Poker Tournament Tips From The Pros

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We’ve all seen those magical moments on TV when a lucky player watches the final card fall in their favor to clinch a poker tournament win, from the iconic image of Phil Hellmuth pumping his fists to the heavens after winning the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event to Antonio Esfandiari bagging the largest prize in poker history of $18 million at the 2012 WSOP Big One for One Drop.

Scroll through enough poker tournament coverage on YouTube, and you’ll see the same sort of scene play out time and time again.

Related article: Why I Love/Hate Tournament Poker. This is the point where you can end up winning some money, so stay alive and try to move on. In bigger tournaments like the WSOP, most players are after being “in the money.” That means they reached the ranking of players who will get paid off by the tournament.

Here are the 4 essential tips for crushing poker tournaments direct from the pros: Steal a lot, use ICM, defend the BB and Mastermind. 15 Top MTT Strategy Tips from the Pros Dominik Nitsche, Chris Moorman and Martin Jacobson are some of the best players in the world when it comes to multi-table tournaments. They are the kind of players you can only hope won’t be seated on your left when playing live poker.

Two exhausted opponents squaring off from across the green felted table. A pile of chips in the middle of the pot, surrounded by stacks and stacks of cash. And soon enough, one player celebrating in ecstasy when the river card delivers a hard-earned victory.

Winning a poker tournament is an undeniably special moment.

But for all the gold and glory that triumph in the tournament arena can offer, the real reward comes from knowing exactly how hard accomplishing this feat truly is. Simply put, winning a poker tournament outright — or even chopping the prize pool up through a final table deal — represents one of the most difficult tasks in competitive gaming.

As the game of No Limit Texas Hold’em becomes increasingly close to “solved” status thanks to math genius whiz kids aided by computer algorithms and innate talent, the gap between us “Regular Joes” and the top pros grows wider by the day.

Throw in the proliferation of reentry or rebuy tournaments, which allow those with a bigger bankroll to fire multiple buy-in “bullets” in hopes of spinning up a big stack, and scoring a win as a recreational player has never been harder than it is today.

Nonetheless, tens of thousands of hopefuls still show up at the WSOP in Las Vegas each and every summer, all of them looking to buck the odds and bring a gold bracelet home.

Then there’s the World Poker Tour (WPT), the WSOP Circuit, the Mid-Stakes Poker Tour (MSPT), the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT), and countless other “mid-major” tournament circuits currently crisscrossing the nation.

When daily and nightly tournaments hosted by local casinos and card clubs are added into the mix, poker players have a seemingly endless lineup of opportunities awaiting them.

But an opportunity is far from an actual triumph, a rude awakening most poker enthusiasts come to discover soon after hitting the tourney trail. While the more experienced and skilled players make trips to the winner’s circle look routine, the rest of us are forced to settle for minimum cashes if we’re lucky and busting out before the money bubble when we’re not.

It doesn’t have to be that way forever, though, as tournament poker — for all of its innate difficulty when it comes to sustaining success — is still a purely egalitarian game. Top pros like Hellmuth and Esfandiari may be stars today, but they had to start at the bottom of the ladder like everyone else.

Their trick, however, is knowing how to climb that ladder.

Steadily expanding their knowledge and experience until finally achieving that fateful breakthrough in a big moment.

That effort entails:

  • Diligent study
  • Patience
  • Practice
  • Commitment to put the work in.

To help you climb your own personal poker ladder, check out the list below to find 101 hours every aspiring poker player should put in if winning a tournament is the top priority.

Hours 0-20: Enroll in a Few of the Best Poker Training Courses

Over the last decade or so, many of the game’s elite talents have transitioned from full-time play on the felt to the poker instruction industry.

And that’s been quite the boon for recreational players looking to take their game to the next level.

By enrolling in a few of the leading poker tournament instructional programs on the market, you can gain direct access to cutting-edge game theory provided by top pros turned coaches.

Take the Run It Once course as the perfect example. Launched in 2012 by high-stakes online legend and three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Galfond, the Run It Once concept is deceptively simple. Based on the pricing tier you decide on, you’ll be able to view any of the 2,400 video tutorials created by the Run It Once coaching stable.

That stable isn’t filled with slouches, either, so along with Galfond’s wisdom, Run It Once students can learn directly from tournament legends like Fedor Holz, Brian Rast, and Jason Koon.

That trio alone has pocketed more than $80 million in live tournament earnings between them, which should give you a sense of the skills they impart as Run It Once instructors.

Another great tournament course to consider is Upswing Poker, a product of three-time WSOP winner Doug Polk and fellow pro Ryan Fee. Shortly after launching Upswing Poker, Polk and Fee proved their bona fides on the felt by capturing the crown in the 2016 WSOP’s first-ever Tag Team tournament — so their students are in good hands.

Upswing Poker focuses more on tournament play, developing intricate “Push/Fold” charts to help players pinpoint exactly when to go for it on a short stack.

Let’s say you have exactly nine big blinds and a hand like K-7 suited in late position. Your instincts might be crying out to fold and live to fight another day, but according to the complex statistical analysis that went into Upswing Poker’s Push/Fold charts, this situation represents a clear shoving spot.

You’ll find plenty of variety out there when it comes to tournament instruction, including programs like Advanced Poker Training, Tournament Poker Edge, and Red Chip Poker, but they all share one goal in common — incremental improvement.

In exchange for a small monthly subscription fee, usually priced between $30 and $100 depending on the tier, anybody can learn directly from a group of poker’s most accomplished pros.

Get yourself enrolled in one or more of these courses today before devoting at least 20 hours to studying the ins and outs of advanced tournament theory.

Hours 20-50: Practice Makes Perfect, So Hit the Virtual Felt

Once you’ve wrapped up an instructional course like Run It Once or Upswing Poker, you’ll find yourself brimming with new knowledge.

Crucial concepts pertaining to every aspect of the game have just penetrated your consciousness, but until you put those ideas into practice, the information doesn’t do you much good.

To solve that dilemma, fire up your favorite online poker platform and begin a training regimen designed to test your newfound skills. Your personal bankroll limitations may vary, but it’s best to roll with a small buy-in stake for the sake of this exercise, as volume will be the name of the game.

Perhaps you prefer $11 multitable tournaments on Bovada. In this case, your goal should be to play as many of these games as you can find on the schedule during a given day. From there, enter as many events as you can and set to work applying the lessons you just spent 20 hours learning.

Now, the goal of poker is always to win, but for these 30 hours or so, focus more on exploring how the pro’s teachings really work in the real world.

If you’ve been studying Push/Fold charts on Upswing Poker, have those handy while you play and identify spots where the short-stack theories can be put into action. And don’t hold back, either. Trust the instruction and make the proper plays as you’ve been taught — even if they don’t feel proper in the moment.

You might be attached to a particular tourney after putting in a few hours behind the mouse, but the aim here isn’t to go deep in a single event; it’s to put yourself in position to make deep runs routinely.

That means being bold when an opportunity to try new things comes around.

Such as shoving an average stack from the button holding a marginal hand.

As you progress through this 30-hour practice challenge, keep detailed records of your progress both on the micro and macro levels. Data like hours played, buy-ins made, and cash won is always useful, but be mindful to track things like how often certain advanced plays worked out (and why they did or didn’t).

In the end, you might find your bankroll has swung up or down by a few bucks, but that isn’t really the point. What you’re really looking for here is to acclimate yourself to a new style of play, integrating the lessons learned in your training course until they become a seamless aspect of your playing style.

Hours 50-75: Watch and Learn From the Best

Poker instruction courses are all the rage lately, but there’s another way to observe and learn from better players — live streaming sites.

These days, a site like Twitch, which allows gamers to stream their progress to worldwide audiences in real-time, is an essential resource for aspiring tournament players. Just fire up Twitch and search for poker streamers to get an up close and personal glimpse into how winning players really approach each and every hand that comes their way.

A good example is Lex Veldhuis. Known as one of the original high-stakes beasts, Lex Veldhuis has been a member of Team PokerStars for several years running.

After turning to live streaming in recent years, Veldhuis has emerged as one of the industry’s most popular figures, with his Twitch channel attracting more than 100,000 loyal subscribers and counting.

And while this clip was from a larger buy-in event like the $215 Sunday Million, Veldhuis is happy to grind it out playing at all stakes.

By observing how a top pro like Veldhuis solves the various poker puzzles that a long tournament run brings his way, you can absorb all of that knowledge straight from the source.

And there will be plenty of knowledge to digest, as the loquacious Veldhuis isn’t shy about explaining every facet of a close decision to his rabid fan base.

Other top tournament streamers out there include the following star-studded list:

  • Randy Lew — “nanonoko”
  • Parker Talbot — “TonkaaaaP”
  • Jamie Staples — “PokerStaples”
  • Jason Somerville — “JCarver”
  • Courtney Gee — “courtiebee”

Get yourself on Twitch and subscribe to some, or all, of the live streaming celebrities listed above, and you won’t be sorry.

Hours 75-101: Get in the Game and Go for the Win

You’ve devoured hours of instruction from acclaimed pros. You’ve grinded through a seemingly endless lineup of practice tournaments designed to test your mettle. And you’ve sat back as a spectator while somebody like Veldhuis lets you in on his every last secret.

Now the time has come to finish this 101-hour journey off in style by winning your first poker tournament.

To make that dream a reality, you’ll need to get in the game, which means identifying the best live tournaments hosted in your local area. Hopefully you have access to a nearby commercial or tribal casino where daily and nightly tournaments can be found on the regular.

If so, head there early and often, playing as many events as your bankroll will allow until securing your first-ever first-place finish.

But even if you’re stuck in the proverbial poker desert, with no casinos or card rooms in the vicinity, you can still hunt down that most elusive of play.

Tournament circuits like the ones listed in the introduction are constantly traveling from coast to coast and all points in between. Sort through the tours’ current schedule and find a stop within manageable driving or flying distance, then save up a little dough to make the trip happen.

The best part about attending a poker tournament circuit stop is that you won’t be in danger of a “one and done” experience. While daily and nightly tourneys are great to have around, as their name implies, you’ll only get one chance to win on any given day.

But if you hit something like the WSOP Circuit or Mid-Stakes Poker Tour, their respective schedules offer a long lineup of events to choose from over the course of 1-2 weeks. You’ll find everything from low-level $250 buy-in tournaments to the $1,700 Main Event, along with satellite qualifiers to help you get into the bigger events on the cheap.

However you choose to approach this final piece of the puzzle, be sure to take a page out of every poker pro’s book and really go all-in.

Focus on every hand you play from preflop action to the final call or fold. Evaluate your opponents’ play and target the weak while avoiding damage from the strong.

Apply every last lesson learned over the last 100 hours, and in the end, you’ll be spending Hour #101 posing for a winner’s photo and happily counting your cash.

Conclusion

The 101-hour path to poker tournament success isn’t set in stone, so by all means, feel free to adjust the schedule as you see fit. The real objective here is to show you exactly how much work really goes into those winning moments captured on TV coverage over the years.

Sure, a “luckbox” will stumble their way into an occasional win here and there — that’s just how poker works in the short-term.

But if you want to make winner photos and trophies a consistent part of your poker life, devoting a few hours every day to achieving your goals presents the most effective path.

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Everyday players are sitting down at the tables and consistently making fundamental mistakes because of lack of knowledge, misinformation or failing to maintain focus.

Even just a small strategical adjustment in poker can potentially save you a huge amount in the long run.

In this article we will point out some of the best live and online poker tournament strategy tips you can use to improve your game as quickly as possible.

Tip 1: Play The Right Starting Hands

Whether it be lack of patience, or an unfamiliarity with opening ranges, many tournament poker players still open too wide. This is especially true when it comes to early and middle position opens, where there are still many opponents left to act behind who can be dealt a strong hand.

The problem is when called, wide openers are often at a range disadvantage. Often being dominated by their opponents, they are vulnerable to 3 bets since they frequently won't have a holding strong enough to continue under pressure.

Furthermore, although opening a hand like 7 ♠ 5♠ might at times not be a terrible strategy from early or middle position, speculative hands like suited connectors and gappers, as well as small pairs, work best with deep stacks behind.

These speculative hand types infrequently connect strongly with the flop, so those times they do you want to have deep stakes behind to have the potential to win a huge pot. Modern day tournament structures often only see deep stack play occur during the first few levels of play. This leads us into the next tournament poker tip, being stack size aware.

Learn which hands to open raise in MTT's - Watch lesson 6.1 from the Road to Success MTT Course. A power-packed 50 minute video below, just use one of the button options to unlock it and get instant access.

Tip 2: Be Stack Size Aware

Effective stack size plays a critical role in a tournament players success.

Having a deep stack, and therefore expanding an opening range to include a lot of speculative suited hands and small pairs is a tournament strategy that is going to be punished if a number of short stacks are yet to act behind. This most notably occurs in turbo tournaments where the average stack size is quite short.

Short stacks will be in push-or-fold mode. Being short, they don't have time to wait and will be looking to take any opportunity they can to move all-in. This high rate of all-ins will leave wide openers frequently being forced to relinquish their hands, without even having the opportunity to try to hit a nice flop. Problematic hands often include; J8s , KTo and weak Ax hands.

It's not just short-stacks that can cause a problem, aggressive players will be looking to attack wide-openers. This is especially true when a player opens with a vulnerable M8-M14 (20bb-35bb) stack. 3 bets get good leverage against this stack size, since continuing in the pot represents committing a significant portion of a players stack.

Wide openers would be wise not to commit a large percentage of their stack with marginal holdings, and so will be forced to fold, or face being in a high-risk situation. Staying aware of your own stacks utility, as well as anticipating how opponents will utilize their stacks, is an important tournament poker tip to keep in mind.

POKER TIP: If you are currently using BB to calculate stack size, here's a look at why using 'M' is a better MTT strategy.

Tip 3: Be Careful Overplaying In The Early Stages

As a stack gets deeper, the less willing a competent player will be to put their entire stack at risk since they have more to lose. It's rare to see good players all-in during the early stages of a tournament with hands like AKo or JJ preflop.

Poker Tournament Tips From The Pros

Smart players recognize that their counterparts aren't going to be risking their entire stack with weaker hands like AQo . Therefore, even a strong hand like AK could be at a significant equity disadvantage facing a deep stacked opponents all-in range. Could you fold QQ here?

Rather than putting in an extra raise, often times just calling with even very strong hands in the early stage of a poker tournament has great benefits.

  • Allows your opponents to continue with hands they were folding to a re-raise that you have crushed.
  • Disguises the strength of your hand and keeps you unpredictable.
  • Prevents you from getting all-in facing a super strong range where often times you're crushed.

Tip 4: Continuation Bet Aggressively But Not Always

Players have learnt the value of c-betting, but it's a strategy that is often misapplied. Being the preflop aggressor shouldn't lead to a mandatory c-bet and double barrels.

This is especially true in multi-way pots yet players continue to make fruitless c-bets with weak holdings into multiple opponents.

Even in heads-up situations, key factors to consider include;

  • How does the flop texture interact with players ranges?
  • Who has the strongest range?
  • Who has nut advantage (the biggest share of super strong hands)?
  • How passive or aggressive is the opponent we're facing?
  • How does the stack size/SPR allow us to operate on the flop and future streets?

The following hand illustrates the effect nut advantage can have on profitable continuation betting and how it applies to this tournament poker tip:

Tips

Tip 5: Be ICM Aware

The Independent Chip Model or ICM, is a great model players use to make more profitable decisions when deep in a tournament and especially at a final table.

Unlike in cash games, chip values fluctuate depending on the stage of the tournament and the competing opponents stack sizes. At it's most extreme, ICM strategy can make A♠A♣: an easy fold preflop.

Imagine a situation in a satellite where 9 players get a World Series of Poker entry and there's 10 remaining. The action folds around to a player with 100,000 in tournament chips who moves all in from the small blind. You're sitting in the big blind with A♠A♣: and also 100,000 in chips. You look around and see a few opponents with only 1000 chips left, which is the size of the current big blind. Obviously one of these short stacks is likely to bust very soon.

Obviously one of these short stacks is likely to bust very soon. Moreover the chance that they collectively out survive your 100,000 stack is extremely remote. You'd likely be a 99% chance to get a WSOP entry, so why would you call with your A♠A♣ and risk busting next around 20% of the time?

Aside from calling too wide in spots when the most profitable strategy is to proceed tightly, the opposite can also be true when it comes to pressuring your opponents. ICM allows players when they have the opportunity to assert pressure on there opponents stacks, to go ahead and do so liberally, since thinking opponents counter-strategy is to play a tight range of hands.

Here's an example of how drastically a hand range can change when the opportunity to assert pressure at a final table exists. 5 of the 6 remaining players at the Pokerstars Sunday Millions have 15bb's, whilst the UTG player has a short 2bb stack. Since the 15bb stacks wants to avoid busting out next and missing out on a large pay jump before the immanent bust out of the 2bb stack, the small blind can adjust their all-in range. Instead of the profitably 57% all-in range in normal play, they can move all-in with 100% of hands to apply pressure on the big blind.

Whilst the big blind should adjust their calling range from the regular 36% to just 10% of hands to account for the ICM effect in play.

The PokerNerve Road to Success course teaches players how to master ICM situations, which is key to tournament poker success since ICM comes into play as the prizes become significant. If there was only one tournament poker tip that you take away from this article, it's that you need to know ICM!

Tip 6: Bet The Appropriate Size

Strong players are capitalizing on their opponents tendencies to bet too big or too small in a number of different situations. With some similar considerations to that of continuation betting, when selecting a bet size important aspects include;

  • Which player's range does the board texture favor?
  • Who has the greatest nut saturation?
  • How does SPR influence our betting strategy

There are many great articles online about bet sizing. You should be sure to check out ThePokerBank's and the Pokerology's to learn more about this tournament tip.

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Tip 7: Take Equity Realization Into Account

Possibly due to the popularity growth of Twitch, many poker players approach to big blind play has evolved. The current trend is to defend the big blind with virtually any 2 cards, as some top pros elect to do, and the justification for this is taking advantage of the excellent pot odds being offered.

While the inclusion of antes combined with commonly seeing a small open raise size does offer the big blind generous pot odds, this has led to a fundamental flaw in the way many players approach big blind play in poker tournaments. The key concept overlooked, is equity realization.

Equity realization reflects a players ability to take a certain hand, and win their share of the pot, frequently enough, to make it profitable in the long-term. Although some top pros have the ability to win their equity share of the pot even out of position, less skilled players rarely do. This leads to a large chip loss in the long run.

It is quite difficult to realize of your equity when out of position, with no initiative and a weak range. This means them glorious odds you are being offered aren't quite as good as you think!

The following article explains this crucial tournament poker tip in more detail; Equity Realization.

Tip 8: Don't Miss Double And Triple Barrel Opportunities

'One and done' is the plight of many aspiring tournament poker players. Everyday at the tables I see players missing profitable opportunities to double, or even triple barrel. Understanding what turn and river cards are advantageous to a players range, along with opponent tendencies, are crucial parts of a winning barreling formula.

The most common scenario at the table, is a heads-up pot where the big blind calls an open-raise. And this happens to be a great spot to barrel. Big blind defenders have a wide range, and it's important to pressure this wide range, especially on only partially connected board textures with one or multiple high cards.

RedChipPoker has a great article on spotting profitable double barrel opportunities which you can read here: THE +EV DOUBLE BARREL GUIDE

Tip 9: Check-Raise More Flops

The biggest difference between the current tournament population, and the future generation, will likely be their approach to check-raising the flop. This opportunity typically occurs in a heads-up pot, after defending the big blind verse an opponents raise.

Currently, MTT players only check-raise the flop in this situation around 7-8% of the time, when closer to 20% is a more optimal strategy. On certain flop textures, check-raising close to 25% of the time is an extremely profitable strategy. And if players are getting out of line with their c-bets, then check-raising at an even higher frequency could be a profitable exploit.

By giving up too easily on a wide range of board textures, or taking a more passive approach and simply calling, c-betting can be done with reckless abandon. However, by selecting a nice mix of check-raising hands, combining some strong hands with some good semi-bluffing candidates, a check-raiser can become tricky to play against and exploit the average players tendency to over c-bet.

POKER TIP: Applied correctly and check-raising becomes a super powerful weapon in your arsenal leading to more profitable poker results. But also think beyond the flop, there's plenty of check-raising opportunities you may be missing. This video demonstrates an interesting turn check-raise situation.

We discuss check raising strategy in more detail in our post over on unfeltedpoker.com.

Tip 10: Develop A Good 3betting Strategy

Whilst 3 betting aggressively is a strategy many players employ, especially in online poker circles, failure to apply optimal 3 betting strategies has certainly led to a lot of spewy poker. Simply attacking opponents who are suspected of opening wide doesn't cut it in the modern poker world.

Players have learnt to deal with 3 bets more profitably, by mixing in some calls with timely 4 bets. Moreover, the role stack size plays when it comes to 3 betting it still largely misunderstood by much of the poker community.

Sure there are certain stack sizes where 3 bets gain a lot of leverage, but how about the role blockers play? And when is 97 a better 3 bet candidate than KT♠ ? These are just some of the considerations when it comes to a profitable 3 betting strategy. See how to design strong 3betting ranges in this article by Donkr.

Bonus Poker Strategy Tip: Avoid and Deal with Downswings

As a poker player you want to earn your money as easily and as stress-free as possible right? Well, understanding ROI, variance and bankroll management can help (see TopPokerValue's article on bankroll management).

All poker players at some point experience downswings. In some cases, this can affect their play, volume or state of mind.

Poker Tournament Tips From The Prosperity

You'll be miserable, hating poker, playing less and earning less per tournament as your play will suffer.

Along with finding ways that work for you to keep a positive mindset, taking pro-active steps can help keep you confident by knowing you are dealing with the situation like a professional whilst at the same time taking positive action to get back on track and winning.

What is ROI and variance?

Every tournament you enter has an EV associated with it. So if you enter a $10 tourney, as a good player maybe you have a 30% ROI, so you make $3. So it doesn't matter whether you brick that tourney or win it for $5000, you make $3 in the long run.

Now, of course, you don't make $3 each time. 80-85% of the time you lose that $10, some percentage of the time you win a little bit, and some very small percentage of the time you win a lot. How small those ‘small percentages’ are primarily depends on not only your skill edge, but also the field size which is an extremely important concept that is often ignored.

Variance is a factor of two things:

1) Your edge

2) The field size

Example 1)

You play the Hot $55 which has $30K guaranteed, every day for a year on Pokerstars. It has 1600 runners and you have a 5% ROI, because turbo ROIs are small. Your average yearly profit is $605 however you will lose money on the year 55% of the time.

Example 2)

You play a $20 tourney with $3K guaranteed on a softer site every day for a year. It has 200 runners and you have a 30% ROI, because it's a normal speed tourney and you’re against an easier field. Your average yearly profit is $2400 and in this case you lose money only 12% of the time.

A lot of people would look at those two tournaments and make a decision based on the buy-in and 1st place prize money as to which was better to play, and it would be grossly wrong. Once you accept all the above, you realise that the 'up top' number is largely meaningless.

Yes, on the same site bigger fields may mean a lot of fish have registered to play, but you'll find a lot of small field, soft, non-peak hour tournaments have a great pro-to-fish ratio and hence are great value. Of course once you consider other sites that have smaller fields, you'll often find they are a better choice than what might be running on Pokerstars.

So what can you do?

When players start losing money and along with that, confidence, not only does their game deteriorate but they often compound that problem by failing to make rational decisions. Often losing players, or players on a downswing, go 'bink chasing' and decide to take a shot to win all their money back in one tourney. Or load up some quick $82 hyper-turbos to try to turn it all around quickly.

People get overly fixated on what's 'up top' and wanting to score big in one tournament. That’s a sure-fire strategy to fuel a down swing. If your house got knocked down would you try to slap it back up in a week? Take that opportunity to rebuild a better, stronger house.

Make sure you're adding in some study and keep focused (see Sky's Matsuhashi How To Study Poker series), and stay fresh and positive as you approach each session. Be smart and get back into profit quicker instead of enduring a 6-12 month variance rollercoaster!

Closing Words On Tournament Poker Tips

Poker is a multi-faceted game which makes it fun but challenging. Challenge yourself to factor in the relevant concepts, and make more profitable decisions. Tighten up from the big blind, and in general around the table. This tip often quickly improves a new players results, or those that have a got a little sloppy with their play.

Calculate stack size using 'M'. Always be aware of your own, and your opponents stack sizes so you don't get yourself caught in awkward situations. One awkward situation that often comes up is when you hold an overpair to the board and an opponent puts the heat on you. Don't be afraid to make big lay downs to preserve your stack, especially in the early levels.

Be aware of your cbetting frequency. There's no need to waste tournament poker chips cbetting every time, especially when the pot is multi-way. Pick your spots to make profitable plays. Remember when it comes to the final table, regularly profitable playing ranges might alter due to the payouts. ICM is the key when it comes to those final big decisions.

Another key to success is knowing when to fire multiple bullets at your opponents. Barreling, especially against a wide big blind range can really help increase your non-showdown winnings. Finding ways to accumulate chips without always having the best hand is what top players do. This is why check-raising and having a good 3 betting strategy is so important. Correct use of these strategical concepts and the other tips outlines will get you winning more at the tables.

Now that you've acquired some great holdem tournament strategy tips to help you achieve MTT success, go out there an implement them!

One of the quickest way to improve your poker game is to take on a poker coaching, a course or join a poker training site; if that is something that interests you be sure to check out the PokerNerve road to Success Course for some advanced poker tournament strategy or you can check out HowToPlayPokerInfo's guide on poker training & poker courses to find the right option for you.

Poker Tournament Tips From The Pros 2019

Any other poker tournament strategy tips? Leave them below in the comments, we would love to hear them!

Poker Tournament Tips From The Prostate

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