To be successful in anything in life requires a combination of enterprise and passion. Similarly in the game of poker, it requires patience and wisdom of the game to be a successful tournament poker player.
While you can succeed in the initial rounds of a poker tournament once you understand the advance poker strategies, you will eventually face a multitude of problems that will likely distract you from profitability. These problems are common amongst poker tournament players. You will likely accumulate a large number of chips but you will also suffer from several bad beats while attempting to secure a lead.
Perhaps the single greatest obstacle you’ll encounter in your early poker tournament career is the blind phase. Many players below the value or buy-in level are engaged in a fierce battle to secure first place. This is a time when many weak players tend to stay in the tournament hoping for a big payoff with each hand. You can take advantage of these inadequacies from the comfort of your home or office.
If you’re a tournament poker player then you probably know that the points Scared Straight and Whimpy Straight often lead to push or fold decisions. That is to say, they are trying to secure a 1st place finish or a cash finish far more than a finish on the felt. That’s really not as bad of a thing if you are fighting a micro-stakes (low limits) Texas Holdem tournament. But, if you are playing a high stakes poker tournament then you are going to need to adopt a different strategy.
Normally, at 10-15 points or less, you should be jumping at every chance available to find a hand with staying power. If you are in the blinds and flop two big cards then you are probably in a decent position for a take-back hand. Always be aware of the chip count of your opponent(s) and know when you can afford a blind steal while you are in the merchant role.
Against all those PCs that appear to be in bad shape, push them all in with hands like Ace Torres, Ace Jefferson, and pocket pairs. Jays in poor position will not hesitate to shove when position allows for a better chance of doubling up. You know, just whack them with a big handed stinking hand. Repeat this again and again until your opponent gives you his chips or folds.
When you are either out of position or attempting to steal the blinds then you need to be using strategy 5 and you need to use this with consequence and not get rolled along in the low blind junk bonds. This is really a blinder and a dangerous mistake to make as it opens the door to being very exposes poker tournament style poker.
This series is designed to help you with your tournament poker strategy so that you can be successful against the low blind players at your table. We are going to emphasis the importance of size in the early stages of a tourney. How you respond to different sized bets will often determined your fate in the tournament. Play accordingly. Unlike the large blinds or your overpair you likely do not want a coin-flip situation with your hand selection. Given the relative weakness of your tournament poker88 strategy in the early stages you should not be getting involved in large pots with unknown players unless you have a premium hand or a very strong read on your opponent.
As your blinds increase and the number of opponent decreases the size of the blinds ratio should be rising as your competition gets better. You should normally wait for the ASAP on the button in any variant. If you are in the small blind and the situation on the table is tight then it may be worth the time to call the blind and see the flop. Though, if there are a lot of calling stations you should usually wait for a better hand or better situation.
If you are in the big blind and things are starting to get juicy, you can take the opportunity to push a few times. This helps to build a pot, as the opponents who tend to call you will be in a pot just about every other hand. Consequently, pots tend to be as big as they need to be.
This is about all I had to say about the strategy of moving all-in in the small blind. If you make more mistakes in any one of the areas outlined in this article you will undoubtedly cost yourself some tournament play. So, please, next time you confront the situation described above.