Poker Tournaments Part2
4. Each player's stack size is of paramount importance in a tournament. You should not ordinarily attack a bigger stack than yours because if you lose the hand, you could be eliminated from the tournament, while your opponents will only lose some chips to you and will remain in the tournament.
5. If it is a rebuy event, you can and should play a little more liberally during the rebuy period. You can afford to take chances in an effort to get ahead, and losing won't bust you out of the tournament.
6. Decide ahead of time exactly which hands you will play and under what circumstances. Decide which hands you'll use to call preflop raises.
7. Always be aware of your position relative to the button. It'll help you decide if another player is making a move based on his position more than his cards.
8. Always be aware of the other players' stack sizes, especially before the play of the hand. Players with small stacks are usually more reluctant to call your bets and raises if you act before they do on the hand.
9. Always be aware of how much time is left in the current stage of the tournament. Certain strategies become more effective near the end of each stage.
10. Always have an idea of how much the blinds and the antes will cost you to play each round. Use this to determine how many hands you have before you will be blinded out if you don't win a hand or make a move.
11. Pay attention to the cost of calling the rest of the small blind. Most of the time it's correct to fold.
12. Tighten up considerably after the rebuy period. You're playing for keeps. You can't replace chips you lose except by winning them back from other players.
13. Never miss an opportunity to put a player all-in. If your opponent bets ten of his eleven chips, and you have forty-five chips, you should always raise one more to get him all-in. You've probably heard the saying that all a player needs to beat you is a chip and a chair. It's true. Try to deprive him of both.
14. Don't underestimate the value of a single chip. Do not play too loose, wild or reckless in the beginning of the tournament, just because you have a lot of chips and the limits are small. Beginning players too often make this mistake.
15. Be aware of how many total chips are in play in the tournament, and of how many players there are left. With this information, you'll be able to determine the average number of chips for each player.
16. If you have a small stack late in the tournament, you must realize that you probably won't win. Your goal, therefore, is to end up as high on the payout ladder as you can. If other players have short stacks, give them every chance to bust each other out before you get blinded out.
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Poker Tournaments
Other than jackpots, one way that the average low limit hold 'em player can score a big win and really increase his hourly rate is by winning or placing high in a poker tournament.
Sometimes, in a tournament, you can win more than $1,000 in just three hours of play. Studying tournament strategy is also very valuable to you because it speeds up your learning process and helps you play in your regular ring (full) game.
There's a big difference between tournament and ring game strategy. A player who is good in his regular ring game will almost never win a tournament if he uses his ring game strategy throughout the tournament. There are so many differences that tournament strategy has been discussed in numerous books devoted entirely to that subject.
For the sake of your basic hold 'em education, I've outlined below what should be some of your important considerations if you're thinking about playing in a hold 'em tournament:
1. Should you play in a particular hold 'em tournament? I play tournaments, and I choose which ones I play in for two possible reasons. Either I believe that I have a reasonable chance to make the final table (get in the money), or I think that the practice and experience I will get by entering this tournament will be worth the entry fee. There are many good tournaments with $5-$20 entry fees that are worth the experience.
2. The number one difference between a ring game and a tournament is that in a tournament, survival is what it's all about. In a ring game, you can voluntarily play many dominated hands, because you can lose five hands in a row and make it all back on the sixth hand. If you run out of poker chips before you win that sixth hand, you can always buy more. You can't do that in a tournament, because one or two hands could take all of your chips and you cannot buy any more.
3. If you're playing in a tournament that allows rebuys and add-ons, be prepared to make the maximum number of rebuys and add-ons. Tournaments like this are as much a contest to see who can buy the most chips as they are a contest to win those chips. You need to be able to keep up with the competition just to have a chance to make the final table.
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