Phil Hellmuth Poker Tournament Strategy – The Middle Stages. Stealing Blinds: When the antes begin there is a better mathematical argument for stealing the blinds from late position. The amount you win with the addition of the antes means that your risk / reward ratio is better. In addition to what Fabio Cunha mentioned, you have to keep in mind your chip stack relative to the blinds and antes but also the chip stacks of the people acting behind you.

During the late stages your strategy is going to depend on several things. Things like your (effective) stack sizes, your position in relation to certain opponents and your stack size in relation to the other stacks. You need to pay attention to all of this. It's going to affect your opening/stealing strategy, as well as who you can lean on. POKER TOURNAMENT.JPG. Chips line the check-in table at The Showdown at the Sands, a $1 million poker tournament, Friday, Nov. 21, 2003, at the Sands Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J. The late stage is all about aggression, and you will need to pick on medium stacks being held by tight players. This is the best strategy to use during the late stages of a poker tournament. Alternatively, you can gamble with short stacks that will be forced to make a desperate all-in.

The different participants of multi-table poker tournaments may find it somehow helpful to play very tight during the early stages. This will help them build a good reputation as a solid and respectable poker player. As they move past this stage, loosening up those once tight hands would once again be helpful for all the players out there. Upon reaching the latter stages, being extremely aggressive is a very good and productive strategy that players can use.

Playing it hard is probably one of the most effective strategies that can be used in the later stages of multi-table poker tournaments. Many poker experts believe that this aggressiveness is one of the key towards reaching more wins. Assuming that a great deal of chips has been stacked by the players at this point of the tournaments, betting aggressively is indeed a very intimidating strategy.

Pushing all-in is not a bad strategy either at the late stages of these exciting tournaments. After surviving the early and middle stages, this is the perfect time for all the players out there to use the reputation which they have built in the previous two stages as really strong and tight players. Betting all-in and playing it hard is definitely a good strategy in these kinds of situations. Furthermore, opponents are surely going to be intimidated with the amount of bets that have been put up.

Aggressiveness will most probably pay off in the latter stages of tournaments. With the blind bets at their highest levels, each and every move would definitely be crucial. And when players arrive at this point of the game, they should give their all to fulfill their quest of winning the game. Pretty weak players would definitely falter. Only the strong and tough ones are going to survive and eventually win these tournaments.

Despite having marginal hands, players should definitely fight and play whatever they have as the tournaments slowly come to an exciting close. Pushing all in would definitely intimidate all the opposition in an instant. This is a key strategy that players need to employ specifically at the later stages of the tournaments. Try and see how this aggressive strategy towards the end would help win that illustrious pot.

If marginal hands are to be played at the latter stages of multi-table poker tournaments, what more if players do have really strong hands? Folding is for the weak and is really not an option in these kinds of situations. Just imagine how great the odds are that the opponents would get much inferior hands. Playing it hard is undoubtedly one of the best strategies that players can employ at this point in time. Chances are players with really strong hands will eventually win the last few games especially if they play such good hands aggressively.

Close Out the Win with Late Stage Tournament Strategy

Poker Tournament Late Stage Strategy 2020

Written by Haunted Poker for exclusive use.

Poker Tournament Late Stage Strategy 2019

First of all, congratulations on making it to this point in the tournament. You’ve outlasted a good number of opponents, and you’re in the money. At this point, you need to make a push for the final table and eventually first prize. What you do at this point will largely depend on the size of your chip stack in comparison to the blinds, and the type of players at your table. Generally, you should take advantage of your chip lead by putting pressure on the short stacks and if you are the short stack, you should be looking for the best opportunity to shove it all in.
As the tournament winds down and players fight for higher positions in the payout ladder, the blinds usually become astronomical. Not only is this the case with small-stakes online poker tournaments, but it is becoming increasingly standard in casino events as well. This low number of chips in play in relation to the size of the blinds increases the luck element of the game, as it forces players to gamble on hands that they wouldn’t normally incorporate into their strategy.
At all times, you should be aware of how many rounds of blinds you’ll be to able play before you go broke. If you have 4,000 chips left and the blinds are 500/1,000 you’re in a dangerous situation. You can only play 2 or 3 more rounds without improving your chip count. Whenever you’re down to 5 or 6 or less times the big blind, you should be looking for opportunities to go all-in.
You can’t wait much longer for a couple of reasons. Firstly, you want to have enough left to put pressure on your opponents with your all-in. If they all fold to you preflop, you’ve bought yourself another round of play. Secondly, if you just call, you won’t have much left on the flop and you’ll be faced with a tough decision if you don’t connect. Since you’ll already be committed to the pot, save yourself the trouble and go all-in – you won’t have to make any more decisions in the hand. Hands you should consider going all-in with include any pocket pair, a decent Ace, King, or two face cards. Even suited connectors aren’t big underdogs to overcards, so consider making a move. The key is to be aggressive and put pressure on the rest of the table when you’re the short stack.
However, what if you find yourself in the fortunate position of being the chip leader or one of the bigger stacks left in the tourney? You shouldn’t sit back and rely on those chips to coast you to the final table. You’re playing to win, so keep building your stack and allow yourself to remain aggressive. Because you have so many chips, you can afford to gamble a bit with some of the shorter stacks. In tournaments, drawing to straights and flushes too often usually spells disaster. However, I recommend that you bet aggressively when you pick up a draw as a chip leader. If you’re heads-up on the flop and you greatly outnumber your opponent in chips, consider putting him all in with middle pair or a draw. He’ll have to have a very strong hand to risk his tournament life, and most of the time you’ll pick up the pot with your large bet.
Also, you can call all-in gambles from short stacks if you have any pocket pair and you suspect they have something like A-K. You can afford to lose those coin-flip hands, but you’ll be in great position if you come out ahead. The worst thing you can do with a chip lead is to sit on it and allow the blinds to peck away at you. Maintain your lead and at least pick up the blinds every round if possible.
As you work your way to the final table, play usually becomes increasingly sophisticated and tight. If the rest of the table won’t put any chips into the pot and everyone is too timid to risk going out before the final table, punish them. Throw in big raises preflop against weak opponents until someone fights back. Reaching the final table is an imaginary boundary, and since you’re playing to win the whole thing why not exploit their timid play and pick up a few extra blinds?
Once you do reach the final table, you can probably advance a few places just by allowing the maniacs to do their bidding. Many players are content with their final table finish, and will get “chip happy” for a couple of rounds. As the table becomes shorthanded, you should realize that starting hands go way up in value, and you’ll need to play your opponents more than your cards. With less opponents left at the table, the blinds will be coming around much faster.
Now more than ever, you’ll need to open up your play, steal the blinds at opportune times, and look for weaknesses in your opponents. You might consider slowplaying your monster hands, as it is more unlikely that you will be outdrawn in shorthanded play. Study your opponents and the cards they show since you’ll be seeing them in almost every pot. Finally, if you make it to heads-up play, you’ll have to stay aggressive and raise most hands from the small blind to take control. Don’t be afraid to get all your chips in the pot with any Ace, a decent King, face cards, or any pocket pair. The end of the tournament is all about maintaining your chip lead and taking risks when you need to. Exploit a tight table, wait for stronger cards at a looser table, and never reserve yourself to anything less than first prize. My my, you didn’t think that vampires could be so competitive, did you?