Navigating your way through a tournament is like working your way through a maze or playing a chess match. It requires specific strategies and a bit of luck. You can’t control luck, but you can choose your strategies.
Which strategies you employ will depend on a variety of factors such as:
• The type of player you are
• The type of players you’re playing against
• How many people are in the tournament
• Your overall ability
• And much more.
Many experts will tell you, especially, in the early stages of a tournament, that “tight is right.” They don’t want you to play a lot of hands or take many chances early. Your goal in the beginning is to just survive.
In the middle stages of the tournament, usually after the first break period on the internet, you must continue to play conservatively. You should also pay careful attention to how much people are betting and in what position they’re doing the betting. You can play a few more hands if you’re at a tight table, but be careful – other players might be loosening up at this time, too.
At the end of a tournament, you’ve got to play it to win it. You have to decide if you just want to survive ‘til the money or really be a force at the final table. If you want to play in survival mode, then get as tight as you possibly can. Of course, you have to try and steal a few blinds because the blinds are probably big at this point – and, depending upon the size of your stack, you may need the chips.
If you want to go for the gusto, you’re going to have to gamble a bit. As two-time WSOP Main Event champ Johnny Chan says, “To win a poker tournament, you need to have ten lives. A cat only needs nine.” When you gamble, there’s a greater risk of busting out too.
Perhaps the best advice one can give is to be aware of the risks and rewards of your actions before you commit yourself to them.
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