PokerWorks

Many of the bloggers' sites I read have covered this topic recently and I have my own thoughts. I'm not an exclusive MTT player, but I have played my fair share of these tournaments with some success. Keep in mind, there are numerous factors to consider at any given time, including stack size, position and the reads one has on the other players at the table. These are just some general concepts that will get a player into the money and hopefully with a large enough stack to make it deep and worth their while in regards to time invested.

Early Stages - Play tight. With low buy-in MTT's there is no reason to risk a large amount of chips just to double up early. You will run into players who like to chip up early and bully the table around, but that's not necessary. Often in these tournaments, half or nearly half of the field will be gone in the first hour. Fold away, develop a good table image by showing down good hands and this image will become an asset later on. A premium hand is likely to come along eventually (unfortunately, sometimes not) and the table will begin to wonder why they see so much folding on your part, yet, when you're in a pot and you get to showdown, you're always winning your hands.

Some players disagree with this and say that there's no reason to spend hours in an MTT just to back into the money. True, but for 5$ or 10$, you can easily make that back with a few cashes in SnG's. Plus, like myself, if you are not an exclusive MTT player and are looking for more experience with them, then this style of play will get you far. Keep an eye out for the loose players who are in basically every pot and once that premium hand comes along, exploit that opponent. Of course, there's nothing wrong with doubling up early, but at lower stakes, there's no need to get frantic about losing a few chips by folding, since even attempting to steal the blinds with less than premium hands is not worth it as they are essentially insignificant at this stage. Limit your risks and remember the concept of "Tight is Right".

Middle Stages - (Since the majority of the MTT's I play are lower buy-ins, they don't attract huge fields well into the thousands, just maybe 500-750 players, so this will cover hours 2 and/or 3.) By this time, the terrible players will have been weeded out and you will see a larger influx of somewhat better players. Thus, players won't be being eliminated at such a fast rate. The advantage of this is that you will not be constantly moved from table to table while the bad players are being busted. This is a very good time to start accumulating chips and utilizing a solid table image.

Depending on the situation, you can wait for one or two good hands to show down and then begin to open-raise from the button, cutoff or even the hijack seat with lower suited connectors, baby pairs and other marginal hands. If you have developed your image well enough by now and have been seated at your table for a while, the players will give you respect and just call your raise if they themselves are holding something marginal. In this case, you are in position after the flop and if you're fortunate, you'll hit your draw or set or some other possibility of big hand.

I also like to defend my blinds at this stage since, by this time, they are escalating and I tend to think my opponents have a similar mindset as I do...they're just trying to steal. Just be careful. If you completely miss the flop, but have been intelligent with your play thus far, you'll have plenty of chips not to have to chase a backdoor flush draw or some other unfavorable, percentage-wise possibility to make your hand. Even though you're seeing the antes kick in and the blinds look appealing, folding is completely acceptable still at this stage.

Late Stage (Up to the bubble) - By this time, you should be near the bubble or at least close to it. This is where it gets tricky. Different players have different ideas about how the money bubble should be played. Most agree to be aggressive and I employ this strategy myself. Many players will be short on chips and just looking to make the money for their time invested. You should have plenty of chips by now to steal the blinds, especially if there is a super-short stack at your table. The players will be looking back and forth at the lobby, seeing how many players need to go out before they get into the money. Some players even go so far as to purposely keep the short stack in so they can steal from the other players while they wait for the short stack to be eliminated. This is a new, yet perfectly understandable, concept that I've recently picked up. It definitely works well.

In The Money - Once the bubble bursts, you will see what I can only describe as a "free for all". The short stacks are going to be shoving all their chips into the pot for many reasons. They are either satisfied with making the money being exhausted from sweating out the bubble, they're just plain tired, or rightfully so, they want to double up to make it deeper into the money. Players will be eliminated at an alarming rate and you'll quickly see yourself climbing the money ladder.

Again, if you've been smart, you can fold your weak hands and watch these players lose all their chips while you wait for a hand that's reasonably acceptable to play. At this point it's perfectly acceptable, if you have the chips, to defend your blinds with any two cards against one short stack who has opened the pot with an all-in and has gotten no callers. If you're in the small blind and the big blind calls as well, hopefully they'll be intelligent enough to check it down; betting into a dry side pot with perhaps just two over cards makes no sense whatsoever, even though I have seen this happen on numerous occasions.

Final Table - At this point, you'll maybe see one big stack, one or two short stacks, and the rest will probably be about even in chips. This is another good time to take advantage of having a short stack at the table and stealing the blinds from the middle stacks. Be careful in tangling with the big stacks though as they are likely not going to push a large percentage of their chips into the pot without a good hand. Sure, they might be trying to bully the table while there are still short stacks there, but if you decide to call a raise from them, be prepared to lay your hand down if they bet large into you after the flop. Once you reach the final table, every spot makes a difference in regards to money payouts, so take that into consideration.

Heads-Up - There's no set way to play once down to three or four players at the final table. Just pick your spots depending on the relative amount of chips you have compared to your opponents. If you are fortunate to survive until it's heads-up, then just treat it like any other heads-up match you play, meaning if your stack size is small, you're going to have to push the aggression. The blinds will be large and you just can't allow yourself to be blinded out at this point. If you have your opponent well out chipped, then you have plenty of time to wait for a middle to high premium hand to take them out with. If you are about even in chips, you can opt to discuss a deal or not. In this case, being even in chips, I tend to be aggressive, trying to get into a dominating chip position.

Hopefully, everything works out and you eliminate your final opponent. Heads-up can be either the most enjoyable poker you play or the most frustrating, but as always, you have to adjust to the circumstances and the situation.