Hold'em Poker Tournament Strategy Guide
Poker tournaments are the new rage in online poker, and are also the focus of the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour. Every online poker site offers poker tournaments in multiple forms and fashions, but the most popular tournaments are No Limit Hold'em tournaments. In a No Limit Hold'em tournament, each player receives the same amount of chips and then plays until only one player has every single chip. To force action, the tournament raises blinds and implements antes to put pressure on every player's stack.
These poker tournament strategy articles will teach you how to beat live and online poker tournaments:
General Poker Tournament Strategy:
These articles will teach you basic strategies that can be used in any poker tournament:
- Ten Best Poker Tournament Tips - This article has our top ten tips for tournament players.
- Early Stages Strategy - During the early stages, tight is right. Learn more in this article.
- Middle Stages Strategy - Learn how to crush the middle stages and build up a huge stack.
- Late Stages Strategy - The late stages are from after the bubble until the final few tables.
- Playing the Bubble - Learn how to steamroll other players on the bubble and cruise to the money.
- Final Table Strategy - Want that huge first place prize? Read this article and crush the final table.
- The Tournament Mind Set - Get in the right train of thought so you can start beating MTT's.
- When to Get Your Money in on a Coin Flip - To win a MTT, you have to win a coin flip.
- Playing Draws in Poker Tournaments - Learn how to play your monster draws in MTT's.
- Stealing the Blinds - Learn when the best time is to steal the blinds and pad your stack in an MTT.
Beating Specific Poker Tournaments:
Now we will link to articles that discuss specific poker tournament types and variations:
- Rebuy Tournament Strategy - Learn how to beat rebuy poker tournaments.
- Single Table Satellite Strategy - This article discusses 9-man poker tournament satellites.
- Super Satellite Strategy - Beat super satellites (multi table satellites with hundreds of players).
- How to Win Bounty Tournaments - Strategy for playing bounty/knockout tournaments.
- 180 Man Tournament Strategy - Learn how to beat normal 180-man sit and go's.
- 180 Man Turbo Tournament Strategy - This article focuses on turbo 180-man sit and go's.
Adjust Your Game as the Tournament Progresses
One of the most important skills in a poker tournament is to be able to adjust your strategy as the tournament progresses. As you get deeper and deeper into the tournament, blinds and antes will place increased pressure on your stack, which will force you to adjust your play accordingly. This is far different from a cash table, where you can just add on more chips to your stack at any time. Once blinds reach an extremely high level, you will have to steal blinds and antes just to survive.
Account for Stack Size
One factor that many players overlook in a poker tournament is taking account of your opponents' stack sizes. As you get deep in a tournament, stack size becomes just as important as position or player skill. When stealing blinds, always target the middle stacks, because short stacks are forced to make moves, and big stacks will often play pots just to try to knock players out. Middle stacks, on the other hand, are just trying to advance in the pay brackets.