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No Limit Texas Hold’em Tournament Poker
Intro – Guide to winning Single Table Texas Hold’em Tournaments
While many online players do very well playing low limit ring games of Texas Hold’em, another school of fish are swimming around in nearby pools, waiting to be taken advantage of unknowingly. These fish can be found in the lower buy-in Sit and Go tournaments found in poker sites like Party Poker and Empire Poker.
This guide was created to give the average through expert poker player some knowledge on how easy it can be to win these tournaments. This tournament poker strategy guide will give you a plan and some tips to winning consistently in these low limit poker tournaments.
Before reading this guide you should have at least some of the fundamental skills needed to win in poker, such as calculating outs, determining pot odds, and knowing the importance of position.
So roll up your sleeves and get ready for The World War of Poker’s first Poker Strategy Article.
The early game – first few rounds (blinds starting at 10/15, 15/30, 25/50)
The first thing you should notice when you sit down on these poker tournament tables is that the players are so bad, most times they don’t have a strategy and they don’t believe you have one either. Like many cash ring players on Party Poker, these guys won’t be really watching how you and the other players on the table are playing. Don’t try to get fancy, don’t be very tricky, and remember advertising does not pay off. And just because the other players aren’t observing playing styles, doesn’t mean you should jump off the bridge and join them. Look for the 1-2 good other poker players on your table that will probably be there hunting for fish and learn who they are. If you can, try and figure out who the weak/passive players are, so you can push them around later if they survive that long.
The next thing you might notice is that many of these players are playing very loose. In general, you often want to play in the opposite manner of the other players at the table, and in this case playing solid, tight poker is the key. You will probably see many players going all-in and many more calling them with Ace-Ten or worse. You won’t want to get involved without a monster like AA, KK or QQ. However, you probably will want to see flops cheaply with other premium hands like AK, AQ, JJ, TT, 99, AJ, AT. If you make pre-flop raises at this point, you probably won’t chase anyone out, but just add more money to the pot.
Don’t try to bluff as you will most likely get called by anyone with any type of hand. However, you do want to gain maximum value for the hands you do hit, and hopefully try to double or triple up in the process. Work in your value bets because you will usually get paid off, maybe even with a reraise.
If you survived this far and hopefully have a few or a lot more chips than what you started with, then you’re probably sitting in decent shape. Four or five people probably got knocked out by now and your big hands have paid you off too. Now we head into the mid and end games.
Mid to late game poker strategy (blinds at 50/100, 100/200, 150/300)
With only 5 or so players remaining, your first goal should be to make it into the money. If you can make it into the money every tourney you play at Party Poker, you’ll be getting a 90% return on your investment (ROI). You still want to play tight poker, but you’re going to have to start stealing some of the blinds and making more aggressive plays you wouldn’t think about doing in a 10 man ring game. This is where remembering which players were weak, passing calling stations and knowing which players were the good ones will pay off its dividends. Start stealing blinds from the people who don’t put up a fight and play cautious against the few other good players at your table.
You can start loosening up and make raises with hands like A-x, KQ, KJ and pairs down to 44, but ONLY when you’re in good position. At this point, the blinds are probably 1/10th your stack or even more, so you’ll get eaten up if you stick to your top premium hands. Once again, your goal is to outlast the other players, and make it into the money. If you end up being short-stacked, you’re going to have to find a hand you like and push it all in, trying to isolate 1 player who will be obligated to call, most likely the big blind. If you’re in a very tight chip race with another short stack, it maybe beneficial for you to sit on a couple hands and see if he makes a move to double up before you do. However, if you do get the cards dealt to, like 55,66 through A-5+, you’re probably going to have to put it all in. Now you’ve made it this far, hopefully you’ve made it into the money and now we head into the end game. If you have a big stack at this point, it will definitely be worth it to raise the blinds of the players in danger of ending on the bubble (4th place) because you will have a good chance of them folding, just trying to survive. But also be wary that if a player is down to 1-2X the big blind left in chips, he’s probably going to call you with any 2 cards if you raise his blind.
End game, 2-3 players left (blinds at 200/400, 250/500, 300/600 or higher)
Now either you’re sitting next to two other good poker players, two other really lucky players, or two other good and lucky players. Now the sad truth is that with the blinds this high, this poker game now becomes a semi-crap shoot. If you happen to have a good hand while your opponent has a better hand, you’re more than likely going to be pot committed already and unless the board helps you, you’re sitting out with double your money. But don’t get discouraged because your skill definitely has some factor in how high you will place.
Now is the time where it will be valuable to put the tricks of out your bag. Start, limping in with the pocket rockets, start checking raising your mid pairs and vary up your play so other players can’t get any definite reads on your betting patterns. If someone goes all in pre-flop at this point, they probably don’t have a monster hand, but something more like Ace-Jack, Ace-Ten, or a smaller pair lower than 8’s. If you put yourself in their shoes, would you go all in if you knew you had a monster hand? Probably not, you’d try and limp in, or raise minimally to get some people to call and give you some action. If you notice someone constantly picking off your blinds, you’re going to have to make a stand and show him you’re not playing games with a hefty re-raise. If the small blind has the nerve of limping in, you’re going to have to set him straight and let him know that’s not acceptable as well. After raising his limping in a few times, he’ll start to understand, or he’ll keep losing double what he should be in the small blind situation. Playing aggressive will definitely be a factor this late in the game, so pushing all in with a good flush draw isn’t a bad idea. You’re going to have to make a few good calls or two, but if you play your cards right and you don’t take too many bad beats, you’ve taken home another 1st place prize for a profit of 4 times your entry fee.
If you’re looking to test out and hone your new skills, I suggest the $10+$1 Sit and Go Poker Tournaments at Party Poker. Once you get a feel for your new poker tourney strategy, move up to the $30 + $3 games at Party Poker. Once you get to the $50+$5 games, you’re probably going to need to sharpen up your skills a bit more and get a little more complicated with your poker strategies. Hopefully I can put up a higher limit poker tournament strategy and maybe even a Poker Satellite strategy guide up soon to help you.
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