Top 10 MTT Tips
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MTT Tips #1: Understanding the Goal
First and foremost, if you aren’t familiar with poker tournament play, be careful not to play it like a cash game. The goal is completely different. You can’t win a few big pots and walk away with your profit. You have to outlast everyone in a multi-table tournament, claiming every last chip to win.
MTT Tips #2: Eye the Table, Not the Field
Don’t look at the entire field or your head will start swimming. Focus on the table before you. So what if there are hundreds or thousands of people competing; it’s only those seated around you that you have to beat.
MTT Tips #3: Be Aware of Your Position
Position is very important. When you are in early position, a good hand is worth nothing. Only a premium starter will get you anywhere. If you’re one of the first three players to act, just fold. Unless you’re prepare to risk a lot of chips, maybe even your entire stack, on your hand - don’t bother. In late position, you get to read everyone before you act, so a good hand becomes great when no one before you has shown significant strength in their own holdings.
MTT Tips #4: In the Beginning
When the multi-table tournament starts, don’t do anything! Fold, fold again and fold some more. The fish are going to commit tournament suicide right now and if you don’t want to be taken with them, don’t invest in anything. Size up your opponents and keep your stack safely tucked under your arm for the time being. Don’t even bother stealing blinds - they aren’t worth it yet.
MTT Tips #5: Aim for the Bubble
As the fish get swallowed up, things will calm down. Players will tighten up and hands will play out more routinely. Those who doubled up through the fish, as well as the lucky fish who doubled up through players who had no business staying in the pot, will be betting liberally to intimidate everyone else. Play a very tight game and only play great hands you know you can win. You won’t win often, but when you do it will make up for the slow leak of posting blinds. Maintain this multi-table tournament strategy all the way to the bubble. If the top 250 get paid, your goal is to finish in 250th position. Once there are 250 players left, you are guaranteed to cash.
MTT Tips #6: Making the Final Table
You made the bubble - great job! Now your priority changes to making the final table. You need to mix things up, playing a bit more aggressively. Blinds are getting higher, so you need to win hands more frequently to keep your stack on the upswing. You’ve spent quite awhile reading your opponents now - use that knowledge to scoop chips out of their stack whenever an opportunity presents itself.
MTT Tips #7: Go for Gold
If you’re seated at the final table of a large multi-table tournament, you’re already a big winner. Congratulations! That’s no easy feat, and something a few hundred or thousand players just failed to accomplish. Now it’s time to shoot for #1. Mix things up constantly. Don’t let yourself be pegged as a specific player type. If they can’t read you, they can’t outwit you. All of their strategies go out the window and only their cards can beat you now. In turn, read and destroy your opponents through mental warfare. Take risks when you think you have the best hand, or think you can get your opponent to fold. Remember that if you don’t make 1st place, you’ve already guaranteed a tidy profit. It’s all surplus from here.
MTT Tips #8: When to Steal Blinds
Don’t bother trying to steal blinds early on. They aren’t worth it yet. About halfway into the field, the blinds get substantially larger, making them a worthy scoop when the chance to steal comes along.
MTT Tips #9: Speed Tournaments
If you can’t bear the lengthy process of a standard multi-table tournament, try playing speed tournaments like Turbo and Lighting Tourneys. The blinds increase much faster. There are even Kamikaze Tournaments where everyone is forced all-in on every hand until one player wins it all. A few thousands players, a few minutes of play, now that’s a speed tournament!
MTT Tips #10: Satellites and Qualifiers
Don’t overlook satellites and qualifiers in your multi-table tournament play. These tourneys will award seats in bigger events, sometimes major live poker events like the WSOP. When you play these, be sure you know the prize structure. If a satellite awards seats in the bigger tourney to the top 100 finishers, all you need to do is finish in 100th. Finishing 50th or 1st won’t make a different. In qualifiers, it may be only the 1st place winner, or maybe top 5 or 10 that get the big prize package. Know the goal and keep your sights on it at all times.
