No Limit Texas Holdem Poker Tournament Strategy

Some of the top professional poker players are able to
consistently win while playing both Texas holdem ring games and
tournaments. But most players focus on one or the other to
maximize their skills and chances for overall profit.

• No Limit Texas Holdem Poker Tournament Strategy Rules
• Limit Hold'em Poker Strategy

There are essentially five key strategic areas that you will need to focus on when you play Texas Hold’em cash games. For Texas Hold'em tournament strategy, there exists a whole set of other poker tournament tips. While there are many things that add up to good poker strategy, we feel that these are the Top Five for new or intermediate players. LHE is a fast game and rarely do people take more than 5 seconds to make any decision. Even though I am very confident that the strategy on this site is of great quality, I always recommend exercising a little common sense when it comes to Texas Hold'em strategy and tips. Anyone can write poker strategy and post it on the Internet, but that doesn't make it good strategy.

When learning to play online poker, it is important to get a good poker bonus deal when signing up to a new poker room. Not only will this get you extra cash and increase your overall win rate, but it will also give you more breathing space as you improve your skills, particular for no-limit texas hold'em. Texas Hold'em No Limit (NL) Strategy Although there are different formats of Texas Hold’em, Texas Hold’em No Limit is by far the most popular. This is because you can bet any amount at any time. As a result, you are always at risking of losing every single chip you have – or doubling up.

While the basic game and rules are the same, the strategy and
skill set is slightly different between the two types of play.

You need to learn how to be a winning Texas holdem player by
studying the rules, learning starting hand strengths, learning
about pot odds and other basics before you should start trying
to use the advanced tournament tactics on this page.

But once you’re ready, the tips and tricks listed below can
help you transition from an average player to a consistent
winner.

Structure

In order to develop the best strategy for Texas holdem
tournament play you need to understand the structure of the
current tournament.

The structure includes the following details:

No Limit Texas Holdem Poker Tournament Strategy Rules

• How much it costs to buy in
• How many places get paid
• How many players are entered in the tournament
• The size of the starting chips stacks
• How big the blinds are and how often they go up
• How much each place gets paid once you get into the
  money

How fast the blinds go up is one of the most important things
to keep an eye on. In tournaments where the blinds go up quickly
you’re often forced to take more chances early to avoid getting
into a position where the blinds are too high in comparison to
your stack.

One way players track their progress is by figuring out how
many big blinds or total blinds they have. Once you reach a
point where you only have enough for a few circuits you need to
start looking for an opportunity to get all your money in the
pot for a chance to double up.

On the other hand, tournaments with large starting stacks in
comparison to the blinds and a slow blind structure let you sit
back and play a slower game.

Your playing style and preferences may help you do better in
a fast tournament or a slow tournament, or maybe at this point
you don’t know. As you improve your skills you’ll be able to
play both types.

Of course structure can also refer to no limit, pot limit,
and limit play, but the majority of Texas holdem tournaments are
no limit. For this reason most of the advice on this page is
designed for no limit poker players. Most of the same concepts
are easily adapted to limit play.

Small Pots

Texas holdem tournaments are made up of pots of all sizes.
Many small pots are spread between the big ones where player
push their chips all in.

One mistake that many inexperienced tournament players make
is focusing on small pots. While it’s true that many small pots
add up to the same amount as a big one, the amount you have to
risk is often not equal.

To win a large pot you might have to go all in.

So to win
$1,000 you have to risk $1,000.

But in order to win a small pot you almost always have to
risk more than the amount you can win.

If you make a raise to steal the blinds you have to bet at
least twice the amount of the big blind, and usually more. So
you might have to bet $100 to win $45 in blinds.

Or you have to pay to see the flop and then fire a bet after
the flop. Even if everyone folds after the flop you risk a bet
half the size of the pot or higher.

From a simple risk versus reward ratio it often costs too
much in possible risk for the reward of a small pot in a
tournament. You have a limited number of chips and you only have
to lose a few of these situations before you end up losing more
than you hope to win.

You usually need to win some small pots along the way if you
hope to win a tournament, but you have to learn when to take a
shot at them and when to avoid the temptation of risking too
much.

You should only try to steal the blinds when you have a
decent hand that has a chance to win if it has to see the flop.
Hands like middle suited connectors and small pairs played from
late position when you’re the first one in the pot can be
profitable. But remember that the blinds have the same chance to
land a big hand as you do.

Another situation where small pots can be worth going after
is against individual players. It’s often hard to get a solid
read against opponents you don’t know, but sometimes pots are
ripe for picking.

Almost any hand where no one raised pre flop that has a
non-threatening board is worth considering making an aggressive
wager. Often the first player to show aggression takes down the
pot.

Doubling Up

How many times do you need to double up to get into the money
or reach the final table?

In order to answer questions like these you have to break out
your math skills. Don’t panic though. These are pretty simple
math problems, and you can use the calculator on your cell phone
to help.

It’s simple to calculate the average chip stack needed to get
into the money or to reach any other point in the tournament.

Here’s an example:

• If 100 players enter a tournament
• Rach player starts with $3,000 in chips
• The total amount of chips in play is $300,000.

The next thing you need to know is how many players get paid.

• When 15 players get paid, the average chip stack will be
  $20,000 when you reach the money.
• If 10 players get paid the average chip stack will be
  $30,000 at that time.

You can use the same method to calculate the average stack
size for any tournament and or reaching any point in a
tournament.

It’s the same simple process even if you’re playing in a huge
tournament.

Here’s an example:

• A tournament with 893 entrants pays out the top 80
  entrants
• Each player starts with $10,000 in chips.

You want to know what the average chip stack will be to get
into the money, to get in the top 20, the top 10, and the top 3.

The first thing you need to do is find out how much the total
amount of chips in play is. You multiply 893 entrant times
$10,000 each for a total of $8,930,000.

Then you divide this amount by the remaining number of
players at each point.

• $8,930,000 divided by 80 = $111,625
• $8,930,000 divided by 20 = $446,500
• $8,930,000 divided by 10 = $893,000
• $8,930,000 divided by 3 = $2,976,667

So why is this information important?

One of the key skills that winning Texas holdem tournament
players possess is the ability to understand where they are and
where they need to be at every point of the tournament.

If you know you need to double your starting chip stack eight
times to get in the money you might decide it’s not worth
risking 25% of your stack fighting over the blinds that
represent 3% of your stack. I realize that for the most part
this is good advice in any situation, but risking too much too
many times is a sure way to an early exit from the tournament.

This information also gives you a solid idea of where your
stack needs to be to reach any point. In the example above with
893 entrants, you need to have around $100,000 to feel pretty
safe of being in the money. You need almost a million to feel
safe about reaching the final table.

Harm’s Way

Most poker players have been taught that they need to get in
situations where they’re the favorite to win. If you do this
over and over you’ll win more than you lose in the long run.

But in Teas holdem tournaments there’s a dark side to this
that you have to understand if you’re going to be a long term
winner.

In a big tournament you’ll be forced to put your tournament
life at risk numerous times. Of course you always want to enter
these situations as a favorite, but even if you do eventually
the odds will bite you.

If you get all in before the flop you’re never a 100% lock to
win. Even pocket aces lose to any other random hand sometimes.
When you play pocket aces against a single opponent they win
around 85% of the time.

Do you see the problem with winning only 85% of your all in
decisions in a tournament?

Even with the best hand possible if you get all in 10 times
during a tournament the odds dictate that you’re going to lose
between one and two times.

And the truth is that most of the time you’re going to be
required to get all in as a smaller favorite than pocket aces.

So how does anyone win a Texas holdem tournament? Is it all
luck after all?

If you ask most players if they’d call an all in bet with A A
pre flop 10 times in their next tournament they’d quickly say
yes. And the truth is you have to be willing to do this because
you know you have to double up numerous times to win and this is
one of the best opportunities to do so.

But if you want long term success you need to focus on
getting your money in when it won’t cost you your tournament
life if the odds catch up with you or in situations with
stronger chances of winning.

I know some of you are saying that there aren’t any
situations better than pocket aces. If you think about it for a
few minutes and take your blinders off you’ll start seeing what
I mean.

Top Tip

You won’t find a better situation pre flop than
getting all in with pocket aces against a single opponent, but
you can find numerous better situations later in a hand.

When you have a full house against an opponent’s flush you
might be able to get all your money in with 100% chance to win.
Other hands can play out where you might have over a 90% chance
to win.

If you have a bad run of short term variance you won’t be
able to always avoid risking your entire stack, but the best
players do a good job of not getting in situations where they’re
forced to go all in against a bigger stack.

When you get heads up against a player with a smaller stack
even if your all in bet with the better hand loses you’ll still
have some chips.

Every Chip Is Important

Have you ever heard the saying a chip and a chair?

What it means is you still have a chance to win a Texas
holdem poker tournament as long as you have a single chip and a
seat in the tournament. You can probably even find a few stories
about players who’ve been able to come back and win a tournament
after being down to their last chip or few chips.

Limit Hold'em Poker Strategy

While it won’t happen often, you can go on a streak of
doubling up 8 or 10 straight times. If you double up 10 straight
times the single chip turns into over 1,000 chips. Most
tournaments don’t use $1 chips, so if your last chip is worth
$100, you’d go from $100 to $100,000.

It’s not important that you ever get low on chips and hit a
lucky streak and get back in the tournament. What’s important is
that you never waste a single chip in tournament play.

In ring game play you might risk a chip in a poor situation
to set up future play or to keep an opponent honest. If you use
certain strategies correctly you’ll probably be able to get your
chip and more back in the future.

But a tournament has a limited future and most of the times
you can’t afford to build a long term play in a tournament.

I know this may sound opposite of the advice I gave you above
about not fighting for blinds and small pots, but it’s not. You
always have to weigh the risk versus the possible reward. It’s
true that the blinds you steal add a few chips to your stack,
but you only need to be called by a better hand every once in a
while to lose a large portion of your stack.

Exploiting the Bubble

When a tournament gets close to the cut off between finishing
out of the money and in the money aggressive players can often
take advantage of players who’re just trying to sneak into the
money.

In an average tournament when its gets close to the cut off
over half the players can probably fold every hand until they
reach the money. Many of them start playing this way, but the
truth is that almost no one can look down at pocket aces, kings,
or queens and fold them.

The big stacks can afford to play their good hands and some
of the smallest stacks are forced to play any decent hand
because the blinds are going to put them all in soon anyway. You
don’t want to pressure either the small or big stacks without a
good hand, but many of the medium sized stacks are in perfect
position for you to steal their blinds and small bets.

You still don’t want to have poor hands, but above average
hands are usually good enough to be played aggressively against
the medium stacks on the bubble.

Top Tip

It’s important that you get away from any hand where
an opponent plays back aggressively unless you have a real
chance to win the hand. Remember the reason you’re playing
aggressively. You want to take advantage of your opponent’s
desire to sneak into the money, not risk too much by fighting
with a less than stellar hand.

You also need to realize that there’s no reason to play
aggressively if you’re safe and can fold your way into the
money. Don’t take chances if you’re not comfortable. Sit back,
wait for your best hands, and take advantage of someone else’s
aggression if you land kings or aces.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming other players don’t have a
hand when they play aggressively on the bubble. It may seem like
they’re pushing you around, but just because they’re aggressive
doesn’t mean they have a poor hand. They might have a strong
hand.

Are you willing to bet your tournament life on an average
hand?

Should You Ever Fold Pocket Aces?

This is a common question when talking about getting into the
money in a tournament and it’s fairly easy to construct a
situation where folding them is the best play. The actual
question should be should you ever fold pocket aces pre flop?

I’ve never folded them pre flop and probably never will
because any situation I can come up with where the correct play
is to fold isn’t very realistic.

Usually if you finish just in the money you win somewhere
between one and three times your buy in. While this is much
better than a loss, if you’re able to win the entire tournament
you can win 100 times your buy in or more in a large tournament.
The prize money for winning, or even reaching the final table,
is often many multiples of your buy in.

The World Series of Poker main event is a good example. The
entry fee is $10,000 and most years if you reach the final table
you’re guarantee close to a million.

Folding aces pre flop isn’t the way to give yourself the best
chance to win. Even if it assures you sneak into the money, the
long term advantage of the times you’re able to double up
outweigh the reduced amount you get from just finishing in the
money.

Here are a couple situations where the correct play is to
fold pocket aces.

Scenario 1

The next player to exit the tournament won’t win anything but
after that everyone finishes in the money. An early player at
your table moves all in and a second player calls. Both of these
players have bigger stacks than you. In addition, you used your
mortgage payment to enter the tournament and you’ll lose your
house if you don’t finish in the money.

Your odds of winning against two random hands are less than
75%, so one out of four times your tournament life will end if
you call.

If the payout for finishing in the money is twice your buy
in, from a strictly pot odds type discussion you should call
every time. You double your money 3 out of 4 times is exactly
the type of math you’re usually looking for.

But what you’re ignoring is you have the chance to win much
more than twice your buy in if you move deeper into the money.
The best way to improve your chances to win the tournament is
triple up. This is an excellent chance to improve your chances
to win.

If you hadn’t done something foolish like risk your house for
a poker tournament you need to make the call in this situation.
The results will suck roughly one out of four times, but the
other three times will more than make up for it in long term
winnings.

Scenario 2

An actual straightforward situation where you’re
mathematically correct to fold pocket aces on the bubble is if
five or more opponents are all in. You’re no longer a favorite
with pocket aces against five opponents.

I’ve never seen this happen on the bubble in a tournament and
doubt I ever will.

But if I’m ever in this situation I’m going to call because
when I win my chip stack will put me in a strong position to win
the entire tournament.

Summary

Once you master the basics of solid Texas holdem play the
thing that sets you apart from most players is your ability to
add small things to your game and outthink your opponents.

Most of the details on this page involve outthinking your
opponents. Once you learn to play smarter than most of the other
players you’ll quickly see an improvement in your results. Focus
on what you’ve just learned and never stop looking for the extra
edge.

We've covered some of the broader concepts affecting multi-table poker tournament strategy so far, including how tournaments differ from cash games, the importance of stack sizes in tournaments, and how the objectives of chip accumulation and survival work alongside each other in tournaments.

From here let's begin to talk more specifically about tournament strategy as it changes from the first levels all of the way through to the final table — that is, how your approach should evolve and adapt as you move through the different 'stages' of a tournament.

It's a big mistake to play a no-limit hold'em tournament the same way you might play a cash game. It's a similarly big mistake to play the early levels of a tournament the same way you'd play the middle or later stages, and vice-versa.

Priorities change as you proceed from the start of a tournament to the middle stages to the pre-bubble and bubble periods. Once the bubble bursts and the play for real money begins, they change again. Then the final table introduces its own special considerations — including what are usually significant changes in payouts coming with each elimination — that should further affect your strategy.

Today we'll focus on the early levels of a multi-table tournament, by which we're referring to just the first two or three. In most MTTs, these are the levels when there are blinds but no antes, and when stacks start out relatively deep in terms of how many big blinds they represent.

We'll organize the discussion under a few different headings, the first having to do with a common misconception about the initial levels of a tournament.

1. Early Levels Matter!

A number of players — including some who are very successful in tournaments — maintain the early, pre-ante levels of most tournaments simply don't matter. That's one reason why some players will skip the early levels altogether, sitting down at some point after the tournament begins but before late registration closes.

Starting the tournament on time can have a lot benefits, though. And those first levels absolutely do matter, no matter how deep the starting stacks might be. Weaker players will reveal themselves from the very beginning, becoming worthwhile targets for chip accumulation. Such players in fact tend not to last into the middle stages, meaning those who come late won't have a chance at their chips.

As such less skilled players sometimes demonstrate — e.g., by getting too attached to a middle pocket pair or some other medium-strength hand and busting — you can't win the tournament during the first few levels, but you can certainly lose it.

There are a few so-called 'standard' poker tournament moves you'll probably want to avoid during the early levels, among them preflop moves like three- and four-betting lightly or blind stealing. That doesn't mean you can't occasionally go for a blind steal, if only to shape your image going forward, though the chips you win or lose won't really be that significant as they'll represent such a small percentage of the stacks.

There's a lot else that's meaningful about the pre-ante levels, though, which can make them matter as you try to get your tournament off to a good start.

2. Dealing with Deep Stacks

Tournament structures differ widely, but in many cases the pre-ante levels will feature players sitting behind stacks that are uniquely deep compared to all other, later stages. In a lot of MTTs, the average stack will drop down to 50 big blinds or less (sometimes considerably less) by the middle stages, but during Levels 1-3 the stacks can be 100, 200, even 250 BBs deep.

A very common mistake made by inexperienced players (and even by experienced ones sometimes) is to 'go crazy' with their preflop betting during these early levels when there's no need to do so. With pocket aces and almost always with pocket kings you're obviously glad to build pots before the flop, but even with and you needn't be in such a hurry to play for your tournament life after a preflop raising war in Levels 1-3.

Even if you aren't getting all in before the flop with such hands, you can put yourself in awkward spots by bloating the pot beforehand and suddenly being 'committed' to going all the way on the flop, turn, or river. Flopping top pair, top kicker with is nice, but you shouldn't be eager to pile in a hundred big blinds behind such a hand — after all, someone willing to play that high versus you in such a spot probably has better!

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3. Tight Is (Mostly) Right, However...

Avoiding the urge to 'go crazy' doesn't mean being 'sane' to such an extreme that you fold your way through these early levels. Many successful tournament players subscribe to remaining 'snug as a bug in a rug' before the antes arrive, only very rarely getting involved. But you can be active during the initial levels, and reap benefits as a result.

One benefit of getting involved early is the way it gets you acclimated to both the physical and mental exercise that comes with playing each hand — and for relatively low stakes, too. Especially for newer or less experienced players, there's a lot to be said for simply getting your 'poker brain' working early, and even getting comfortable handling chips and cards again for those who aren't everyday players.

Getting involved early additionally helps you start gathering reads on opponents, as we always tend to pick up more about others when engaged in hands against them. You can accumulate chips during these levels, too, positioning yourself well with added ammunition once the antes do kick in and you begin your blind stealing ways.

Keep an eye out for the tight ones during the pre-ante levels. Often if you've taken the preflop initative against them and continuation bet after the flop, you'll earn some chips as they'll be unwilling to proceed without making hands. Be wary, of course, if they get 'sticky,' as such 'fit-or-fold' players aren't going deep postflop without being strong.

4. Trapping, and Not Getting Trapped

A great mindset to carry through these opening levels is to lean toward being tight and selective with the hands you play, but also keeping an eye out for situations to 'trap' players by playing speculative hands with potential to win big pots off those playing only the topmost part of their tight ranges.

Suited connectors and one-gappers can be great hands to play, and even when unsuited can be called with if you have position. Small pocket pairs also are generally worth trying to see flops with cheaply during the early levels. With all of these starters, you're looking to make especially strong hands like sets, straights, and flushes and hopefully get a lot of value from unsuspecting opponents who'll pay you off with their one-pair hands.

These hands work well because your 'implied pot odds' are often quite good during the early levels. Having such deep stacks makes it much more potentially profitable to call a raise from the blinds with (say) a hand like , because you and your opponent often will have 20, 30, even 50 times the size of the pot when the flop arrives.

By same token, don't be the one getting trapped early in a tournament! Be wary of weak aces — really anything from on down — and other 'trouble' hands like , , , and the like. Be careful with any hand with which you make top pair but face significant-seeming pressure from an opponent postflop. The smart ones — like you — are lying in wait, trying to trap you into committing significant chips when they have the best of it.

5. Profiling Opponents

Finally, one other important reason why the initial, pre-ante levels indeed 'matter' is the fact that even if the pots are relatively small, the amount of information you can potentially pick up about your opponents can be huge.

In a lot of cases, you'll be playing more hands with the players with whom you are seated to at the start than during any other stage of a tournament, save perhaps at a final table. Spend these first few levels getting an idea who are the aggressive players, who are the passive ones, and also who seems tight and who seems loose.

Remember even loose players will often be tighter during early levels, so don't mislead by false first impressions. But do pay close attention to showdown hands and make a note of who is playing what hands from what positions, as well as their tendencies toward aggression or passivity preflop and postflop. Try as well to remain aware of what kind of impression you might be making by your play during the pre-ante stage, and consider ways you might exploit that image to your advantage later on.

You should also bear in mind that you can play against your friends at WSOP Social Poker, meaning you will likely know how they play the game, but they could also try to mix things up by playing in a style that is completely different to how you usually perceive them, which adds to the fun!

Conclusion

Whether playing online poker or live, don't overlook the early levels of a multi-table tournament as meaningless. Nor should you think of the pre-ante period as only presenting opportunities to hurt your chances of going deeper and not help your cause.

It's true you can't win the tournament during the opening levels. But you can still start your tourney journey a winning way, putting yourself on a path to increase your chances of carrying it much further.

Also in this series...

_{This article was originally published on Aug. 2018, 2016. Last update: June. 10, 2019.}

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  tournament strategydeep-stacked strategymulti-table tournamentsno-limit hold’emstarting hand selectionpocket pairssuited connectorsdrawing hands