The Foolproof guide to winning tournaments

Okay, I’m not claiming to be an uber-expert on winning tournaments just yet, but back in the day things did work out for me. The knowledge and theories I have about tournament play continually grow, and really I feel like the diffi cult part about it all is putting these theories into correct practice and combination with one another. If only poker were as easy as it can seem on paper. But, my young squires, it is not.

Nonetheless, here’s a short guide to winning a tournament. In fact, I will a 100% guarantee to all who read this that they will win every tournament they play, so long as they follow all of my instructions. If my program doesn’t work for you, I also guarantee a 100% complete refund of your money! You can even keep this magazine page! (Editor’s note: BLUFF is in no way obligated to anything this donkey promises to any reader of his so-called tournament guide).

You’ve just sat down at your tournament table… what’s the fi rst order of business? Learn your opponents. Some of them may be players you’ve already played with; if that’s the case you should already have a scouting report on them. Are they tight, loose, passive, aggressive? Much of the time you will be encountering new players. Often you can learn something about these new people just by looking at them and meeting them. Perhaps the person is very talkative, young, a ball of excited, nervous energy. This player might play a lot of hands or will play aggressively or both. Perhaps another player looks more subdued, nervous, studied. This player might be tighter and possibly more passive. The more you can talk to players and learn about their personality, background and, most importantly, their approach to the tournament (whether it is their fi rst tournament, maybe they are primarily a cash game player taking a shot, whether they are a seasoned pro, if they’ve just come off a big win), the quicker you may be able to fi gure out parts or all of their game.

Of course, this way of thinking suggests that one can rely on stereotypes to predict playing style and strategic choices of a certain player, but really it is more that learning about someone helps you get into his mind and predict his actions from a better vantage point. Once you have some sort of background on your opponents, it is important to study the choices they make about starting hand selection, position, aggression or passiveness, and their willingness to gamble. Some players you may have pinned down after a short time from all the information they offer; others will be much more diffi cult and it could take numerous encounters to get a sense of how they play. The bottom line is that the more you pay attention to every hand that is played and every opponent’s decisions, the better off you’ll be.

Often this will take no work on your part: you pick up A-A and there are fi ve all-ins behind you. Okay, good situation. Anyone can pick up big hands, but really tournaments are about getting in favorable situations as much as possible and making as few mistakes as possible once you get there. These situations will at times rely on your starting hand, at other times rely on the opponent or opponents in the hand, but usually include both factors along with other variables like chip stack, position, and blind level.

Example: You’ve done a good job learning about your opponents. An opponent you’ve seen play very aggressively pre-fl op decides to come in for a raise from late position. Also, you’ve seen this player make mistakes post-fl op and note that he generally does not have a strong post-fl op game; you’ve seen him lose a lot of chips with marginal hands, and also seen him give free cards with big hands and shut down when he has missed. You are on the button with 10-10. Clearly the best situation against this player is to see a fl op. Yes, he is aggressive and could have a variety of hands pre-fl op, but if you reraise him you are opening yourself up to be three-bet and at the same time are building the pot at a less favorable street in the hand. If he plays poorly post-fl op, why would you try to gamble with him pre-fl op? You don’t want to have to make a tougher decision than is necessary.

This all being said, perhaps calling this opponent from the button with almost any hand is a good situation. If you are consistently able to outplay him post-fl op, then it is most favorable for you to be heads up against him, in position, with enough chips compared to the pot to maneuver through the hand and make good decisions.

Example: Isolate the weakest players at the table and capitalize on their mistakes that you’ve observed. Example: Avoid big pots and marginal hands against the toughest players at the table as much as possible. Example: If you feel like you are one of the least experienced players at the table, then you should be gambling more than if you had a better handle on your opponents. This means that when the blinds get bigger or your stack becomes more needy, push your small edges; don’t be afraid to get your chips in the pot when you have a strong hand or a strong draw. Just make sure to avoid very marginal hands, and always attempt to be the one making the last bet or all-in move into key pots, unless you are trapping .

All of these factors are interrelated, and the more you can control each of them, the smoother your tournament will go. When it comes to playing style, you will need to switch gears as the tournament changes. If your starting table is relatively tight/passive, then clearly you should play aggressively and accumulate the dead money that will inevitably be up for grabs. When your table changes and fi gures out what you are doing, you may need to slow down and be less aggressive or loose, and the same can be said about when you are moved to a new table. If you fi nd yourself against tough opponents, then you may need to switch up your style of play on a hand-to-hand basis to make it dif- fi cult for anyone to get a good sense of how to play pots with you.

Your playing style should always be impacted by the size of your chip stack. If you are short stacked, you will generally need to be more patient if you have been playing aggressive/loose and have lost respect from your opponents. If you have a big chip stack, you have more freedom to push around players and mix it up more. However, if your opponents are expecting you to play a certain way because of your chip stack, then at times it may pay off to play aggressive on the short stack as you may not get action from anything but premium hands; and it may pay off to play tight on the big stack as your opponents may give you little credit and play more marginal hands against you. Eventually you will get a feel how your playing style and chip stack ebb and fl ow throughout a tourney and the most successful ways to approach each hand.

Despite how you are playing and the amount of chips you have, it is always signifi cant to realize that if you are able to control the size of the pot, then really you are in control of the hand. Basically, if you fi nd yourself with a marginal hand, perhaps middle pair or A-J suited pre-fl op — hands of that nature — then you should understand the importance of keeping the pot at a manageable size. Unless you have pristine reads on your opponents, you do not want the pot to get large until you are very sure you have the best hand or unless it is really necessary to win the pot. Obviously when you have a premium hand you need to fi gure out how to make the pot as big as possible; but remember that the closer you are to the river, the more confi dently you can build a big pot. Even with a strong hand, you often have a choice of gambling more or less depending on how early you decide to build the pot, because with cards to come you never have the pot won unless you hold the immortal nuts. The more aggressive you are, the more you will have this power in your hands, and this is a main reason why aggression is necessary to win a tournament.

RUN LIKE GOD: This is poker. Nobody controls the cards, except, well, God, whatever “God” may be. So… run like HIM. When you are all in with a two-outer, hit it on the river. Win all your races, all your 70/30s, get moved to the weakest tables. Pick up aces and kings a lot; make sure all your bluffs are at the perfect times. Flop straights, fl ushes, make sure fl oor decisions all go in your favor. Receive charitable donations from every donkey in the tournament room. Easy.

EASY! SO, on the subject of tournaments, I could write an entire book; and actually I am. Maybe this is why I usually avoid strategy in my columns, because I am hoarding my ideas for one big project. Anyway, I hope this short guide has been a help to all you tournament donks out there. If you follow my advice and somehow do not win a tournament, fi nd me. We can commiserate together.