Playing Poker Tournaments

Poker tournaments can be great fun offering huge payouts and the chance for amateurs to pit their wits against some of game's biggest stars.

As Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer have proved by winning the World Series of Poker, with a little luck, internet players really can take on the best and win.

But to be a consistent winner in tournaments players have to master some very different skills from a standard ring game. For although they may look similar there are many different strategy adjustments needed to consistently make the final table in tournaments.

Many books have been written on the tactics tournament players need to master in order to excel. TJ Cloutier and Tom McEvoy's excellent Championship No-Limit & Pot Limit Hold'em is a great introduction while David Sklansky's Tournament Poker for Advanced Players gives a more analytical summary – and even includes discussion on where it is correct to muck AA preflop!

With tournament prize pools on VC Poker growing monthly here at the Big Slick we decided it was time to talk tournament tactics. In this issue we'll look at some basic ideas and strategies for no-limit Hold'em events.

Going Broke

You don't have to be the sharpest tool in the box to realise losing all your chips in a tournament is far worse than in a cash game. Unless you're in the early stages of a rebuy tournament you can't just stick your hand in your pocket – you're out. Game over. So protecting your chips is a key skill in tournament play.

Close Gambles

It's a common scenario. Say you're holding 55 and you suspect someone has two over cards. The correct play really boils down to how you rate yourself compared to your opponents.

An average player should rarely turn down the slight edge they have. Sure, they could bust out in one hand, but also double up with a little luck. Weighing up the tournament situation will often determine how a player handles this situation.

If, however, you consider yourself one of the best players in the tournament your strategy should often be different. In a cash game you'd take the edge and play the hand. But in a tournament it can be correct to preserve your stack and wait for a better opportunity.

The question to be asked in these circumstances is do you really want to risk busting out by losing an all in coup or would you rather wait for when the odds are more in your favour? Are you willing to take that 50/50 chance of it being your last hand? Do you need to at this stage?

Of course, when you're short stacked moving in probably would be the correct play.

Your opponents

Many of your opponents will be playing more cautiously in a tournament than they would in a cash game as they are wary of going broke. This is great news and can be used to your advantage! Top tournament players use this to aggressively try to win small pots – knowing their opponents fear going broke – but will back off if an opponent shows strength.

The conundrum

Hang on a minute! So you're saying you should both preserve your stack and be aggressive? Yes! Impossible as it sounds this is what many top tournament players aim for.

To explain the apparent contradiction in advice Sklansky came up with a name for it – The Gap Concept. He believes it's the single biggest winning strategy adjustment a top tournament player has over a cash game player. And as he's one of the world's top poker theorists who are we to argue?!

He defines the concept as you need a better hand to play against someone that has already opened the betting than you do to open it yourself. The difference between the two hands is the “gap” – and the size of it depends on how tight or loose your opponents play, and the stage of the tournament you're at.

The concept doesn't apply to the very early rounds of a no-limit Hold'em tournament where the blinds are tiny compared to stack sizes. But players should be bear this theory in mind from a fairly early stage and understand the “gap” should become bigger in the latter stages as the prize money looms and increases.

Limping

Players who simply call preflop are often rather derogatorily branded limpers. So it's surprising to learn that while limping is not a great play in a limit tournament the better players in a no-limit Hold'em event should be doing a lot of limping in the early stages.

Why? Because better playing skill and favourable implied odds can make limping very profitable when others are carefully protecting their stacks.

Of course there's far more to being a winning tournament player than we've covered here. Avoiding confrontations with other large stacks, a good knowledge of the best hands to move all in with and strategy variations when the prize money is approaching are among many other important skills.

But the basics we've covered here provide a good solid basis to follow when you next sit down at a tournament and will help you on your way to the final table!