No-Limit Tournaments

[skinski]

Was browsin round a bit today and just reading some differant perspectives of tournament play and thought this article was right decent . I know we all have our own stategies that we use , but I'm of the belief that "reading is knowledge , and knowledge is power....."

Early Stages

In terms of strategy, no-limit tournaments are very different from no-limit ring games. You simply can't bluff as much because people's stacks tend to be smaller in relation to the size of the pot. Also, since the amount of chips you win from a bluff is worth less than the amount you stand to lose, bluffing loses a lot of 'value.'

Now, many of you may be confused. Suppose you bluff 1,000 chips at a 1,000 pot and figure you have a 50-60% chance of taking it down. Many of you would think it's worth it to take that risk. However, those 1,000 chips you win are worth less than those 1,000 chips you stand to lose. If you have a 2,000 stack, getting knocked down to 1,000 has much more negative value than the positive value of getting up to 3,000. The 1,000 chips do not represent money. The only monetary value in the tournament is either losing all of your chips or winning them all (and losing them all is more important because you do get a prize if you lose them all in the late stages of the tournament). Losing those 1,000 chips knocks you half the way out, but winning those 1,000 doesn't do squat for winning.

This is not to imply that you can simply fold your way into the money. The blinds will eat you alive. You must win pots so you don't get knocked out most of the time. Towards the end of the tournament, you can think of winning pots to win the whole tournament. However, most of the time you must win pots simply so you don't lose!

Thus, in the early stages of the tournament, you should avoid gambling much. Generally, the amount you win isn't worth the gamble. If you can see the flop for cheap with a suited connector or someone goes all-in preflop and you have [[cards As Ah]], by all means go for it. However, I wouldn't suggest bluffing all-in. In the early stages, you want to win a huge pot here and there because you hold the nuts. Target a bad player and make him pay you off.

Middle Stages

Towards the middle of the tournament, you need to switch gears. Since the blinds get bigger, stealing the blinds will help you stay alive. Here, the 'gap' concept becomes more important. It takes a much weaker hand than usual to raise to steal the blind, but a stronger hand than usual to call a raise. The middle rounds introduce the 'survival mode' concept.

Again, most of the time you will be looking just to survive and increase your stack bit by bit in the middle rounds. You want to avoid confrontation without the nuts and just take down some small pots without controversy.

However, if you are a large chip stack (or even just a medium one), you may want to take advantage of this survival mode. Take control of the game by raising and frequently putting other people at a decision for all of their chips. After all, if they go all-in, they're risking it all but you aren't because you can lose the pot and still keep on fighting. However, don't do this too much. Steal some pots, but don't be so obvious that people will call you all-in with top or even second pair. Also, don't do this against very bad players. They will call everything.

End Stages

Towards the end of the tournament is when the coin-flip decisions become very important. Frequently, the blinds are so high it makes sense for a player with a low or moderate stack to go all-in preflop. Generally, when you go all-in you want to have Ace and good kicker or a pocket pair. If you have Ace and good kicker you are an advantage against all unpaired hands and may even have someone dominated. If you have a pocket pair, you are a small advantage against all unpaired hands and at a huge advantage or disadvantage against other pocket pairs (depending on who has the bigger one).

Generally, if you have one of these marginal hands, it's best to just shove all of your chips in preflop. When you are a low stack, you cannot afford to be blinded away anymore. Once the flop comes, chances are it's not going to be perfect. By shoving in all of your chips preflop, you have the added chance of stealing the blinds and can avoid being bluffed out.


Taken from pokertips.org

[DangerMouse]

Nice post Skinski, The part where they`re talking about the value of your chips reminded me of this article I read the other day written by Annie Duke.

Chip Value

With the explosion of tournament poker in the past few years, many players are making the transition from cash games to tournament play. Since the prize pools have in many cases decupled, this influx is not that surprising. Like me, the allure of huge money and TV exposure has drawn in many players who used to concentrate on only cash games. It is vital, however, that these players understand that the big prize pools and TV exposure are not the only difference between tournament play and cash games. The math and psychology of the games are also extremely different. Having a deep understanding of where the two types of poker diverge can make all the difference between success and failure in the tournament arena.

The most obvious mathematical difference is that the chips in a tournament have no cash value. This may seem like an obvious point but the consequences of not knowing this fact are often missed by players. When you play in a cash game and you have, say, $50K in chips, your chips are actually worth $50,000. If you have 50 $1K chips each chip is worth $1K. If an opponent has, say, $10K in chips, their chips are worth $10,000. If they have 10 $1K chips, each chip is worth $1K. Let’s take the same case in a tournament. In order to understand what your chips are worth in a tournament you have to know what the prize pool is. Let’s say the prize pool of a tournament is $1 million. You have 50K in tournament chips comprised of a stack of 50 1K chips. Your opponent has 10K in tournament chips comprised of 10 1K chips. You are both playing for the same $1 million prize pool. So your 50K in chips is vying for the same $1million that your opponent’s 10K in chips is vying for. In the simplest terms each of your chips is worth less than each of your opponent’s chips because your opponent’s 10 chips are playing for the same prize pool as your 50 chips. Since each of your chips is worth less than each of your opponent’s chips, you need to make mathematical adjustments in your play.

For example, it makes more sense to play faster and looser when you have a big stack - not because you have so many chips that you can afford to lose some; but because your chips have a reduced value. Due to the size of your stack, you are actually getting better pot odds every time you play. You are actually calling less than your opponent who has a small stack because each of your chips is actually worth less than each of your opponent’s chips. Let’s say there is 10K in the pot and you are thinking about calling 5K of your stack on a 2 to 1 shot. Getting only exactly the right odds in a cash game in this situation you would likely fold rather than take a pure gamble. But in a tournament, when you have such a big stack, you need to realize that since each of your chips is worth less than each of the chips in the pot that you are actually getting better than 2 to 1 odds on the call so it is no longer a gamble to make the call. Of course this assumes you won’t have to call any more chips on the turn. That gets more complicated and I don’t want to get too complicated here. On the flip side, when you have a short stack, it is important to understand that the pot is not always offering you the odds you think it is. When you are short stacked, each of your chips is worth more than the chips in the pot, so you are getting worse pot odds than it appears. This means, of course, that you need to play your hands tighter than you would in a cash game - being much more conservative in calling since you are mathematically getting worse pot odds on the call than you would be in a similar situation in a cash game.

Now obviously, this isn’t the only mathematical difference between tournaments and cash game play but it is one of the most important ones. It is a difference that too few players really understand. Many players do happen upon this strategy—playing looser when you are big stacked and tighter when you are short stacked on your drawing hands—but many don’t understand the mathematical underpinnings that make this strategy a successful one. Having a deep understanding of the conceptual and mathematical reasons behind a successful strategy can only improve your game.

[SirWilliam58]

Thanks to you both for posting those articles, Both are very good !

Now days in online tournament play it doesn't pay to bluff, I have learned that if you don't flop it, don't bet it, and be very careful chasing because if you are, then someone else might be as well.

[cerberi]

great posts there both of you,very informative
thanks

[kstcmt]

both of these are excellent i agree
i just wish that people would read more before they start playing
i really don't like the "I'll stay just to try and catch a hand" people
poker is a stragety game you should know what you are doing before playing