Poker Strategies

Poker tournaments are not the end of the game for online gamers. Indeed, the biggest tournaments have prize pools of several million dollars and a final table is the ultimate dream of all fans. Tournament play differs greatly from cash game play. On a cash game table, you decide the length of your session while in a tournament, you are dependent on a structure. Here we give you our best tips to optimize your tournament play.

Manage your bankroll well

There is a great temptation at the start of the tournament to play many hands. Indeed, you have several hundred chips and it seems to be appropriate to play aggressively to increase your bankroll. However, the strategy to adopt in tournament differs from that in cash game. Your primary goal in tournament play is to survive. In most tournaments it is not possible to rebuy, so losing your stack means elimination. It is therefore imperative to know exactly the number of tokens you have at each moment as well as the value of your tokens. In a tournament, the value of your chips varies. The blind level is increasing and the average stack is constantly changing.

Take his time

If the cash game is a free race, the tournament is the poker marathon. Indeed, a big poker tournament can take 4, 5 or 6 hours of your time. There is no point in playing weak or middle hands early in the tournament. You don't yet know the profile of your opponents and there is no point in playing aggressively from the start. We recommend that you play very tight at the start of the game and then relax.

Spend the bubble stress free

The bubble is arguably the most stressful time in the poker tournament. Indeed, this is the moment when players will finally get in the money. When it comes to the bubble, players with a short stack do everything they can not to jump. The passage of the bubble can therefore last several hours. We advise you to play very carefully here if you have a short stack. Conversely, if you have a big stack, now is the time to put pressure on the other players. Players who are in survival mode will not follow you.

Playing intermediate hands

After surviving most of the tournament, it's time to play more aggressively. The intermediate hands that you should play at the start of the tournament are interesting here. If you wait 30 or 40 hands to make a move, you will be missing out on the action. A hand with a high card is therefore a hand to play.

Pray during coin flips

In all tournaments, sooner or later you will end up in a corner flip situation. In this situation, you have 50% to double your stack or be eliminated. It is common to experience one or two coin flips in a tournament. The only thing to do here is to think positive to get the right card. In case of loss, all you have to do is leave with dignity.