No Limit Texas Holdem Tournament Strategy
Poker Tournaments
No Limit Texas Holdem tournaments play differently from ring games. The tone of ring games is pretty consistent from start to end; tournaments are more dynamic. If you can think and act fast under pressure and are very competitive, you will soon enjoy them.
Tournament Setup
In a multi-table tournament, players are equally divided among tables. If there are 400 players, they are split into 40 full tables. For every 10 players eliminated, a table is removed and the rest again evenly distributed in the remaining ones. When only 10 players are left, they sit together at the final table. The winner must get all the chips at the table. But the prize money will be divided among the top finishers in a graded manner as pre-determined by tournament organizers.
Now the blinds rise steadily as the event draws closer to the finish. This is done since players now have more chips won from eliminated players. Without rising blinds, the tournament could go on forever.
Tournament Play
Patience is the key to early tournament play. Your main concern here is keeping your stack of chips intact as much as possible; accumulating more chips is secondary. Don't be anxious to defend the blinds since they are still small. Play only the best cards you get. Let other players eager for competition do it for you. Just watch as some players are knocked out and others gather chips. Don't worry if someone else gets a bigger stack than you for now. This is No Limit. You can easily get that from them later. These are players who just get lucky early.
In the middle stage, it's time to see some action. There are fewer players now, the stacks are larger and the blinds are bigger. You now want to help yourself to those as you must build your stack for the final table. Begin to steal blinds with your high pocket pairs by raising preflop. But beware if someone with an average stack raises or goes all-in before you. It takes a stronger hand to justify a call than a raise. So if you must call a really huge raise, be sure you have pocket aces or some other premium hand.
All the time keep an eye on others' chip stacks. A big-stacked player can call your bluffs with nothing just to keep you honest. A small-stacked player who raises from the button could easily be bluffing. A big-stacked player who just got lucky in the early stage is a juicy target. You want them to call your all-in when you have a monster.
Late in the tournament, it will be necessary to steal the blinds regularly. They are bigger and you will need them to compensate in case you lose your own blinds. Raise more even with off-suit high cards. Suited connectors are less desirable. Don't play junk hands even if you are short-stacked. Wait for a playable hand.
If you are in the blind, defend it with even a decent hand. If your situation is dire, defend it with any hand unless there is a raise that's too big.
Once you make it to the paying positions (the "bubble"), play changes. Your goal is to last as long as you can, not to win every hand. If someone goes all-in, fold even a great hand. Someone can get eliminated at an all-in, so why risk that being you? Let another player drop out so you can rise in among the top finishers. Remember the prize pool will be divided in a graded system anyway.
