Thoughts on poker tournament strategy

I have won a handful of smaller tournaments this year and the one common denominator is getting the rush at the right time, at the final table. I usually get to the FT with an average enough stack by playing more or less tight-aggressive. However, I see a real benefit in starting loose-aggressive as the players I have seen successful early on got there by being loose-aggressive, then flame out as they get further in the tournament when there luck runs out. I also see that I must change my image to maximize my success. Gus Hansen in his book says he doesn’t know which style is better, but I think its about 50/50. The trick is in switching up your style. I think. Still learning and working on my game. Not sure there is a right answer, but good blog.

Hi Scott

Thanks for your comment. I agree that it is necessary to switch your styles during a tournament. The trick is always to do the opposite of what your opponents are doing.
I haven’t won any tournaments yet this year which is why I’m looking to change my strategy.

Mark

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Well my new strategy worked. I busted out early of all the tournaments I entered into tonight:

Titan Poker 3k Guaranteed: I build a nice stack by being aggressive. I pick up QQ and go all in preflop to fake trying to steal the pot. I get called by AJ and my opponent makes a flush with 4 spades on the board.

Full Tilt Poker 25k Guaranteed: I double up early with AA against AK and then call early with KJ. Three callers and the flop is JJA. I bet the pot and get one caller. Turn is an 8. I bet the pot, get reraised then push only to see my opponent holding J8. Nice turn.
A bit later I push all in preflop with JJ behind a raise and a call. The initial raiser calls me with KQ suited and rivers a King.

Busting out early is definitely something I will have to get used to, but I think I’m on the right track.

Mark’s last blog post..Thoughts on poker tournament strategy

There goes my last money on Full Tilt Poker….read about it here:

http://wosb.com/betting-forum/showthread.php?p=2890

Mark’s last blog post..Thoughts on poker tournament strategy

Have you put a limit as to how aggressive you can be and lose? I have seen some pros write about going down to 9x the big blinds before they get aggressive, but you could use it the other way too. Be aggressive until you have 10x big blinds left for example. Once you get up, you can be conservative. Keep trying though and let me know how you do.

Hi Scott

Thanks for your suggestions. Could be that setting a limit on how much of your stack you can use for aggressive play is a good idea.

Mark

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I don’t mind flipping coins early on. I don’t even mind taking the worst of it a little bit. It’s partially because Im wreckless, but I can also change my game significantly if I double up early on and really take more of a table leader stance. When I can do this, I usually make a nice run if the table is good. + Tournament EV is getting harder to come by these days, I try to only play tournaments for fun… another reason I dont mind flipping coins early on, its just more fun to play with a huge stack.

I disagree with the hard to find EV part. If you are better than the average player, there is still plenty of EV to be found in tournaments.

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I dissagree with the strategy of playing loose aggressive early on. Although you are right, a the chip leaders after the first hour or so are people wo have played loose, they are just one or two people and in tournaments with a couple of hundred players or more there could be dozens of player who also play loose early on who get knocked out because of it. It is much better to play tighter early on and wait for premium hands and then play them aggressively with the loose players. It may mean you don’t end up playing a hand before the break but but just because you are not the chip leader or have not doubled up it does not mean you are at a massive disadvantage unless the blinds are getting big.
Better to wait for good opportunities than gamble on bad ones because you are getting bored.

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Hi Elloraboy

Thanks for the comment. Trust me I have played tight sensible poker for ages until recently, and I simply haven’t seen enough wins to justify this approach. As a wise man said to me, you need to get some chips or get the f…ck out.
A poker tournament is a race and you simply can’t wait around for premium hand to come by. The chips are worth more early on when the blinds are low so you really need to take risks and seek out situations where you can double up.
Once you have secured yourself a solid stack you can sit back a bit and take advantage of your loose table image, playing premium hands and getting paid.
Also with a large stack you can better afford to play drawing hands.

Mark

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After some time executing my new higher risk approach to tournaments I still haven’t won one

I do seem to build a stack faster in the early phases of tournaments, which is good news. Problem is I haven’t yet mastered the art of tightening up again when I have a big stack.

There are still some adjustments to be made to my strategy and I will keep you updated how it goes.

Mark

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Perhaps your style of play is more suited to slower tourneys where the blinds increase at larger intervals. There’s a lot more luck involved in turbo tournaments. Also tables can be shuffled so often online that you never get enough of a handle on the other players to make a ‘safe’ bluff

I think you might have a point Fiona. I might start playing some deep stack tourneys.

Thanks for the advice

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