We all love to make money playing poker tournaments, after all, that's what we play for! The variance can be a real rollercoaster. Falling into the bubble is colder than a bath in Winterfell, and not making the final table hurts more than dental surgery without anesthesia. But winning tournaments is what drives us crazy about the #SundayMajors.
In multi-table tournaments, many players do not have a good strategy for the end game. This means that the prize pools in the later stages are not properly exploited. These players will often finish in positions that take a small prize pool, perhaps the minimum prize pool, will rarely be in the top 3, which is where most of the money is, and will never win a tournament. This is not good for your bankroll. So here are 5 strategies to ensure that you play well in the later stages of these tournaments.
Pick up the pace as the tournament progresses
At the beginning of any tournament, the average player will often think that it is a good idea to ramp up the game quickly to hurt their opponents’ stacks and put themselves in a commanding position. However, get too involved in the early game and you will start to throw away chips. You should play tight at the beginning and gradually increase your range of hands as the tournament and the blinds progress.
When antes come into play, it’s time to start ramping up your aggression, stealing blinds and putting pressure on your opponents. Avoiding very large pots, unless you have an excellent hand, in the early stages will put you in a better position to dominate the later levels. Also, take advantage of bad players who waste chips from the small blind, for example, and pay attention to signs such as a very large preflop raise and hesitation to bet on the turn and river, and take advantage of them!
Adapt to short-handed poker
As the tournament draws to a close, you’ll need to get used to tables that have 6 or 7 players instead of 9. At the final table, you’ll obviously expect to be the only player left. So be aware of the adjustments you need to make to your game to play with empty seats, whether to your right or left.
The fewer players there are at the table, the more aggression becomes a key factor. You should 3-bet more, pressuring players, and use your position more intensively. After all, you will now be the big blind in 1 out of every 6 hands, whereas before you were only in that position in 1 out of every 9 hands. Waiting for premium hands to play, instead of being a tight player's strategy, now becomes an amateur player's strategy. This does not mean that you cannot skip a hand or two and just watch the game.
With only two tables remaining in an MTT, your goal should no longer be to make the final table, but to win the tournament. If you are focused on that goal, there are ways to improve your chances. One way is to open the other active table and watch your potential opponents closely. All great players have a strategy for winning tournaments, but how often in live play can you watch what the other table is doing? Be one of the few who can take advantage of that.
Don't be predictable
Being in control of a poker table is a unique feeling, especially when you have a big stack. However, this is very rare to see at a final table, as players change their strategies and actions from hand to hand. The ideal situation is to be in a state of total focus, paying attention to the traits of other players’ play, so that you can recognize their patterns and use them against them to achieve victory. However, as you start to notice things about your opponents’ play, and the more you play with them at this level of focus, the same becomes true of what they know about your game.
Don’t let yourself fall into the “end game” pattern. Be aware of your own betting patterns, the frequency of your 3-bets, and perhaps most importantly, how often you fold. One way to do this is to focus on when you apply pressure and when you fold a hand. Keep an eye on your stats and monitor how both you and your opponents are playing. As long as you are aware of how you play against each opponent at the table, and how each player behaves against each type of opponent, you will most likely find the secret to beating them. A mistake many players make in the late stages is to believe that they have to do all the hard work. Let the very loose players sink on their own. Just be aware of what types of plays can lead to mistakes and more eliminations.
Heads-up, this is where things get tough.
To make a deal or not?
If you get to heads-up, you'll probably have a LOT of information about your opponent. Is he tight or insanely loose? How has he played in pots against you, in particular? Pull up the hand replay and take a quick look to refresh your memory of his behavior so far. While some players change their heads-up play a lot, it's in people's nature to maintain at least some established patterns, so take advantage of that. You'll also need to increase your aggression again. Heads-up is unlike any other part of poker. Here, it's all about pressuring your opponent until you have a chip advantage, so you can beat them.
Use every weapon in your arsenal when playing the “end game”, and you will most likely be the only player left!
Article translated & adapted from the original: Five Ways to Crush the Tournament End Game
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