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Multi Table Tournaments
At the beggining of a multi
table texas holdem tournament, the blinds are low in relation
to the total amount of chips you have at the table, and a
lot of players think it is a good idea to see a lot of flops.
Some players on the other hand think that you should play
even tighter at this stage of the tourney. The debate will
likely continue to go on and on but I believe that from a
players perspective that during the small blind stage of the
tournament that you should be extra careful not to blow it
and go all in with a marginal hand against a monster hand.
Just sit back and watch people go nuts.
Because the blinds are small
early on, do not waste any energy regarding blind stealing
preflop, and do not try to make huge bluffs, as it would be
pointless to make a 400 chip bluff at a 30 chip pot. Since
you may find yourself playing a few marginal hands preflop
just make sure if you find yourself with an inside straight
draw and someone bets heavily into you just fold it right
there. Do not get lulled into calling when you miss the flop.
Fold immediately unless you catch a piece of the flop. By
a piece of the flop I am referring to two pair or more.
As the tournament moves along
try to pace yourself accordingly and keep two things in mind:
1
- what are the blinds are in relation to my chip count, and
the chip counts of the players at your table. Keep in mind
that you want to have more than 20 times than the big blind
at all times. This will not always happen, of course, but
as the tournament progresses you should attempt to retain
a nice 20 X BB chip count if possible. You do not need to
go into panic mode if you are below 20 X BB at any point,
but when your stack gets below 10 times the big blind you
need to start worrying about making some kind of move so as
to accumulate chips. If you are playing at a tight table it
may be the case that the blinds are going up and nobody is
really accumulating chips, and as such the entire table is
getting weaker relative to the field. It that is the case
then just wait for a table change, continue to play premium
hands, and look for a chance to use positional isolation to
grab a pot or two.
2
- keep an eye on the average stack as defined by the software.
The average stack is where you want to be but if you ever
check the average stack you will see that most of the players
are below the average stack. So a target of keeping your chip
count around the average is a good target.
For the first couple of hours
of the tournament play your position flawlessly. In other
words only play cards from positions 6,7,8,9,D. Do not forget
that in the first hour there is little chance of winning the
tournament but you can lose it in a heartbeat. Remember that
in multi table texas holdem tournaments there are almost always
8-10 people at your table, meaning you should have the opportunity
to win approximately 10% (or more) of the pots played at your
table. Please note that at the beginning of the tournament
on you should see roughly 15-25% of the flops (more if you
like at very low blind levels). As a result if you go through
a dry spell for 20 or 30 hands that is ok. You will make it
up on the next 20-30 hands. You do not need to win every pot,
or even every fifth pot. Just wait for your chance and be
sure to keep track of how the other players at your table
behave while you wait for your rush. Do they bet in position?
Do they raise every time they get a chance? Do they often
bet more than the pot itself? Are they intimidated by an all
in bet? Are any of them calling stations? What types of hands
to they play in what position? Do they trap?
Multi table texas hold’em
tournaments are about survival. To survive, you must play
a risk adverse style of play and avoid big risks often. As
a result of this philosophy you should avoid bluffing too
often as you will note that as the blinds increase to 100/200
or more you will be looking for pocket pairs and AK, KQ, and
KJ. For example if you play K-10 off suit out of position
for 200 chips preflop and the flop a K as the top card in
it without a flush or straight draw, and if you are betting
this hand to the river with at least one caller you are putting
yourself at risk. You will usually lose this hand to K-J,
K-Q, or A-K, or a set. You have to wonder what your opponent
is calling you with. As the blinds increase and players are
eliminated you will notice that the players remaining are
not bluffing to the river on a draw. Every time you play a
marginal hand like KT os and bet it to the river, you are
basically banking on the chance that your opponent is bluffing.
This is not considered the best way to survive in a texas
holdem tournament.
Now presuming you have lasted
in this multi table texas holdem tournament for two hours
you should have noticed that your chip count (or stack) is
well below the average (say 4K with the average at 7.5K) and
the blinds are starting to be a major problem (say 400-800),
you need to start looking for a hand to go all in with. At
this point, you should go all in from any position with QQ,
JJ, or AK. You hope you get called by a hand that you are
well ahead of (if you have QQ or JJ, you hope you're getting
called by 10-10, 9-9, 8-8, or 7-7; if you have AK, you hope
you're getting called by AQ, AJ, or KQ), and you can double
up. Your odds of winning in these situations are 70-80%, depending
on the situation. You almost always want to take these odds.
At worst, you are in a coin-flip situation 90% of the time,
the times that your caller does not hold AA or KK (presuming
you hold QQ or JJ or AK). Another key element here is to see
in the texas holdem tournament main lobby when the next big
tournament (same size as your’s or bigger) is about
to go off and watch out for playing middle pairs out of position
(early) … this could be a setup hand that you are about
to be pounded out of the tournament in.
Another important thing that
you can do in these situations is steal blinds from late position
with more marginal hands. This is particularly true when you
are getting short stacked, are in late position, and everyone
has folded in front of you, you should go ahead and push all
in with hands like A-Q, A-J suited, 10-10, 9-9, and even 8-8,
if stealing the blinds increases your stack. If you are on
the button or small blind, short stacked, and everyone has
folded in front of you, you should push all-in with 7-7, A-10
suited, and, if really short stacked, A-9, A-8, K-Q suited,
and even 6-6 or 5-5. I have even gone with suited connectors
or any K X. It also depends on the chip count of the player
on your left but basically you want to take chips from the
players on your left as often as possible – particularly
if you are on the button or the #9 seat and nobody came into
the pot ahead of you.
One of my favorite tactics if
short stacked is timing the blinds. You have to time your
play (and of the table) such that the blinds change when you
are on the button or one right of the button. If you can do
this when you are relatively short stacked then you will have
an advantage for that round of betting that is equivalent
to (BB1+SB1/your stack – BB2+SB2/your stack) where BB1
and BB2 represent the blinds pre and post blind change. Believe
me when you are really up against it you have to time the
blinds to save enough chips to make it worth your while on
that next round of cards to make the most of your eventual
all in. Very few if any players time the blinds and during
a tournament it can add up as big a difference as stealing
blinds a few times.
If you manage to make it down
to the final two tables, almost regardless of your stack,
you need to tighten up again (unless you are extremely short
of chips – ie having enough chips to last three rounds
or less). Expect to win the blinds preflop with hands like
A-K, A-Q, Q-Q, or J-J, if you are betting 3 X BB or more preflop
here, thereby not allowing your opponents to hit a flop for
cheap. As your table gets smaller (7 or 6 people), loosen
up a bit, but never forget your goal of making the final table.
This means that when someone goes all-in in front of you,
do NOT make the call with 5-5 or K-Q hoping for the coin-flip,
because at BEST you have a coin-flip, while at worst you are
way behind. Also at this stage of the tournament you should
have the other table open on your screen so you can keep an
eye on how the others are playing and who if anyone looks
to be in a bad position such that they have to go all in soon.
This is particularly important when there are 11 players left.
Next one out doesn’t make final table.
Once you have survived to the
final table, TIGHTEN UP even more. Since the payouts are top
heavy (which means 1st, 2nd, 3rd pay well while 8th, 9th,
10th are relatively low in comparison, just do your best to
hang in there as long as possible. Make sure that if you are
pushing with marginal hands it is against smaller chip counts
than you and if you are the short stack be careful to pick
a good spot to go all in. I was short stacked in an online
Texas Holdem Tournament once so severely that I was the butt
of jokes the entire tournament. Well I managed to finish 2nd
in that tournament and won 170 X my fee for the tourney, and
if you are the smallest stack, do NOT make loose all-ins,
continue to pick your spots carefully.
Once you make it to the final
three players, just play good poker. If you get the cards
and can trap your opponents into making huge stabs (which
will happen a lot with huge blinds and big pots), you have
a very decent chance of winning. If not – second place
is ok too.
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