Poker Tournaments and How to Win Them

 March 11, 2019

Poker seems to become more popular every day! Consequently, so are poker tournaments. And once a player the basics are mastered, the sky’s the limit. The following guide can help those who are interested in poker tournaments, and help to understand the basics of the game, the fundamentals of strategy, and the high-level of competition.

What Are Poker Tournaments?

Poker tourneys refer to regulated and planned poker competitions between multiple individuals; the size of this group varies depending upon the tournament at-hand. Poker tourneys are held in both physical and online casinos.

Each competitor must put up a buy in, or a sum required to play, and most tournaments award the top pool of finishers. That pool can vary based on the number of entries into the tournament. The payout structure of each tourney will vary then, based on how many people “buy in”, with each of the winners will receive a part of the total buy in pool.

The Rules

Rules for poker tournaments are clearly defined and established at the outset. However, each casino or card room may have slight variations in their “house rules”, so players would be wise to review them. The tournament buy in, type of game, and the blinds and ante structure are advertised before players enroll. Always study and verify a poker tourney’s rules prior to joining; different players prefer different rules! Any type of poker can be played in tournaments, but the most common variations include Texas Hold ‘Em and Omaha.

Additionally, tournaments can be played at a single table (usually referred to as a “Sit ‘n Go“), or across multiple tables for larger competitions. Players will compete until just one player has all the chips in play. The caveat is that each tournament has a progressive ante/blind, which means that players will need to pay more for each hand after the game reaches a certain point. The blinds and antes continue to increase at incremental levels, placing pressure on players to “chip up” to remain in the tourney. Players who cannot do so are are eliminated.
Some poker tournaments allow players to purchase additional chips (or re-buy) to stay in the game. A re-buy may be needed if a player loses all their chips (busts out), with some tourneys allowing the purchase of addition chips (add-on) if a players stack is low. Once again, this is why it’s important to read and understand a tourney’s rules before signing up.

Choosing the Best Game

As mentioned above, poker tournaments game choice and rules will vary. It’s important that players consider which game they like, and which game they feel they are strongest at, in order to ensure the best poker tournament results. However, there are other elements involved which are also significant when it comes to selecting a proper tourney, and some tips and advice will do well to help bettors find the ideal game.If a physical casino isn’t nearby (or if nearby casinos don’t hold poker tournaments regularly) then players can visit a poker website (where legal). There are a number of reputable and reliable online poker sites out there, but it’s strongly recommended that bettors stick to the sites that are licensed, most popular, and the favorites of other players

Strategies

Whether you play poker tournaments for $5 or $5,000, you want to run deep and get into the payout pool. After all, winning money is always more enjoyable than losing.  To help you maximize your potential of cashing in at your next poker tournament, we’ve put together 4 surefire strategies to use the next time you sit down at the felt, or you can check out this in-depth poker tournament strategy guide.

Be Aggressive, but Patient: No, this point doesn’t contradict itself. Being patient and “grinding it out” at any tournament is important to your success. But you can’t sit and wait to play only the most premium hands. Experienced competitors will quickly see through this strategy and it’s a great way to out-last many players while failing to make the money line. Instead, play your premium hands strongly while picking and choosing spots to play less premium hands just as strongly. This will keep opponents off guard while helping you rake in more pots.Defend Your Big Blind: Defend about 40% of your big blinds by either calling reasonable raises or 3-betting it yourself. Look for playable hands like suited connectors (even small ones) to play just like more premium hands when deciding which big blinds to defend or 3-bet.  Pre-flop bet them the same way you’d bet Ace/King suited and keep your position of strength rather than folding off your big blinds when facing strong pre-flop raises.

Avoid Continuation Betting Every Hand: It’s easy to fall into the trap of continuation bets every time you’ve jumped into a hand with a 3-bet or larger before the flop. However, by placing a continuation bet after every flop you see, your opponents will start to see a pattern that they can later exploit.  Cycle your continuation bets post-flop throughout poker tournaments regardless of if you’ve hit the flop or not. This keeps opponents off balance and unsure of the strength of your hand. It will lead to more calls when you’re strong and fewer bets into you when you’d like to see another card for free.

Plan Ahead for Future Streets: This doesn’t mean that you need to plan ahead for every possible scenario. But be ready for a strategy to employ when 4th and 5th streets hit so that you don’t tip off your strength or weakness when the cards land.  Top level pros know how to effectively do this, so it’s time to start practicing yourself.

Hopefully, this information and the tips we included will help you run deeper into poker tournaments and earn more payouts!