Multi Table Tournament Strategy
Nothing beats the feeling of winning an online, multi table tournament. You sweated, you cursed, you laughed and you bluffed your way all the way to the final table and then you sweated, cursed, laughed and bluffed some more to take the whole thing down! You turned a small entry fee of $40 into a first place finish worth $82,000. Or maybe you turned a $500 entry fee into a $250,000 paycheck.
And do you want to know the most amazing thing off all? This scenario takes place every single day online. Log in to Aced Poker or PDC Poker and click on the "tournaments" tab if you don't believe me. Hundreds of thousands of dollars (and sometimes millions) are won by tournament players online every day.
But just because it happens every day doesn't mean it's easy. Multi-table tournaments (MTTs from now on) require incredible patience and diligence. You have to be patient during the tournament and you also have to be patient between first place finishes. Unfortunately, big wins don't come every day for the individual poker player.
Early Stage MTT Strategy
The early stages of an MTT are just crazy. None of the action junkies have been knocked out yet so they are all out in full force making crazy moves, building huge stacks and losing big stacks.During this stage you'll be sorely tempted to join in on the action but you actually need to play extra tight here.
The blinds aren't worth stealing and bluffs rarely work so you need to wait for solid hands before getting involved in anything. Every bet you make in the early stages of an MTT should be for value, not deception.
Middle Stage MTT Strategy
During the middle stages, things start to settle down and you can play a little more poker. Pay close attention to your opponents and look for weaknesses. If the people to your left are tight-wads you can start stealing some blinds. If you have a bunch of calling stations at the table, play tight and punish them with strong hands.
Keep a close eye on the size of your stack in relation to the blinds. If the big blind becomes 10% the size of your stack or bigger, you need to start making some moves. Wait for it to fold around to you and push all-in with a couple of decent cards. You really need to steal some blinds or catch a lucky break here. If the big blind is still small compared to your stack, you can afford to wait for stronger hands.
Late Stage MTT Strategy
The late stage of an MTT is marked by the unmistakable stench of desperation. Blinds are getting huge and people are getting nervous. All-in raises before the flop are just as common as normal raises. At this point your number one goal is stack building.
Look for players who have average sized stacks and steal their blinds. These guys aren't desperate enough to call, but their stacks aren't big enough to call in the hopes of breaking you.When the bubble approaches the tournament will grow tighter as everyone waits for someone else to bust out first. During this time it is vital that you become active and steal as many blinds as you can.
Tournament Bubble Play
The bubble is your greatest opportunity to get chips during the entire tournament. Use it well.With a little work and maybe some luck on the way, you'll enter the money with a big stack and a good shot at winning the whole thing. Good luck!
