A few books have addressed Poker Tournaments. The most widely read is probably; "Tournament Poker for Advanced Players" by Sklansky. He is one of the best authors on Poker today, and I will always recommend his books, but this book was written in 2000 and is a bit dated. It doesn't really address online Poker Tournaments that well, or the effects of the exponential growth of online Poker Tournaments, that occurred when the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour were on television. In the following pages, Starting hands, Openings, Mid-Game and End Game, we will discuss a simple, down and dirty basic strategy, for No Limit Hold'em that works very well.
What is the Tournament level?
- Early: Solid Hold'em works, do not get pot committed with marginal cards. Fold anything that might be considered weak.
- Middle: Survival is the game. Position and stack size should dominate your hand selection. In early position only play top hands.
- Late: With good hands attack short stacks that are under blind pressure and avoid everyone else. Be very cautious in early position.
- End Game: Attack the short stacks, and avoid the big stacks. Raise. When down to 2 or 3 never enter pot without a raise.
What is your stack position?
- Big Stack: Bully short stacks when a loss will not affect your tournament standing.
- Medium Stack: Look for opportunities against short stacks under blind pressure. Try to avoid bigger stacks.
- Short Stack: Try to get in multi-action pots. Slow play some in an attempt to entice a bluff or steal from the taller stacks.
What is your position?
- Blinds: When several players are in the pot, call a raise only with very good cards. If the flop hits your pockets, bet it out immediately.
- Early: (There is no such thing as Middle position.) If someone raises ahead of you, consider folding everything.
- Late: (The Button or one off the Button.) Steal the blinds with marginal cards. Raise. If there are several callers in front, you might limp in with good marginal cards .
Who is the player?
- Good player: Consider folding when he doesn't fold.
- Unknown or Medium player: Consider waiting for another hand.
- Poor player: Attack even with marginal hands, and don't try any fancy moves. He won't understand them anyway. "Never try to bluff a stump." - turner
What are your cards?
- Good Starting Hands: AA, KK , AK are good hands. All other hands are marginal, or trash.
- Marginal hands: Any Pair and any two cards above a ten might be considered marginal. Everything else is trash.
- Bad hands: Do not play two cards to a flush or straight if they do not include two cards above a ten. A rag, and K rag are not considered marginial and should be mucked before the flop.
Cards matter but the other factors should be considered before you even look at your cards.
Now I'll spend the rest of the pages, (Openings, Mid-Game, Late Game, and End game) explaining when and why you should loosen these standards, as the poker tournament progresses.
See you at the final table. |
