Poker Tounaments
Poker
tournaments are structured
competitions where players compete against each other to accumulate all the
chips in play. In "normal" casino games, each hand is unrelated to any other.
Players can quit whenever they want. In tournaments, players can not quit and
cash out their chips. Play continues until there is a winner.
There are different types of poker tournaments: "Elimination" tournaments are
the most common type. In this structure all players begin with the same amount
of chips, and play continues until one player has accumulated all the chips. As
players are eliminated, the active players are re-seated at fewer and fewer
tables. While the winner of the tournament is the player who accumulates all the
chips, the payout structure rewards several players. For example, if ninety-five
players start a tournament, commonly the "final table" of nine players would
receive prize money -- with eighth getting a larger prize than ninth, seventh
getting more than eighth, etc.
"Rebuy tournaments" have structures where for an initial period of time players
who lose all their chips are allowed to "rebuy" more chips and continue to play.
Rebuy tournaments generally feature more aggressive play earlier on as players
do not face the prospect of elimination if they lose all their chips. Rebuys
often lead to larger total prize pools being played for than would be standard
for the initial entry cost.
In "shootout tournaments" tables are not combined as players are eliminated.
Rather, each table plays down to a single winner. Then table winners proceed to
a finals portion of the event. So, if a tournament starts with sixteen tables,
the sixteen table winners then compete elimination style until there is a
winner. Shootout tournaments normally last several hours less than elimination
events.
Depending on the type of tournament, players will have a general tendency either to play more aggressively in the early stages or very tight.
Re-buy tournaments, due to the fact that players can purchase more chips during re-buy periods, are played much more loosely and aggressively. The cost of blinds towards the beginning of the tournament is fairly low, which allows players much more leeway when deciding which hands to play. Again, factoring your cost allowance versus aggressive playing is important for finding the proper balance somewhere in-between both. It may be worth the risk to invest up to five percent of your stack to see the flop on marginal hands for the chance of doubling what you have. This is only toward the beginning of the tournament when blinds are still affordable and you know that you won't let yourself put in more than 5% of what you have on a small pair.
Now, if you have a decent hand pre-flop such as an Ace-King, it's better to play a bit more conservatively. Firstly, this allows you to minimize your losses if the flop doesn't work out, and secondly, if you flat call and manage to hit it big after the flop, you enjoy the benefit of disguise. This is your best bet since you most likely won't be able to get other players to fold by raising them, especially if you're sitting in late position.
In general, pre-flop betting strategy should be slightly loose but relative to your stack for the chance of early chip accumulation, but post-flop strategy should be played tighter, particularly if you're not positive that you are ahead and will be wasting another bet that could've been saved. In these types of cases, save the bet and lose the pot rather than risk losing both.
Keep in mind that your main focus in the beginning stages of a tournament should be to keep a decent stack of chips so that you'll be in a secure position for the upcoming rounds.