Win At Online No Limit Texas Holdem Tournaments

So You Want To Earn The Big Bucks At Poker Tournaments?!!
Tournament poker has a life of its own with all of its nuances and subtleties. You can last a few minutes or for hours at a poker tournament, depending on how adept you are at playing. HERE ARE SOME TIPS/STRATEGIES FOR MAKING IT LAST LONGER.

Early Tournament Strategy
More than half of the players at this stage are usually eliminated, so it's an important stage of the game. Don't bump up your chip stack right away. The blinds and the ante are very low at this stage of the game, so you won't lose much at this point.

1. Play it tight at the outset. You can usually count on some erratic bettors, and since you won't have a read on anyone at this point, don't go all-in pre-flop.

2. Poker systems don't do you much good early on, so don't count on them here.

3. Let your opponents think they have beat you even though you think you have the best hand. Let your opponents lead the betting. If you still think you're leading on the river, come out betting then.

4. Unsure if you've got the best hand? Don't let the other players know it. Get aggressive and bet to steal the pot, but don't be an all-in nut. Don't play to see if someone is bluffing, so be careful of big bets back from your opponent and get out if they do.

5. Early on, your main objectives should be to survive to the next stage and get as many chips as you can before getting to the next stage.

6. If the bet has been raised pre-flop, you should only stay in with A-A, K-K, Q-Q, A-K, and A-K to A-10 suited. Playing anything else after a raise is just asking for trouble that will reduce your chip stack.

7. Have a table full of fish and call boxes?? It won't be a good idea in that situation to raise pre-flop to try to eliminate weak hands. The fish and call boxes may call your raise with junk and end up lucking out a big pot with a lot of your chips in it.

Middle Tournament Strategy
Here's where the quality of play improves since the fish and amateurs have been caught and gutted by now. Focus on your opponents and shoot for a money finish.

1. Now you're probably with a group of more-skilled pla

yers, but still keep an eye out for the bad player that just keeps getting lucky.

2. Don't worry about the other players' chip counts; wait for the big hands and get your hands on THEIR chips.

3. The blinds should be getting higher now, so only call bets when you have good hands. Use your position to your advantage.

4. When you have a good hand after the flop, make your opponents pay to see the turn. Don't let a player get a free card that ends up beating you when you could have forced them to fold with a bet.

5. The majority of players who call a bet during this stage have the cards to beat you and will call you out to the showdown, so DON'T BLUFF VERY OFTEN.

6. When the flop doesn't help your hand, fold it. Only stay in if you think the flop didn't help your opponent either.

7. If a player bluffs you off a pot or cuts your stack in half with a bad beat, DON'T LOSE YOUR COOL. If you get emotionally pushed out of shape, you'll greatly increase your chances of getting out of the tournament quickly. Turn off the chat if you're playing against a taunter or intimidator.

The Final Table
Alright, now it's you are left playing against a few battle-hardened soldiers who are standing between you and THE BIG MONEY. It's time to break out all the big guns, i.e., the best tried and true systems and strategies you've got or have been holding back. Here are some other tips/strategies.

1. If you are the chip leader, don't play loosely since the blinds can hurt your chip stack. As the blinds get higher, playing loosely can cut you down to the short stack level fast.

2. With good cards pre-flop, go after the blinds with a raise. Try to run the table with your aggressiveness. If you don't have faith in your cards, call or fold.

3. If you are one of the short stacks, wait for premium cards such as any pair, AK-AJ unsuited or AK-A2 suited and go all-in. You will probably end up all-in pre-flop sooner or later because of high blinds, so it's better to push all your chips in the middle with powerful cards.

4. Mix it up with some semi-bluffs when the betting is low or non-existent. You should be able to steal a few pots now and then, but be careful with re-raises or a check-raise. Don't call these.

5. The size of your chip stack is important at this stage of the game. If your stack is bigger than your opponents, make them pay to stay in the hand. If you have a good hand, it's worth the risk to bet the amount of the lowest stack at the table.

6. There are some players with small stacks who are willing to go all-in with mediocre or even weak hands since they're already in the money. If you're up againse a short stack all-in, be sure to call if you've got good cards, but fold to avoid boosting your opponents' stack.

7. If you're down to the final two or three players and you have the chip lead, wait for a big hand to go after your opponents.

These strategies should help you tactically, but you also need some good cards dealt to you and a little help from LADY LUCK.

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