| Do you ever wonder why so many
familiar faces are on final tables on television? Why so many professionals are able to
get deep into multi-table tournaments and cash time and time again? They do it by building
a big stack in the early stages of the tournament, when play can be controlled with a few
simple strategies. The basics of early stage
multi-table tournament strategy are simple to follow, once you know what you should be
doing. Keep these simple ideas in mind and you’ll find yourself going deeper in
tournaments and compiling big stacks to play with.
First off you want to play a tight game and wait for good
starting hands. Blinds are small so there’s no need to force the action and get into
hands with mediocre starting cards, especially since there are eight other opponents being
dealt in every hand. Look to limp into hands, or get in inexpensively, with small and
medium pairs, or hands like A-J and K-Q. If you hit these hands in a big way (a set or two
pair) you will have a good chance to double or triple through against someone who over
plays top pair or an over-pair.
When you do get dealt a big pocket pair, it’s often a
good play to check-raise these hands pre-flop. You’ll get more action on them than
you would if you make an initial raise, and will be sitting in a dominant position if your
opponent has top pair. Raise them for value pre-flop if you’re on the button or in
the blind positions, as this play may be seen as a real estate raise and is more likely to
get action.
These simple rules can help you amass a stack that will
take you into the later stages of the tournament. Building a big stack early in a
tournament is one thing, but holding on to those chips when the blinds start to elevate is
another. |
