subject: Tournament Poker Hold Em Strategy [print this page] Tournament Poker Hold Em Strategy Tournament Poker Hold Em Strategy
How to try and beat an online 9 or 10 person sit n go Texas hold em poker tournament.
Most tournaments will start you off with 1500 to 2000 total chips. The blinds are antes that the two players to the dealers immediate left pay before every hand is dealt. There is a small blind and a big blind, which is twice the cost of the small blind. All the players in the tournament take turns being the dealer and paying the blinds or antes as the sit n go tournament progresses. The time limit is normally around 10 minutes before the blinds increase in cost which in turn creates more betting action. This is done in order to speed up the tournament so you can not just sit and wait for the best cards.
The object of the game is to gain the most chips and to knock out your opponents one by one until you have all the chips.
There is usually 3 paid spots in these tournaments. So you will have to finish in the top three in order to earn any money. First place normally pays 50%, second place 30% and third place 20% of the prize pool.
I will not go into detail about which cards to play and in what positions but rather a quick summary of strategy to employ.
In the beginning of the tournament the blinds are low and you still have equal chips to the other players. It is normally wise to take a more cautious approach to betting and especially bluffing as you do not want to lose all your chips right off the bat. You have lots of time to try and see the flop for cheap with your mid to medium strength hands and gauge your hands strength after the flop.
If you do get lucky and pick up a big hand early in the tournament make sure you put in a fairly hefty raise or re- raise to try and win the pot pre-flop. Aces or Kings are great hands but can be vulnerable to flushes, straights and trips as a hand progresses to later streets so best to win ASAP if you can. At this beginning stage try and gain some chips with your sure hands and great draws. There is a lot of beginner/bad and aggressive/bluffing players in some of these sit n go tournaments. Try and take these players chips in these early stages patiently with any of your good hands when they arrive.
At Mid - Tournament there will be 4 to 6 players remaining and the blinds will now be starting to be worth fighting for. Most of the bad players will probably either be gone or perhaps have gotten lucky and are chip leader on a fluke or two. Hopefully at this point you are doing good and still have some chips. You should try and play good solid poker by betting into your good draws and protecting your top pairs with good kickers. Try not to call all in bets if you are holding single pairs or low two pairs as often this is a recipe for failure. Remember it is important to try and be the person betting and not calling in poker. This is because when you are betting you have more ways to win the hand. Your opponent has to either fold which you win, call which can still help you on the next card or he can raise. If you just check or call your opponent doesn't have anything to fear. If someone plays back at your bet for a raise, think and re-assess your hand. Don't be afraid to fold if you think you are beat as this is what makes a good poker player. Start to occasionally place bets pre-flop to win or place pressure on the blinds when you are in late position.
Near the end of the tournament there is normally around 3-4 players left and the blinds are quite high now. Now is the time where you want to be more aggressive in your betting to try and win the blinds. You need to do this in order to prevent the same blinds from taking all your chips away. If you simply wait for a good hand you may have no more chips left after a few rounds. Also you do not want to just survive to finish in third place, you want to finish in first place. Finishing in first place is where most of the money is and it is fist place where you want to be. Sometimes by being aggressive like this you might get knocked out in 4th place but that is ok, because you will finish in first place far more often in other sit n go tournaments by employing the same strategy. Of course playing horrible hands for large bets to win the blinds is a bad strategy so you will have to still use some discretion. Bet your hands wisely, bluff when you have to and by all means fold when you are beat.
By using some of these strategy's, practicing and learning more about poker, hopefully we will see you at the winners table soon.
