TOURNAMENT TIPS The current World Series of Poker tournament and its $100,000,000 prize pool certainly hypes up the interest in tournament play among newcomers to the game of Texas Hold’em. For those of you who are determined to be up to speed for next year’s WSOP contest I thought we’d take a look at some of the basics.
SOME GUIDELINES You never get a second chance to make a first impression. It’s a good mantra. You’re seated at your first table. You’re eyeballing the other nine players and they’re eyeballing you. If you come out firing from the hip with loads of initial aggression you may well take down a few easy pots and pile up a good stack, even if you’re holding hands that don’t amount to anything. This kind of gutsy strategy can work just fine but relies heavily on the one thing real tournament players try not to rely on. Namely LUCK! The name of the game in tournament play is, “you have to stay in it to win it!” Whilst establishing an aggressive persona works fine in cash poker games it can be a wasted bullet in tournament play where the table gets re-shuffled regularly and you are constantly required to re-establish your persona for the benefit of the new influx of opponents. In tournament play if your luck runs out and you’ve blown all your chips that means you’re out the door! Re-buying is not an option. Everyone starts equal and once your stack has gone you’re a negative statistic.
START OUT SLOW The secret is to start out playing the tightest poker your personality will allow, at least for the first two levels of any tournament. What does it mean to start slow? It means even if you land Ace-Jack or King-Queen or Ace-Queen as your hole cards in early position throw them away. If you are in a good late position and no raise has taken place ahead of you it may well change your reaction to the previously mentioned hole cards. Just play everything tight and watch your opponents hopefully butcher one another. You simply have to survive the early stages. The biggest danger any tournament player faces is “busting out”. Obviously if you land high pairs as hole cards: King- King or Aces, then enter the pot with a raise. However, if the pot doesn’t assist you and betrays the chance of a flush or a straight to your opponents, don’t be afraid to fold even quality cards.
CHANGE THE PACE Once you reach level three of tournament play, and assuming your stack is in good competitive order, you can now afford to resume your natural style of play which should in any case now become increasingly aggressive as the field whittles down.
