Texas Holdem - Tournament Situations

There are some unique situations in a Texas Holdem tournament that you should be aware of:

1.      Playing against the short stack – There are two general types of players: the ones that tighten up as long as they are not very short stacked and that must go all in, and the second type that is ready to go home, thus loosens up and moves all in more quickly. Once you figure out which one you are up against, decide whether to loosen or tighten your game against those players.

2.      Playing against the big stack – most players try to avoid playing against the big stack players, thus giving them an advantage. I found that most of the big stack players loosen up their game and are sometimes more vulnerable. You should pick the hands you are playing with them carefully but once you’ve done that, don’t be afraid to play aggressively.

3.      When you are short stacked – play tighter, get yourself into a fold / all in mood, and prefer hands that can win by themselves, like A8 over KQ, because most of the all in situations mean a heads up game.

4.      When you are the big stack – the best advice that I can give is just keep it. Many players loosen up so radically that they lose their chips in no time. When you have a big stack in front of you, try to win the small pots, to steal the blinds, and to put pressure on limpers when you are in position by playing more aggressively.

5.      Stealing the blinds when they go up – use the first phase in the tournament to build yourself a tight image, and when the blinds have raised, be more inclined to steal the blinds.

6.      Rebuy – when entering a tournament that allows a rebuy period, be willing to use it if you go broke. If it was a smart decision to sign up for the tournament before you went broke, it is still a good decision to rebuy now.

7.      End of the day hand / last hand before the break – people tend to tighten up in those hands. Nobody wants to lose their chips just before the break and you can exploit this and try doing the opposite by betting more aggressively.

8.      Elimination deal – when you have one short stack that goes all in, there is a silent consent among players, that everyone calls, and no one bets or raises in later rounds, they do it in order to make it harder for the short stacked player to win the pot. Sometimes this is the best move, unless you have a very strong hand and want to get some action or a very vulnerable one (you have 93c and the board is J65c).

9.      When your table breaks up – if you know your table is going to break up, don’t do anything that’s purpose is to build an image for later rounds. Make the best of your cards now.

For more tournament strategies visit MyHoldemTips.com.