In the poker world, there’s not much that’s more exciting than making a deep run in a big tournament. Maybe winning a huge cash pot would rival it, but beating out thousands of opponents on your way to a final table appearance is just something that gives you goose bumps to even think about. It’s not an easy task, though, by any means, and here today we are going to take a look at the art of multi-table tournament poker, and give you some tips and strategy that should help you prepare for a deep run in an event or two. Let’s get right into the action, and remember that this tournament strategy guide will really include both online and live poker events! Temper Your Expectations It’s very, very important to remember the variance that comes along with playing in poker tournaments, because one bad beat can send you to the rail. You truly need to go into every tournament with the hopes of making a deep run, and focused on playing strong poker, but you can’t get down on yourself if you take that bad beat or get eliminated from a tournament due to a tough spot. These things are going to happen, and expecting to cash, or final table every poker tournament that you play is just crazy. Confidence is key, but craziness is just a whole different thing. Your key focuses when playing should be on making good reads, good bets, playing smart and doing your best to not risk your chips when there isn’t a good chance that you’re ahead. Play Tight Early and Pick Spots Early play is sort of just a time to feel out opponents and take a few pots here or there. Obviously, if you get a big enough hand, then looking for the early double up is never a bad thing, but you shouldn’t get crazy and risk your stack just for the sake of trying to get an early double up. There is a whole lot of poker to play throughout the length of an event, and tournaments aren’t won in the first two hours of action, but they can definitely be lost in the first two hours. Picking your spots is big, and if you get a chance to three-bet pre-flop and steal blinds plus and original raise, that can be a spot to take advantage of. Don’t make yourself known as a “crazy” player during all of this, but look to find spots to pick up a few chips and get your stack heading in the right direction. Get Aggressive With Big Stack There’s a big difference between getting aggressive with a big stack, and playing crazy with a big stack. Be sure that you know the difference .Playing crazy is going to result in that big stack taking some major hits, but being aggressive, stealing blinds and picking spots to three-bet opponents are major things to take advantage of with a big stack. You’ve obviously worked hard to grab that big stack, and won’t to keep it growing to the final table and beyond, but you have to play smart in order to do that. “Bullying” your opponents is a tactic that’s often talked about, and it’s really not a bad thing to do, as long as you do it in moderation. Keeping Track of Big Blinds I can’t say this one enough. You absolutely always need to know where you stand in terms of how many big blinds that you have left in your stack. If you are sitting with under 10 big blinds, it means that it’s time to stop making min-raises, and instead start looking to push your stack into the middle and either steal the blinds, or get a double up. Obviously when you find yourself at the top of the leaderboard keeping track of the big blinds can be a bit tougher, but it’s still always important to know where you stand when comparing your stack up against other players at the table, so you can get a feel for how they’re playing, and you can also decide how you want to play moving forward.
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