Before we delve into actual strategic aspects of tournament play, let's first see why an online poker player is better off playing in tourneys than in cash games. First of all: what's the most annoying thing about cash-games as far as your bankroll is concerned?
Why, it's the rake, of course. It's like a silent assassin, like a parasite, creeping up on your bankroll and taking its toll without you even noticing it. Still, at the end of the month, the losses high stakes players register on account of the rake can reach thousands of dollars, much more than some lower stakes players ever hope to win. A rakeback deal can certainly help, but the fact remains: you will pay rake on every single hand that you play, there are no buts and maybes about it.
If you ever wondered why tourneys are so much more popular than cash games (just take a look at the distribution of player-base in any online poker room), and why poker rooms grant fewer FPPs for tournament fees, the answer is: because tourneys present players with far bigger EV+ and they're a much less profitable type of game for the poker room. If they're less profitable for the room, it means they're more profitable for you. In a tournament, you can play as many hands as it takes for you to win it or to bust out, without any surcharge. The only time you pay a fee to the room is when you register for the tourney, and you pay the tournament fee. The good news is that rakeback and cashback deals do cover tournament fees as well, so you'll get your due rebate on them too.
There are two basic tournament structures, (regardless of what poker variant they feature): STTs and MTTs. STTs are single table tournaments (also known as SNGs) which offer some great EV+ for players. An STT usually starts out with 10 players around the table, out of which 3-4 or even 5 may finish in the money. The return on the initial investment (the buy-in) is not really great unless you win, but it's still pretty good and makes for some excellent bankroll-building. There are only 5-7 opponents one needs to beat to get to the cash, and that is by no means a superhuman feat. MTTs (multi-table tournaments) feature hundreds, or even thousands of players, playing at as many tables as it takes to accommodate them all (hence the name). While MTTs have a much bigger number of opponents one has to survive, they offer a much bigger return on the buy-in than STTs. If you win a MTT you're practically guaranteed to make more than 100 times your initial buy-in. Luck takes up a much bigger importance in MTTs, because to beat out that many opponents, pure poker skill is often not enough.
Whether you play in a STT or a MTT you always need to start slow. Since slow always means tight in poker, you need to tighten up your starting hand selection, pay keen attention to your position, and avoid committing all your chips. The last thing you need in the opening stages of a tournament is to risk your tourney life on a coin-toss or a marginal match-up. It's amazing though how many players like to do just that. If you happen to play in a massive freeroll, all-ins will be rattling down all around you starting from the very first hand. Remember not to get caught up in the frenzy because it's just not a strategically correct thing to do.
The tight play that you exercise in the beginning is also justified by the small size of the blinds compared to that of possible future bets.
As you near the middle stages, you need to loosen up. Position in sight, you need to redefine your starting hand standards a bit and start stealing some blinds, otherwise your stack will soon evaporate. This is the key to surviving the middle stages: attack the blinds successfully.
When the bubble nears, play usually tightens up, because nobody wants to bust out right on the brink of reaching the money. You should take advantage of this situation, steal whatever you can and bully people around a bit: at this stage they're all just about ripe for some ill-treatment.
As the bubble bursts, things speed up. Tighten up a tad again, and as you near the end of the tourney gradually loosen, till you turn into the unstoppable maniac everyone fears in the heads-up finish. |
