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Poker Tournaments differ from Cash games Part II

Back to Tournaments differ from Cash games - part I

Blinds are Important

As intimated by the last section the ability to pick up the blinds is very important in the later stages of a tournament.  This is a much less important part of a balanced cash game strategy, where blinds are usually a much smaller percentage of players stack sizes.  Especially in tournaments with antes you absolutely must get your share of blinds and antes to compete and maintain your stack size. 

When table conditions are favorable you should be routinely stealing the blinds by making regular pre-flop raises.  Try to find the smallest raise possible that players will fold their blinds to.  If players will routinely fold their blinds to minimum raises of 2x the big blind then this is the raise you should usually make.  Usually it will take somewhere around 3x the big blind to consistently win the blinds and this is a good starting point.  In tournaments where the average blind to stack ratio is higher you can often get by with smaller raises, as even these smaller raises will constitute a large portion of players stacks.  If the stacks are large compared to the blinds then you will usually have to raise slightly more to not get played with (although you may want to make small raises for other reasons).

Pay close attention to the players at the table and how often they are relinquishing their blinds.  Some players regularly defend with anything at all playable and you do not want to raise these players blinds without a solid holding.  Others will not play unless they have a solid holding and these are the ones to target with blind steal attempts.  Also pay attention to how many chips the player in the big blind has left.  Extremely short stacks will be ready to gamble and may make a stand.  Other large stacks may call due to the high implied odds available to them.  The most attractive target for a blind steal is the medium stack.  They have the most to lose by calling or playing back.  They will not have the same implied odds that the other large stacks will have.  A raise will be enough to hurt them, but they still have enough chips to not be desperate.  Pay attention and chip, chip, chip away at the blinds whenever possible.
 
You Must be willing to Gamble

In cash games there is no rush to get the money.  The blinds are relatively small compared to the stacks.  You have as long as you need to find, and set up profitable situations.  In tournaments this approach will leave you short stacked with rising blinds and little chance to win.  You cannot play a style that will regularly leave you short stacked with the bubble approaching.  Just one tournament win or high finish will pay much more than a number of times barely cashing and then busting out.

Making the money simply cannot be your goal if you want to approach tournament poker with the right mindset.  This approach will always leave you short stacked and unable to use all of your poker tools.  You must look for opportunities to build your chips and sometimes you must be willing to gamble to do so.  Even in the best scenarios the blinds will get very large compared to the average stack and this is no time to go into a shell and try to simply survive.  You cannot let yourself get in situations where even doubling up will not help your cause very much.

This does not mean to be recklessly pouring your chips into every pot that you have a chance to win.  It does mean that you will have to take some calculated risks if you want to excel at tournament poker.  Once you have a large stack there is a lot less necessity to gamble.  Poker, and tournament poker in particular, simply must be approached with no fear.  The big money is at the final table, and simply cashing in tournaments regularly is not enough to ensure profitability.

Final Thoughts

Tournament poker is a different animal from it’s closely related relative the cash game.  Although much of the skill set is transferable, adjustments need to be made to be successful.  In particular players must focus on how the structure of the tournament affects proper play.  Players also must learn how not only their, but their opponents stack size influences decisions.  Something that may be right in a cash game, or deep stacked tournament situation, may be very wrong when a player finds herself short stacked.  The blinds in tournaments are much larger in proportion to players overall stack size.  This makes stealing them much more appealing and it is important to get your share of the blind money.  Finally, players must approach tournaments with the proper mind set.  Squeaking into the money is not enough.  Be willing to take risks to give yourself a chance to make the final table and secure a big payday.  You absolutely cannot play tournament poker afraid of losing.  As the old adage goes “You have to be willing to die to live”.

This is by no means all the adjustments that cash game players need to make to prepare themselves for tournament play.  These are however very important adjustments in your play and mind set that are necessary to truly excel in tournaments.  Think about these suggestions and other ways in which tournaments differ from cash games and you should find more success and final tables as a result.