be scared to call these players for value if you hold a solid hand or high pockets preflop.
Final Stage Strategy of a tournament, most the pots are played preflop because there is so much value in the blinds/antes, and most people with top hands are happy taking the pot down before seeing the flop. Make sure you only play top hands, and always value shove with high pockets such as Jacks and above.