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The reverse tournament strategy.
- 5-17-2008
So as we all know, picking up
as many chips as you can in a poker tournament or sng is crucial. Now of
course, many people read a lot of information and poker strategies in order to improve their skills. Now here
is probably the most commonly used strategy for tournaments.
People say that in the first 10 hands, give or take, of a tournament, you should only play A-A, K-K, Q-Q. Now the idea here is that you save as many chips, but let’s be honest, what are you chances of getting aces, kings, or queens? Not many, but here is the thing. So many people, at least in the tournaments I have played in lately, play extremely tight in the first few rounds. So, what do I do? The answer is one word, "raise".
It really is simple, if everyone at your table is playing tighter than a rock, you can bully them. Here is what I will typically do. Assuming no body calls, no matter what position I am in, I will raise it up 3x the big blind. You would be surprised at how well this works, there was one point when I was playing in a $10 tournament, and got away with this 5 times in a row. It all adds up in the long run. Now of course, what happens when you get called? Most likely that person has a good hand as they were playing tight. So, I won't continuation bet unless the flop is garbage, I am never ashamed to fold.
So this is how I will play poker tournaments, only in the early stages. I pick up lots of chips at the table when doing this, but again, I will only do this if the majority of my table is playing very tight. Then I will start to follow the typical strategy, to loosen up midway, and then at the final table if my stack is big enough, not be afraid to throw my poker chips in the middle. Again, this is just a strategy that works for me. You can try it out in a freeroll, but I highly doubt that it will work as there are countless donks in freerolls who can not hit the fold button pre flop. Overall give it a try, and if you don't like it or it does not work for you, then switch back to your old way.
People say that in the first 10 hands, give or take, of a tournament, you should only play A-A, K-K, Q-Q. Now the idea here is that you save as many chips, but let’s be honest, what are you chances of getting aces, kings, or queens? Not many, but here is the thing. So many people, at least in the tournaments I have played in lately, play extremely tight in the first few rounds. So, what do I do? The answer is one word, "raise".
It really is simple, if everyone at your table is playing tighter than a rock, you can bully them. Here is what I will typically do. Assuming no body calls, no matter what position I am in, I will raise it up 3x the big blind. You would be surprised at how well this works, there was one point when I was playing in a $10 tournament, and got away with this 5 times in a row. It all adds up in the long run. Now of course, what happens when you get called? Most likely that person has a good hand as they were playing tight. So, I won't continuation bet unless the flop is garbage, I am never ashamed to fold.
So this is how I will play poker tournaments, only in the early stages. I pick up lots of chips at the table when doing this, but again, I will only do this if the majority of my table is playing very tight. Then I will start to follow the typical strategy, to loosen up midway, and then at the final table if my stack is big enough, not be afraid to throw my poker chips in the middle. Again, this is just a strategy that works for me. You can try it out in a freeroll, but I highly doubt that it will work as there are countless donks in freerolls who can not hit the fold button pre flop. Overall give it a try, and if you don't like it or it does not work for you, then switch back to your old way.