HOMEPAGE   >> Free Demo
  >> How it looks
  >> How it works
  >> more...

ONLINE POKER  >> Basic strategy
 >> Poker reviews

STRATEGY  >> General strategy
 >> Texas Holdem
 >> Omaha
 >> 7 Stud
 >> Betting rounds
 >> Tournaments
 >> First 2 cards
 >> more...

The Bluff   >> Bluffing
  >> Higher Limits
  >> Semi bluffing

CONTACT   German poker
  Poker auf deutsch
  French poker
  Poker en ligne
  Gluecksspiele
  Poker & Casino
  Casino en ligne
  Poker online
  Online Poker

ONLINE POKER: Prize Pool Considerations in Poker Tournaments

Most literature involving poker tournaments focuses on how to better your play.  The goal of the article or book is to help players to make more final tables and win more tournaments.  There is much less information regarding how to handle yourself once you have reached the final table and there are major pay increases as players are eliminated.  Many players make major errors when they are fortunate enough to reach this stage of a tournament and cost themselves significant equity.

Another seldom discussed aspect of tournament poker is deal making.  In the late stages of a tournament when there are few players remaining it is common for the players to make a deal for either a portion of the prize money or all of the funds.  When the blinds are high, relative to the stack size, it is often a good idea to make some sort of a deal to lower your exposure to the whims of fate. 

Moving up the Pay Ladder

In almost every tournament you play there will be significant errors made regarding how players handle the increases in pay.  Some of your opponents will sacrifice way too much chip value to ensure a higher pay position while others will throw caution completely to the wind and recklessly be eliminated allowing a player with barely enough chips to post a blind to move into a higher paying position.  It is imperative that you do not make either of these mistakes and also that you learn to exploit your opponents who routinely exhibit these tendencies.

Before I go any further I should state that people play tournament poker for different reasons.  If your only goal when entering a poker tournament is to try to win it outright then this advice will not be applicable.  This advice is meant to help players maximize their expectation.  If for personal or other (perhaps potential endorsement money for winning a WPT or WSOP event) your only goal is to win the tournament outright then you will not find this article helpful.  In this situation you should approach the final table much as you would a cash game and specifically not go out of your way to avoid risks.

Now that we covered that rare exception, we can cover how you can increase your earn in poker tournaments.  There is no way to cover all of the possible scenarios that will present themselves regarding moving up the pay ladder because there are simply too many variables.  You will need to consider your stack size, your opponents stack sizes (in particular who has the shortest stack and how short it is), how large the prize jump is, and the effect that a win or loss will have on your overall situation. 

Most players will give up too much in these situations and in an effort to lock up a nice payday will severely limit their chances of finishing in the top spots that have the largest prizes.  Early on at the final table the chips you stand to win will often be more important than trying to wait for a short stack to get broke.  The prize jumps are just not large enough to make waiting the short stack out prudent.  Later on at the final table things change somewhat.  To give an extreme example imagine that there are 3 players remaining in a tournament that started with a large field and has a large prize pool.  Two of the players have very large stacks that are essentially equal and the third player has only 1 big blind remaining.  If the player with the short stack folds then the two players with large stacks should proceed very cautiously against each other with anything other than the best hands.  In our example where the difference between 3rd place and 2nd place prize money is significant it would be foolhardy for either of them to jeopardize an almost certain significant prize increase with less than a major advantage over the other player.

While that scenario is fairly straightforward there are many more subtle scenarios that present themselves at every final table.  Striking the proper balance between accumulating chips and moving up the prize ladder is a very important tournament skill.  When one player is left with only a few blinds many of the remaining players, especially those who are also short on chips but not quite as short as the short stack, will try to wait for that player to be eliminated before they play against each other.  Depending on how large the prize jump is and exactly how large or short your stack is this can be a good or bad strategy.  If you happen to have a large stack this is a perfect opportunity to put a lot of pressure on your opponents blinds.  Focus your efforts on those opponents with medium sized stacks as they have the most to lose.  The shorter the short stack is the more aggressive you can be.  No one want to be eliminated when someone else is on life support.

Not only must your opponents be careful in this scenario but it often will make sense for you to be cautious as well.  Players tend to be too cautious in these scenarios however and how much you should be willing to give up is difficult to quantify.  If you are the second shortest stack, but significantly larger  than the short stack, then you will have to make a judgment call.  Weigh how much a double up will benefit you, how large the blinds are, and how significant a bump in the prize money is to reach the correct decision.  Whether or not to play a hand like AQ for all your chips can be very tricky in these scenarios.

There are countless scenarios that can come up where you must decide between attempting to accumulate chips or waiting for someone else to be eliminated and ensuring a larger pay day.  There is no simple formula and making the right decisions will be difficult.  If you want to have the best possible chance to finish in the top spots then you will need to take some risks and not be overly concerned with inching your way up the prize ladder.  That said, you also cannot throw caution to the wind at every opportunity and give up too much equity when a player is going to go broke imminently.  Striking this balance is key to maximizing you expectation in poker tournaments.

The good news is your opponents will be struggling with the same decisions.  If you are one of the larger stacks this creates a great opportunity for you to accumulate chips.  Medium stacks are not going to want to risk getting broke when there is a significant prize jump in their near future.  Use this to your advantage by stealing their blinds unmercifully.  The psychological aspect of you being able to knock them out but the opposite not being true works in your favor.  Put constant pressure on them and build your stack with little risk.

Prize Pool Considerations in Poker Tournaments - part II